Science and Cell Nutrition, How a multivitamin could save your life
The most amazing discovery about the influence of nutrition in our cell was subject of several researches in this century. These researches change the way we see nutrition and how we bill able to work to prevent diseases and also to cure. We select some articles to understand the scientific bases of these work and in the other side realize how slow the medical community absorbed it in the daily medical practice.
Molecular medicine was a term used by two-time Nobel laureate in chemistry and peace Linus Pauling, Ph.D., in his landmark article on the mechanism of production of sickle cell anemia published in 1949. [1] It defined a new perspective on the origin of disease based upon the recognition that specific mutations of the genes can create an altered "molecular environment" and therefore the modified physiological function associated with specific diseases.
Dr. Williams(1893-1988) contributed to the evolution of the understanding of the molecular origin of disease with the development of the concept of biochemical individuality. He described anatomical and physiological variations among people and how they related to their individual responses to the environment. He was the first to gain recognition for the term "biochemical individuality" and how this related to differing nutritional needs for optimal function among different people. He pointed out that even identical twins could be different in their needs for optimal function based upon the fact that they developed in different environments in uteri. Although identical twins share the same genes, their differing nutrition and developmental environments can result in different expression of the genes as they grow older.
The first major breakthrough that resulted in this revolutionary change in thinking about the origin of disease was the recognition that we are much more different biochemically than was previously acknowledged.[2] Dr. Williams in Biochemical Individuality pioneered this revolution in thinking forty years ago. Genetic polymorphism is the term which has emerged in the past decade to describe this variation in function surrounding a specific genetic trait.
The second major breakthrough in thinking made by Dr. Williams is the recognition that nutritional status can influence the expression of genetic characteristics.[3] Once again Dr. Williams foresaw this important concept in Biochemical Individuality and set in motion research and discoveries over the past four decades that have transformed medicine. It is now well recognized that our genotype gets transformed into our phenotype as a consequence of nutritional, lifestyle and environmental factors which are important in determining our health patterns.
The concept of biochemical individuality has become part of most contemporary clinical and experimental medical and nutritional research. People are now known to fit into personally unique biochemical profiles based upon their own genetic structure, nutrition and environment.[5] There is no such thing as a truly "normal" individual-meaning average. We are all biochemically unique and need to be dealt with as such. The Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) which were developed by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council to establish the nutritional needs of "practically all healthy people" were not based upon the more recent information concerning the range of biochemical individuality among individuals. The RDAs that describe "normal" nutritional needs have questionable relevancy to the concept of optimal nutrition based upon individual needs. The contributions of Dr. Williams have opened the door for personally tailored nutritional and medical interventions that take biochemical individuality into account.
The genetic concept with which most nutrition and medical searchers grew up intellectually before the contribution of Dr. Williams was that of Gregor Mendel. His concept of dominant recessive genetic characteristics gave us the belief that our characteristics are "locked in stone" when the sperm meets the egg. Dr. Williams opened the eyes of the research communities that expression of genes and therefore phenotypes function was modifiable through altered diet and nutritional status. He pointed out human biochemical variation in function was much greater than nutrition and medicine recognized prior to his publications.[8] Simopoulos has stated that "of all the recent scientific advances contributing to our understanding of the role of nutrition in disease prevention and the variability in human nutrient needs, the recognition of genetic variation as a contributing factor must rank am the highest."[9]
Other amazing scientist and biochemistry, who contributes with his research about nutrition and aging :
Dr. Bruce Ames (1928) is devoted to uncovering strategies to reverse the aging process, primarily by identifying the underlying mechanisms of degenerative disease. Best known for his groundbreaking research on the mitochondria, Dr. Ames’s lab was the first to document the synergy of lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine for optimizing mitochondrial function.
Following this work, Dr. Ames recently developed the Triage Theory of Aging. His hypothesis centers on the potentially long-term damage of moderate micronutrient deficiencies, including DNA damage leading to cancer. The scope of his research also includes investigations into the mutagenic causes of cancer.
Dr. Ames has authored over 500 research papers. Currently, Dr. Ames is emeritus professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of California, Berkeley and a senior scientist at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute
Dr.Ames said ,we have enough evidence to demonstrate that mitochondrial decay can contribute to degenerative diseases, including cancer and neurological decline, that are all associated with aging. The impact of mitochondrial decay is far-reaching. Old mitochondria generate increased amounts of mutagens by-products along with decreased membrane potential and cellular oxygen consumption. All of this decline cascades into DNA and RNA damage and into cells, tissues, and eventually the organs. Our inability to produce ATP as we did when we were younger is also a result of aging mitochondria.
The article builds upon Dr. Ames’s Triage Theory of optimal nutrition, which states that the human body prioritizes the use of vitamins and minerals when it is getting an insufficient amount to keep functioning. While short-term deficiencies are common, they are often not taken seriously by mainstream physicians. Dr. Ames’s research may change all that, as his paper shows how bodily insults accumulated over time as a result of vitamin and mineral loss can lead directly to age-related diseases.
Echoing the importance of this research, Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of the FASEB Journal said, “This paper should settle any debate about the importance of taking a good, complete, multivitamin every day. As this report shows, taking a multivitamin that contains selenium is a good way to prevent deficiencies that, over time, can cause harm in ways that we are just beginning to understand.”
MORE ABOUT Dr. Bruce Ames : http://www.doctoryourself.com/ames.html
Listen to the amazing video from Dr. Ames
Poor nutrition accelerates aging and obesity
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