Vitamin Potencies Above RDA Levels Should Be Encouraged by Government

Article by Arnie Gitomer

Three Reasons Why Governments Should Encourage the Use of Vitamin Potencies Above the RDA
by Richard A. Passwater, Ph.D.

A) The better health resulting from potencies above the RDA means less governmental health and welfare expenditures. Optimal potencies, much above the RDA, has been PROVEN to result in better, more optimal health. Optimal health translates into less expenditure for health care and fewer capital expenses for building new hospitals and clinics.
B) Better citizen health results in less loss of time from work and more productivity to make the nation more competitive internationally which creates a better economy and more jobs.
C) Better citizen health reduces personal health expenses borne by the citizens and creates more productivity resulting in more income for the purchase of consumables. This stimulates the national economy.
Ten Facts Governments Should Consider
1) Vitamins at five to ten times the RDA reduce medical costs to the government. A 1997 study showed that hospital costs for birth defects, low-birth-weight premature births, and coronary heart disease could be reduced by 40, 60 and 38 percent respectively. For the conditions studied, nearly $20 billion in hospital charges would be eliminated with use of folic acid and vitamin E supplements at several multiples of the RDA. A 1993 study concluded that beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E supplements could lower U.S. health-care costs due to heart disease and cancer by about $9 Billion per year. [1,2]
2) 100-200 times the RDA for vitamin E reduces heart disease incidence by 40%. Lower amounts offer no protection. The necessary levels are obtainable from supplements only. [3-5] These same "high potencies" reduce heart attacks by 70% and slow progression of coronary artery disease. [6,7]
3) Four times the RDA of selenium cuts the cancer death rate in half, as well as reduces the incidence of cancer by 40%, the overall death rate by 15%, and certain cancers such as prostate cancer by 70%. [9] 
4) Vitamins at 2-5 times the RDA enhances the immune system and cuts cost of many illnesses. This protective effect of vitamins is above the levels needed for growth and minimal maintenance. [10,11]
5) Vitamins at 5-10 times the RDA protects against free-radicals that are involved in over 80 non-germ diseases associated with age. [12]
6) Dietary Supplements are being used successfully around the world to reduce medical costs for the individuals. Herbal supplements have been used successfully for thousands of years to self-treat certain conditions, thereby freeing up medical services for better usage of their time and reducing expenses of the individuals. Herbal supplements help provide better health care of the poor.
7) Vitamins are safe at several times the RDA, and have been used at megavitamin levels by scientifically advanced nations for more than 30 years. [13-15]
8) The RDA are designed for average health and do not consider optimal health. There is no valid, universal standard for RDA. RDA change from country to country and year to year. [16-18] Regulating dietary supplements at the ever-changing RDA levels would be an administrative nightmare, presenting many labeling and administrative problems.
9) Diets of the past serve only as partial guides to today's dietary needs. (The increased pollution has increased the levels of protectant nutrients required at the same time that over-processing, etc. has decreased the nutrient content of many foods.)
10) Freedom of choice for health care is a concept rapidly growing around the world in individuals who know and understand what they lack and need. This movement carries considerable "political" implications -- especially for politicians who do not recognize the importance of this growing movement of the populace.

In summary, higher potencies mean better health which results into grea