FEATURES: Can Vitamins Cure?

I think of vitamin C when I get the sniffles, vitamin E when I burn my hand on a hot pan and want to remedy the inevitable scar, and I think of omega-3’s for relieving inflammation. But in reality, if I injure my knee, I turn to Advil before fish oil. While I think vitamin supplements can be beneficial to overall health, if I’m being blunt here, I usually don’t put much stock in their ability to cure.

A recent study is changing my perception. New research shows that regular old vitamins and minerals might be so powerful they can actually “fix” defects in human DNA.
University of California, Berkeley scientists are looking at the relationship between human genetic flaws and vitamin and mineral supplements, seeing if there is a way for vitamins to cure genetic defects.

The research has been promising. Scientists are discovering that genetic differences that make human enzymes “less efficient” may be remedied with a personal supplement plan. In test studies, vitamins have been able to restore these enzymes. Researchers say there are about five “rare mutant enzymes” that cause deficiencies. These enzymes, they believe, can one day be “treated” by a specific vitamin plan catered to the individual’s needs.

Researchers are working with athletes and soldiers to figure out, under intense bodily exertion, what these enzymes are doing to slow people down. The hope is that once a genetic deficiency has been identified, it can be treated with “appropriate supplementation.” Get your genetics checked out, plan a trip to the vitamin store, and cure flaws in your DNA? Sounds more like something the writers at CSI would dream up!

 Investigating genes is sticky business. It raises very personal questions, do you really want to know what potential red flags lie in your genetic make up? Even if there is a promise of a cure, who wants to be confronted with their own genetic dark secrets?

For more reading on this fascinating discovery click here. 

< Prev		Next >