Q for you ABOut vitmains

[AnnieMaxwell]

I hope I am being crazy here but ever since I happened upon some onfo about lead in vitamins I havent been giving any to my (in my opinion picky eater) and I dont' feel right not giving them either.  I threw out all the natures plus animal parade ones as those were high on the lead list form the fda reasearch.  I wanted to givemy three year old  the Natrol for kids but it has green tea in the ingredients and a physiciam once told me how green tea is actually linked to liver problems - I am thinking My First Flintsones as it came out on the low level of lead list but it has dyes,etc. hmmm. I am so angry and cant decide and so now my daugter isnt getting any mutli.  But I give her vit D liquid and a piece of adult Vit C and adult Calcium gummies as needed. Any advice on this? Thanks

[lfpalmer]

Well, you're certainly not crazy for being vigilant. It gets so complicated out there today... Read this link carefully about the lead in vitamins: http://www.michaelmooney.net/Lead_In_Vitamins.pdf   It's very accurate and explains quite well that there's less lead in vitamins than in most common foods and that in foods come from natural levels in the soil.

The problem here is that we can now measure such incredibly miniscule amounts of elements and chemicals. All kinds of things are being reported to be found in all kinds of places.   

Most anything harmful is going to be dose-related, though we also worry about things that can build up over time. The body can very definitely process and eliminate tiny amounts of lead in a day, just like it easily handles the nicotine in cauliflower and potatoes. Clearly we don't want to avoid those foods, nor avoid avocados for the coumarin (blood thinner) they contain. The amounts of lead found in our food, water, and well-made supplements are exceedingly smaller than levels that are found to cause any harm.

Additionally, vitamin C decreases lead in the blood and B1 increases its excretion, so that multivitamin is anti-lead. Calcium reduces lead absorption. Spirulina is a great detoxifier.

The Green Tea = liver damage thing has been well debunked. There are plenty of studies suggesting its great benefit to the liver and many other health advantages.

It's funny that the lead in vitamins thing came from the FDA. I trust them so little to tell me about dangers in my food that when they came out with this purported danger, it also led me to concern.

[lfpalmer]

I should add that this FDA pronouncement was all about the competition between big pharma and nutritional supplements. The FDA strongly protects the drug industry, well beyond the bounds of evidence-based science, and does their best to deface anything that is not part of big industry.