Vitamin B and Stroke Prevention?

Today I'm going to look into a new review that suggests that taking Vitamin B supplements may reduce risk of stroke. In the review, 14 studies were analyzed including nearly 55,000 participants who were followed for at least 6 months. Participants were separated into 2 groups, one group was given a placebo while the other was given a Vitamin B supplement. Over this time, nearly 2500 strokes occurred and a 7% reduced risk of stroke was seen in participants taking B vitamin supplements. However, no changes were seen in the severity of strokes or in risk of death from stroke in the supplemented group.
In this study it was suggested the folic acid (Vitamin B9) supplements reduced beneficial affects of Vitamin B supplementation while Vitamin B12 supplements had no affect on stroke risk.
On the other hand, a 2007 meta-analysis by Wang et al. suggests that folic acid supplementation over 36 months may help decrease stroke risk.

What to make of this information? A 6 month trial doesn't tell us how long people should take these supplements for, nor does it tell us what the results of long-term supplementation are. In addition, some studies that suggested folic acid reduces stroke risk looked at changes in an amino acid, homocysteine, to predict stroke risk. High homocysteine can indicate risk of heart disease, but reducing its levels is not currently believed to be linked to reducing risk of heart disease or stroke. Therefore, the reliability of studies only looking at changes homocysteine is unclear.

Sometimes I find it easier to go back to basics.
If you can control any of the better known risks of stroke such as smoking, high trans fat/ saturated fat diet, lack of exercise, high blood pressure, obesity and/ or high cholesterol, that may be a good starting point.

And  lets say you do your own research and find that you'd like to have more Vitamin B in your diet, take a look at the list below. Rich food sources of B Vitamins include (but are not limited to):

• Turkey, poultry, tuna, liver, beans, lentils, eggs, fish, shellfish, nuts
• Whole grains, enriched cereals
• Milk, cheese, yogurt

If choosing to take a Vitamin B supplement, be sure to check with your physician, pharmacist, and/or dietitian to find the safest dose for you!

Information Sources:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/106/3/388.full
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014067360760854X
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_140788.html
http://www.healthcastle.com/nutrition101_vitaminB6.shtml
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/Homocysteine-Folic-Acid-and-Cardiovascular-Disease_UCM_305997_Article.jsp 

What is The Deal with Vitamin Water?

Many of us have considered, or currently choose to drink vitamin water instead of regular water. My own husband has a flat of it in our pantry, so today is the day I give you (and my husband) the scoop on what is in Vitamin water (this has been a long time coming).

Vitamin water falls under the "natural health product" category, therefore, a nutrition facts table is not required. Today I'm looking at Glaceau Vitamin water which states it contains 120 calories/bottle. The fluid and vitamins are not a source of calories, therefore these 120 calories likely come from sugar, suggesting that the 591mL bottle contains approximately 30 grams of sugar. 

30 grams, what does that even mean? One can of regular Coca-cola contains 39g sugar, so we're not far off from the amount of sugar in one can of coke. If quantifying the amount helps, 30g of sugar is 7.5 teaspoons of sugar (4g sugar= 1 teaspoon). Even I found this to be surprising because if you've tasted this Vitamin water, its actually kind of bland!

Now onto the vitamins. The bottle in my hands contains:

• 375 mcg RAE (Vitamin A)
• 5 mg Vitmin B3
• 2.5 mg Pantothenic acid
• 0.5 mg Vitamin B6
• 1.5 mcg Vitamin B12
• 150 mg Vitamin C
• 3.4 mg Vitamin E
• 100 mg Calcium
• 100 mcg Folate

Now lets look at how much of these vitamins and minerals we need in a day.

Health Canada's Daily Recommended Dietary Allowance of these vitamins and minerals for the typical adult age 19-50 is:

• Vitamin A-   700-900 mcg RAE
• Vitamin B3-   14-16 mg
• Panthothenic Acid-   5 mg
• Vitamin B6-   1.3-1.7 mg
• Vitamin B12-   2.4 mcg
• Vitamin C-   75-90 mg
• Vitamin E-   15 mg
• Calcium-   1000 mg
• Folate-   400 mcg

So what does this tell us? Yes, vitamin water contains vitamins, however, it also contains sugar, artificial colour, natural flavours whose source and contents are unknown, and other additives. An interesting point was that on the bottle I was analyzing, it also stated "made for coca-cola refreshments canada company."

In my professional opinion, if a vitamin "boost" is what you're looking for, then taking a daily multivitamin may be a better idea. The best option would be to simply eat the foods that contain many of these minerals and vitamins, as drinking this vitamin water would not provide the fibre natural food sources would contain. 

Water or milk may be better beverage options, but as long as you understand what is in what you're drinking, the choice is up to you. Remember, any foods or drinks can fit into a diet, the key is always how much and how often!

Information Sources:

http://www.healthcastle.com/water-vitamins-or-just-plain-liquid-calories

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/alt_formats/hpfb-dgpsa/pdf/nutrition/dri_tables-eng.pdf

Update

After a whirlwind 6-8 months I'm finally back! Needless to say the last few months of my life have been extremely fast paced and exciting. Traveling through Europe, attending a wonderful friend's wedding in Hawaii and organizing and having my own wedding and moving to another province have all come and gone. Now back to sharing what I know and learn, and turning the focus back to food, nutrition, health, and positivity.