Megavitamin Theraphy

Alternative medicine a very comprehensive collection of many treatment techniques. Some of them work, others do not work, but they do not threaten health, and yet others can do more harm than help and to this last group should be given megavitamin therapy. If you read our regular articles, you know that in the case of therapies included in alternative medicine, we are very careful.

In the case of chromotherapy already described, there was definitely more evidence indicating positive reactions of patients, as if that was not enough, the elements of phototherapy were introduced into traditional medicine.

In principle, Megavitamin therapy is very simple and consists in providing the body with a sufficiently high dose of vitamins. There is nothing wrong with this, after all we need vitamins, but the therapy in question is often based on several overdoses of the recommended limits, and as you know, even water can be overdosed.

Apart from the possible risks, there are grounds on which to build the belief that megavitamin therapy makes sense. Let’s check the benefits of megavitamin therapy, if any.

Vitamins

To be able to talk about Megavitamins you need to understand what vitamins are. Everyone has basic knowledge, of course, but what is their structure and what role do they play in the body?

The encyclopedic definition describes vitamins as a group of organic chemical compounds of various structures, necessary for the functioning of a living organism.

We need to provide vitamins to our body along with food. You may be able to name a few foods rich in natural vitamins: an apple. Oranges, peppers, cauliflower etc. Currently, we also produce vitamins in a synthetic way.

In the case of a deficiency of a particular vitamin, hypovitaminosis occurs in the human body, when there is an excess of it, hypervitaminosis is said.

Contrary to appearances, we learned about vitamins not so long ago, in 1913, when Polish biochemist Kazimierz Funk discovered vitamin B1, he is also the creator of the word vitamin.

The role of vitamins in the human body

The role of vitamins is invaluable and necessary in ensuring the proper growth and development of the body. Vitamins play different roles, people need 13 vitamins for proper functioning, the table below gives their exact description.

Vitamins are divided due to their solubility, some dissolve in water, the other in fat. The former require regular delivery to the body, as they are quickly washed out.

The second ones are stored in the body, e.g. the liver, and are released when the body needs them. It is for this reason that it is more difficult to overdose vitamins dissolved in water.

History

The history of megavitamin therapy is not long, it begins before the outbreak of World War II, when scientific and clinical research appeared suggesting the therapeutic use of vitamins C, E and niacin in elevated doses.

The Shute protocol is a meteda for treating cardiovascular problems invented in Canada in the 1930s. It was based on treating patients using vitamin E.

Frederick Klenner at the same time conducted numerous experiments that resulted in the use of an increased dose of vitamin C for polio and other viruses.

It was also the research period of William Kaufman who described in detail the treatment of arthritis with high doses of niacinamide.

At the same time, experiments were carried out on animals, e.g. guinea pigs, where vitamin C reduced diphtheria toxicity.

The concept of megavitamin therapy was born in 1956 in the publication “biochemical individuality” and was proposed by Roger J. Williams. Therapy has gained the recognition of a group of doctors in which Linus Pauling was a Nobel Prize winner in the field of chemistry.

It was a great mind, with very controversial views, like the one in which he suggested that people with defective genes paint a tattoo on their forehead, informing potential partners about the defect of another person.

Pauling conducted long studies describing the therapeutic effects of vitamin C. In 1996, the statement Pauling therapy was created, which is a term for vitamin C therapy in the case of heart disease.

Pauling’s work describing the amazing benefits of vitamin C has become a source of controversy. He published research that did not meet the truth about them. Finally, it was proved that the effect of taking 10,000mg of vitamin C was no different from the placebo effect.

Today we know that vitamin C has no effect on the fight against colds, not to mention cancer. They watch medicine advertisements on TV, it is not hard to see that vitamin C is being used as a basic element to help combat the disease. It is only a marketing procedure that affects consumer awareness.

I’ve also been taught my whole life that vitamin C helps with a cold, but this myth has been repeatedly refuted. Vitamin C helps in not getting sick, using appropriate doses regularly for several years, reduces the risk of colds and its duration.

Megavitamin therapy of risks and benefits

Despite the risk of vitamin overdose, this method is gaining popularity. Even in the medical community, there are healing doctors taking higher doses of vitamins. Much more often, however, these are naturopathic doctors, people who recommend natural “self-healing”.

To some extent, I agree with them, because the number of drugs that even healthy people use only as a result of media propaganda is huge. I reach for the tablets myself, only when the fever reaches 38 ° C or a sore throat is evident. Despite this, there is nothing to argue with the fact that medications are a good that must not be given up.

Consumption of doses exceeding the recommendations (RDA) is to have a positive impact not only on physical but also mental health, in particular ADHD. Megavitamin therapy is based on the consumption of vitamins in an amount up to 10 times exceeding the recommendations of a balanced diet. This is especially dangerous in the case of vitamin D, which is too toxic in the blood.

The effects of aging are not only wrinkles, graying and a decrease in libido, a much more serious change is the poor absorption of vitamins. The body of an average 60-year-old body has a bigger problem with absorbing vitamins. This became the reason for the use of megavitamin therapy in the elderly. However, even here there is no complete agreement on this method, the vast majority of medics say that a healthy balanced diet calmly suffices.

The need for vitamins is different for different people. This seems obvious, but it’s always worth clarifying. If your therapist recommends this therapy to you without asking about your age, weight, current health and diet, then the alarm lamp should light up.

As usual with our articles on health, we absolutely encourage you to use traditional medicine first.

Only when this does not bring results, it is worth considering choosing alternative medicine therapy, but not all. As you can see from the content, we postpone megavitamin therapy.

If you see a doctor while taking megavitamin therapy, be sure to tell him. Vitamins are not indifferent to medicines, at least not all. As if that was not enough, the use of this therapy will interfere with the results of some studies.

The biggest risk when using high levels of vitamins is the toxicity of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. When your therapy is based on increased intake of these vitamins, think twice before making a decision.

We mentioned the belief about the healing effects of vitamins on ADHD and the symptoms of autism in children. We would like it to be true, but controlled studies show even a negative correlation between these diseases and megavitamin therapy.

Summary

There are some indications that megavitamin therapy works for some diseases. However, they are unconfirmed in a scientific way, which still proves nothing in itself, but even worse the method is risky for health.

In alternative medicine, people seek help when traditional medicine fails or they feel a spiritual need for something more than just body treatment, e.g. Esogetic colorpuncture. As time shows, some of the methods considered “pseudoscience” fall into the canon of medicine.

It would be nice to recommend megavitamin therapy to anyone who is considering such a possibility, but unfortunately we cannot recommend a therapy that can have a negative effect on health.

We are happy to find out what your opinion is, let me know in the comment.