Studies Reveal Natural Vitamins
Stall Arthritis Progression

Four whole-food natural vitamins made by America’s leading supplement manufacturer can have a profound effect in slowing arthritis progression. The vitamins (C, D, E and Vitamin B complex) each perform specific roles related to improvement of joint and ligament health.

A number of studies and available literature on vitamins for arthritis confirm this influence on the course of the disease, such as the Framingham osteoarthritis study, which found that people whose diets routinely included high amounts of vitamin C had significantly less risk of their arthritis progressing.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of joint disease and a leading cause of musculoskeletal disability in the elderly. There are more than 100 types of arthritis. Conventional management of the disease primarily focuses on the relief of symptoms, using agents such as analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These drugs, however, are associated with significant side effects and fail to slow the progression of osteoarthritis.

Natural vitamins C, D, E and Vitamin B complex have been shown to be at least as effective as NSAIDs at relieving the symptoms of osteoarthritis. Preliminary evidence suggests they may also have a role in influencing the course of osteoarthritis:

Vitamins for arthritis: vitamin C evidence from human studies

Of all natural vitamins, C is considered a vital anti-oxidant because it is associated with so many health benefitis. It slows inflammatory response in the body and is beneficial for arthritic symptoms. Research abounds on vitamin C; two osteoarthritis studies are shown below:

  • In the Framingham Osteoarthritis Cohort Study, a moderate intake of vitamin C (120-200 mg/day) resulted in a three-fold lower risk of osteoarthritis progression. The association was strong and highly significant, and was consistent between sexes, among non-supplement users, and among individuals with different severities of the disease. The higher vitamin C intake also reduced the likelihood of development of knee pain. Vitamin C had no significant effect on the onset of osteoarthritis. Despite these data, only a few randomized, controlled trials have examined the effect of vitamin C on humans with osteoarthritis.

  • One such study was a 2003 multi-center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial performed on 133 Danish patients with radiographically verified osteoarthritis of the hip and/or knee joints. The patients were treated with 1 g calcium ascorbate (containing 898 mg vitamin C) or placebo; the main outcome was that vitamin C reduced pain significantly compared to placebo. Similar superiority was found for a secondary outcome, a Lequense index (a 10-question survey for function and patient preference) where the demonstrated effect was reduced to less than half as pronounced as compared to results commonly tied to NSAIDs. Further controlled trials with longer duration are needed as this study was considered short-term. The study appeared in the journal Ugeskr Laeger as Reduced pain from osteoarthritis in hip joint or knee joint during treatment with calcium ascorbate.

Natural vitamins: featured sustained release 500 mg vitamin C supplement

As important as vitamin C is, our bodies can't store it. To make it available, we need it at regular intervals.

Natural vitamins can be instrumental in the management of arthritis symptoms. A sustained release Vitamin C supplement is very important in building collagen, which is an important component of cartilage. Vitamin C is needed to help with the cartilage rebuilding process. Vitamin C is also important for building the matrix upon which the bone is laid down. It is an essential anti-oxidant, which sweeps the body of destructive free radicals, which are detrimental to joint health.

The clinically proven delivery system used in the all natural sustained release 500 mg vitamin C supplement my husband and I use has been shown to maintain vitamin C levels for 12 hours. It was the first C on the market to offer natural plant extracts.

Vitamins for arthritis: vitamin D evidence from human studies

Normal bone and cartilage metabolism depends on the presence of vitamin D. Several studies on non-antioxidant vitamin D suggest adequate intake of vitamin D may slow the progression and possibly help prevent the development of osteoarthritis:

  • A study entitled Nutrient intake and obesity in a multidisciplinary assessment of osteoarthritis published in the journal Clinical Therapeutics in 1986 found dietary intake of vitamin D in osteoarthritis patients is below 80 percent of the Recommended Dietary Allowance.

  • Other studies, including Vitamin D and bone health in the elderly in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1982, and Cartilage and Vitamin D in the French journal Annales d'Endocrinologie in 1981 showed that suboptimal levels of vitamin D have adverse effects on calcium metabolism, osteoblastic activity (bone forming cells), matrix bone tissue formation, bone density, and articular cartilage turnover.

  • A longitudinal study published in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism in 1997 as Serum levels of vitamin D and hip osteoarthritis in elderly women reported that low vitamin D levels are associated with progression of radiographic osteoarthritis of the hips of women with 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels in the lowest tertile had increased loss of joint space and a trend toward a greater increase in radiographic features score.

  • In the Framingham study of 556 participants, risk of osteoarthritis progression increased three-fold in participants in the middle and lower tertiles for both vitamin D intake and serum levels of vitamin D. Incident OA of the knee was not consistently related to either intake or serum levels of vitamin D. This was reported in 1996 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

  • In another longitudinal study of 237 participants followed for eight years, published in 1999 in Arthritis & Rheumatism, found a similar relationship between vitamin D levels and incident osteoarthritis. Subjects in the lowest and middle tertiles of vitamin D intake had a three-fold increased risk of developing incident radiographic osteoarthritis, characterized by the development of joint space narrowing, compared with subjects in the highest tertile of 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels. The study was named Serum vitamin D levels and incident changes of radiographic hip osteoarthritis

Natural vitamins: featured vitamin D supplement

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble non-anti-oxidant vitamin that is naturally present in very few foods, added to others, and available as a dietary supplement. It is also produced endogenously when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin D synthesis.

Americans aged 50 and older are at increased risk of developing vitamin D insufficiency. As people age, skin cannot synthesize vitamin D as efficiently and the kidney is less able to convert vitamin D to its active hormone form. As many as half of older adults in the United States with hip fractures could have low serum 25(OH)D levels.

My husband and I have used natural vitamins and the featured supplement containing vitamin D for many years, a multivitamin for age 50+ containing 1000 IU (250% DV) Vitamin D per serving, available also without Vitamin K.

It is produced by the only dietary supplement company in the United States with a 20 year landmark study validating the quality and efficacy of its natural vitamins and nutritional supplements.

Natural vitamins for arthritis: vitamin E evidence from human studies

Several human clinical studies have examined the effect of vitamin E on both symptoms and structural changes in osteoarthritis patients and found therapeutic benefits of alpha-tocopherol in the symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis over a short term:

  • In a simple-blind, crossover study published in 1978 in the journal American Geriatrics Society, in 32 subjects with osteoarthritis, vitamin E supplementation (600 mg/day for 10 days) was significantly more effective than placebo in relieving pain in patients with established osteoarthritis. The research was entitled Tocopherol in osteoarthritis: a controlled pilot study.

  • A multicenter, placebo-controlled, doubleblind trial published in the German journal Z Orthop Ihre Grenzgeb in 1978 also demonstrated vitamin E (400 IU for six weeks) was significantly superior to placebo for relief of pain and the requirement for additional analgesic medications in 50 patients with osteoarthritis. Mobility improved in the group treated with vitamin E, although this observation did not reach statistical significance. The research was entitled Clinical effectiveness of Spondyvit (vitamin E) in activated arthroses.

  • The two short-term clinical trials with a small number of patients suggest vitamin E treatment may be more effective than placebo in relieving pain, and a third study, High dosage vitamin E therapy in patients with activated arthrosis additionally found that Vitamin E may have similar efficacy to the drug, diclofenac, as reported in 1990 in the journal Z Rhuematol entitled High dosage vitamin E therapy in patients with activated arthrosis.

  • The Framingham Cohort Study showed higher dietary intake of vitamin E reduced the risk of osteoarthritis progression in men only, while vitamin E had no significant effect on the incidence of osteoarthritis.

Vitamins for arthritis: conflicting vitamin E data on longer studies

Two larger studies, performed over a longer period, have provided conflicting results on the effect of vitamin E’s therapeutic benefits in the treatment of osteoarthritis:

  • A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of 500 IU vitamin E daily to 77 patients for six months revealed neither vitamin E nor placebo showed a significant improvement in pain, stiffness, or physical function. This six-month study was published in 2001 in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases entitled < i>.

  • A similar result was obtained in a two-year, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of vitamin E (500 IU daily) in 136 patients with osteoarthritis, published in the Journal of Rheumatology in 2002 as Supplementary vitamin E does not affect the loss of cartilage volume in knee osteoarthritis.

The positive effect of vitamin E on pain relief in osteoarthritis demonstrated in short-term studies has not been supported by the results of well conducted studies over longer periods of time. Further larger studies of longer duration are warranted.

There are more than 1,000 studies that support the safe and efficacious use of Vitamin E supplements. The Council on Responsible Nutrition, Jeffrey Blumberg [Chief of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts University] and other experts on Vitamin E affirm its safety and effectiveness. The scientific and clinical data shows well-established benefits of Vitamin E. Research studies have linked the antioxidant to numerous health benefits.

Natural vitamins: featured vitamin E supplement

Supplementation with natural vitamins, including Vitamin E, makes sense in support of a healthy lifestyle, and for people who desire nutritional insurance for the gaps left unfilled by the typical diet.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant (like Vitamin C) that protects the body and its joints from free radicals. While there remains conflicting and inconclusive studies showing that Vitamin E is markedly effective protection against arthritis progression, its properties indicate that it can help prevent or slow joints from becoming progressively worse.

When choosing a top quality Vitamin E supplement with 400 I.U, be sure it has d-alpha tocopherol concentrate and mixed tocopherols concentrate. Look for it in combination with at least 65 mcg of selenium and 38 mg of grapeseed extract as these three components combined deliver potent antioxidant protection from free radical cell damage. Also look for natural Vitamin E as it is more biologically active than the synthetic form and is better retained by the body for more effective antioxidant protection.

My husband and I use the featured vitamin E supplement because of the superior formulations of the manufacturer’s wellness product line as witnessed by their published research, including vitamin E.

Natural vitamins for arthritis: Vitamin B group

There have been numerous studies from the B vitamin group linked to stalling the progression of osteoarthritis, including niacin (vitamin B3), Folic acid (vitamin B9) and cobalamin (vitamin B12):

Niacin as niacinamide (vitamin B3)

  • In 1953 William Kaufman reported in the journal Connecticut Medicine that high-dose niacinamide, a form of vitamin B3, was beneficial in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Under the title Niacinamide therapy for joint mobility, therapeutic reversal of a common clinical manifestation of the normal aging process, he documented improvements in joint function, range of motion, increased muscle strength and endurance, and reduction in inflammation and activity of the underlying cause over long periods in these patients. Reported effects began after 1-3 months on niacinamide and reached their peak between one and three years.

  • Kaufman further documented these and other findings two years later in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society as reported under The use of vitamin therapy to reverse certain concomitants of aging.

  • In 1959, similar reports by Abram Hoffer, MD, appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. While these three studies involving treatment of arthritic patients with high-dose niacin or niacinamide showed promise, they involved only uncontrolled series of patients..

  • A controlled study was published In 1996 in the journal of Inflammation Research in which 3 g. of niacinamide daily was compared with placebo during three months of supplementation in 72 patients with osteoarthritis. This study suggests niacinamide may have a role in the treatment of symptoms in osteoarthritis, including increased joint mobility and global arthritis impact improved by 29 per cent in subjects on niacinamide. This was a parallel, double-blind, placebo-controlled study entitled The effect of niacinamide on osteoarthritis: a pilot study.

Folate as folic acid (vitamin B9) and Vitamin B12 as cyanocobalamin (cobalamin)

  • In 1988, Carmel et al studied the effect of cobalamin (vitamin B12) on the osteoblast (mononucleate cells that are responsible for bone formation) related proteins in 12 cobalamin-deficient patients given cobalamin replacement (form unspecified), as reported in the New England Journal of Medicine as Cobalamin and osteoblast-specific proteins. The researchers suggest osteoblast activity depends on cobalamin (vitamin B12) and bone metabolism is affected by cobalamin deficiency.

  • An increased prevalence of cobalamin and folate deficiencies has been reported in elderly people in studies reported in 1991 and 1992 in the Journal of the American Geratrics Society and in 1982 and 1994 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

  • A dietary survey of patients with osteoarthritis found this population to have folate intakes lower than the Recommended Dietary Allowance. The study Assessment of the diet of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis appeared in 1983, in the Journal of American Dietetic Association, and a similar study entitled Nutrient intake and obesity in a multidisciplinary assessment of osteoarthritis in the journal Clinical Therapeutics in 1986.[ 29,47 ]

  • A controlled, double-blinded, crossover study in 1994 reported in the Journal of the American College of Nutritionthe effect of folate and cobalamin supplements in 26 subjects diagnosed for an average 5.7 years with idiopathic osteoarthritis of the joints in the hands. For all subjects, mean right and left hand grip values were higher with combined cobalaminfolate ingestion than with other vitamin supplements and were equivalent to NSAIDs use. The number of tender hand joints was greater in those using NSAIDs when compared to cobalaminfolate supplementation (cobalamin 20 mcg/folate 6,400 mcg daily). No side effects were recorded with the vitamin combination. Dietary records of most of these subjects showed adequate daily dietary intake of folate and cobalamin.

Further research is needed on vitamin deficiencies suggested as possible causes of osteoarthritis, before dietary supplementation can be definitively prescribed for prevention or treatment. Similarly, the value of other nutritional supplements, including doses greater than amounts normally found in the body of antioxidant vitamins, remains to be determined.

National Academies of Science recommends adults over age 50 take B-vitamin supplement

Natural vitamins B6 and folate (folic acid) are the two B-vitamins most likely to be lacking in people with arthritis. These two cousin chemicals from the B-vitamin family are lacking in the population at large—for example, one study found 90 percent of women don’t get enough B6 in their diets. There’s also evidence that the inflammation process in people with rheumatoid arthritis rapidly uses up these B vitamins. People with arthritis, and forms of arthritis such as gout, are especially in need of vitamin B complex in a variety of bodily functions, including the manufacturing of protein, the building block for tissues such as cartilage.

The National Academies of Science (NAS) recommends that adults over the age of 50 take B vitamin supplements, or eat foods enriched with these vitamins, in order to prevent deficiency, which is common in this age group.

B vitamins are water-soluble vitamins, which means they don't accumulate in fat tissues in your body and they are flushed out of your system rather quickly in the form of urine. It is important, therefore, to have regular daily intakes of these vitamins.

Natural vitamins: Featured B vitamin supplements

The human body is able to handle high doses of natural vitamins of the B group, vitamin C and other water-soluble vitamins, which are not stored in our body organs. Taking all eight B-vitamins in a supplement (in balance, as in nature) is recommended over isolated B vitamin intake. Some health practitioners warn B’s taken in isolation can create metabolic imbalance and may pose nerve damage risk.

Nonetheless, one way to take B vitamins is by single-nutrient, high dosage supplements.

A second, more preferred way, is to take a complex B vitamin that contains all of the B-vitamins in balance (the same as B's are found in nature). Biotin and folate should be at least 100% of the Daily Value, the remaining B's higher, but none higher than 1350% DV. Unique patented processing incorporates folic acid in the featured B vitamin complex tablet’s coating resulting in superior bioavailability, unlike any others manufactured on the market..

A third way to take B-vitamins as natural vitamins is to choose a balanced whole food multivitamin. B-vitamins taken within the formulation of a featured multivitamin should be well balanced:

Recommended four featured natural vitamins for osteoarthritis

Scientific evidence supports the benefits of taking four supplements of natural vitamins, C, D, E and the B-group. Below are the featured supplement links:

Vitamin C. A sustained release 500 mg supplement

Vitamin D. A multivitamin containing 1000 IU (250% DV) vitamin D per serving

Vitamin E. A 400 I.U, d-alpha tocopherol concentrate and mixed tocopherols concentrate with 65 mcg of selenium and 38 mg of grapeseed extract

Vitamin B-group A complex B vitamin that contains all eight of the B’s-in balance the same as they are found in nature

Or

A multivitamin. A multivitamin containing the full complex of B’s formulated for adults 50+, without vitamin K, or with vitamin K

The following link demonstrates the difference in the products developed by the featured manufacturer versus the competition (once you reach the page, click on the words Naturally Safe Proven Effective again to play the video):

Natural Vitamins Disclaimer: Health statements on this natural vitamins page have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.






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