Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated:
1
00:00:00,973 --> 00:00:03,723
(peaceful music)
2
00:00:10,695 --> 00:00:14,455
(children shouting)
3
00:00:14,455 --> 00:00:18,386
At 12, Cian Moore loved playing football
4
00:00:18,386 --> 00:00:20,947
until his eyes started to hurt
5
00:00:20,947 --> 00:00:25,447
He had trouble focusing, reading, even kicking a ball.
6
00:00:26,666 --> 00:00:29,456
He withdrew from people
7
00:00:29,456 --> 00:00:31,803
Cian was going blind.
8
00:00:31,803 --> 00:00:36,308
I was terrified because I don't want to go blind.
9
00:00:36,308 --> 00:00:38,720
For three years, his mother took him
10
00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,446
to many doctors, trying to find out why.
11
00:00:42,446 --> 00:00:46,084
Those three years were the worst of being told
12
00:00:46,084 --> 00:00:50,793
"There's nothing we can do," so it's like okay, he's blind,
13
00:00:50,793 --> 00:00:52,043
he'll be blind.
14
00:00:55,690 --> 00:00:58,322
What no doctor thought to prescribe through all of those
15
00:00:58,322 --> 00:01:02,725
consultations was these, just two capsules a year
16
00:01:02,725 --> 00:01:04,887
can save a child's sight.
17
00:01:04,887 --> 00:01:06,983
It can even save their life.
18
00:01:06,983 --> 00:01:10,025
In fact, this remedy has already saved over five million
19
00:01:10,025 --> 00:01:14,192
lives, but this isn't a medicine, it isn't a drug.
20
00:01:15,249 --> 00:01:16,749
This is vitamin A.
21
00:01:19,862 --> 00:01:23,589
But why was Cian so low in this vitamin?
22
00:01:23,589 --> 00:01:26,028
Well, since he was six year olds, he lived on bland
23
00:01:26,028 --> 00:01:29,973
foods such as chicken and chips, he wouldn't touch any
24
00:01:29,973 --> 00:01:32,706
fresh fruit or vegetables.
25
00:01:32,706 --> 00:01:36,808
He'd starve, he wouldn't care or if you would make him
26
00:01:36,808 --> 00:01:38,308
he would vomit it.
27
00:01:39,811 --> 00:01:42,557
Hundreds of thousands of malnourished children
28
00:01:42,557 --> 00:01:46,635
are on the brink of going blind because they lack vitamin A.
29
00:01:46,635 --> 00:01:50,106
Most are in developing countries, and caught early,
30
00:01:50,106 --> 00:01:52,439
their sight can be restored.
31
00:01:53,921 --> 00:01:57,381
For Cian, high dose vitamin A supplements saved the sight
32
00:01:57,381 --> 00:02:02,214
in his right eye, but he's permanently blind in the other.
33
00:02:03,246 --> 00:02:07,032
Vitamin A literally has the power to make the blind see,
34
00:02:07,032 --> 00:02:08,503
yet here's the rub.
35
00:02:08,503 --> 00:02:11,565
Taking extra vitamin A will not offer any benefit if you
36
00:02:11,565 --> 00:02:15,871
already have enough, and too much is toxic.
37
00:02:15,871 --> 00:02:17,204
It can kill you.
38
00:02:21,952 --> 00:02:25,941
In 1913, Antarctic explorers Douglas Mawson and Xavier
39
00:02:25,941 --> 00:02:29,695
Mertz were fighting for their lives.
40
00:02:29,695 --> 00:02:33,814
With most of their food gone, they faced a stark choice.
41
00:02:33,814 --> 00:02:35,647
Eat their dogs or die.
42
00:02:43,303 --> 00:02:48,013
After reluctantly eating their dogs, the men fell ill,
43
00:02:48,013 --> 00:02:49,596
burning with fever.
44
00:02:50,935 --> 00:02:53,856
Within days, Mertz was dead.
45
00:02:53,856 --> 00:02:57,773
Mawson, against the odds, made it back to camp.
46
00:02:59,737 --> 00:03:00,570
Ho!
47
00:03:02,380 --> 00:03:05,313
(dogs whining)
48
00:03:05,313 --> 00:03:07,704
So what was the mystery illness that
49
00:03:07,704 --> 00:03:11,605
killed Mertz and nearly cost Mawson his life?
50
00:03:11,605 --> 00:03:13,907
Well, when they ate their dogs, they weren't just eating
51
00:03:13,907 --> 00:03:18,907
canine flesh and fat, they also ate the dog's livers which
52
00:03:19,115 --> 00:03:21,865
contain high levels of vitamin A.
53
00:03:25,366 --> 00:03:28,040
So basically, they overdosed.
54
00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:32,873
Mertz went mad, his condition known as hypervitaminosis A.
55
00:03:34,765 --> 00:03:39,765
Hypervitaminosis A is rare, but deadly, and today, we know
56
00:03:40,097 --> 00:03:43,227
it can be caused by overuse of high dose vitamin A
57
00:03:43,227 --> 00:03:46,786
supplements, the same kind of supplements that can save
58
00:03:46,786 --> 00:03:48,119
a child's sight.
59
00:03:53,975 --> 00:03:58,975
This power and complexity lies at the heart of the great
60
00:03:59,215 --> 00:04:01,101
vitamin story.
61
00:04:01,101 --> 00:04:03,851
(dramatic music)
62
00:04:08,015 --> 00:04:11,684
I'm embarking on an epic, world spanning investigation
63
00:04:11,684 --> 00:04:14,184
of vitamin science in history.
64
00:04:15,976 --> 00:04:17,726
That is one big fish.
65
00:04:18,734 --> 00:04:21,680
I want to know how we discovered them.
66
00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:23,513
You sure this is safe?
67
00:04:25,968 --> 00:04:27,620
What they actually are.
68
00:04:27,620 --> 00:04:30,484
The 13 vitamins can be divided into two teams.
69
00:04:30,484 --> 00:04:32,817
How we learnt to build them.
70
00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:35,844
Tonight, Walgreens and Target have pulled
71
00:04:35,844 --> 00:04:37,074
the products nationwide.
72
00:04:37,074 --> 00:04:39,128
And how safe they are.
73
00:04:39,128 --> 00:04:40,947
All vitamins, all nutrients,
74
00:04:40,947 --> 00:04:43,059
they are toxic in high amounts.
75
00:04:43,059 --> 00:04:45,556
We gotta start taking these seriously as we should with
76
00:04:45,556 --> 00:04:47,511
every chemical we put into our bodies.
77
00:04:47,511 --> 00:04:49,689
You shouldn't assume it's safe and you shouldn't assume
78
00:04:49,689 --> 00:04:51,040
it's beneficial.
79
00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,675
Currently we don't know about the long term ethics
80
00:04:53,675 --> 00:04:55,691
of diet supplements.
81
00:04:55,691 --> 00:04:57,243
I'm a scientist.
82
00:04:57,243 --> 00:05:01,669
I'm also a father and I want to know how do I do the best
83
00:05:01,669 --> 00:05:06,419
for my son, and one day, might he be taking vitamin pills
84
00:05:07,644 --> 00:05:08,477
to Mars?
85
00:05:09,596 --> 00:05:12,763
(engine blasting off)
86
00:05:13,741 --> 00:05:16,485
Across the word, some experts claim that taking vitamins
87
00:05:16,485 --> 00:05:19,558
can be life savers, whereas others argue that it's just
88
00:05:19,558 --> 00:05:22,882
a waste of time or even dangerous, so how are we supposed
89
00:05:22,882 --> 00:05:26,130
to know whether the take them or not?
90
00:05:26,130 --> 00:05:28,880
(dramatic music)
91
00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:36,074
Everyone is intimidated by a shark. Become
a Card Shark AMERICASCARDROOM.COM
92
00:05:37,367 --> 00:05:40,450
(train bell ringing)
93
00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,381
Over a billion of us take at least one vitamin or supplement
94
00:05:52,381 --> 00:05:54,454
hoping to keep as healthy as possible
95
00:05:54,454 --> 00:05:56,434
for as long as possible,
96
00:05:56,434 --> 00:06:00,495
but most of us know nothing about them.
97
00:06:00,495 --> 00:06:04,032
This ordinary meal contains almost every single essential
98
00:06:04,032 --> 00:06:05,894
vitamin and nutrient we need.
99
00:06:05,894 --> 00:06:08,728
There are vitamins A, B, and K in the lettuce, lots of
100
00:06:08,728 --> 00:06:12,438
vitamin Bs in the chicken, vitamin C in the tomato, K in
101
00:06:12,438 --> 00:06:15,886
the cucumber, vitamin D in the egg yolk?
102
00:06:15,886 --> 00:06:18,076
There are even vitamins in your coffee and that's before
103
00:06:18,076 --> 00:06:19,615
you add the milk.
104
00:06:19,615 --> 00:06:23,684
In fact, this meal contains every single one of these but
105
00:06:23,684 --> 00:06:26,667
what are these exactly and what are they doing to
106
00:06:26,667 --> 00:06:30,417
our bodies, and how much do we actually need?
107
00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,798
Around 100 years ago, we didn't even know that vitamins
108
00:06:36,798 --> 00:06:37,631
existed.
109
00:06:38,609 --> 00:06:43,609
We knew we needed protein, carbohydrate, fat, and minerals
110
00:06:44,042 --> 00:06:46,982
and some suspected there were other vital substances
111
00:06:46,982 --> 00:06:49,399
in food but they had no name.
112
00:06:51,761 --> 00:06:54,620
And then in 1911, a Polish chemist began some important
113
00:06:54,620 --> 00:06:58,443
experiments with some unfortunate pigeons and he changed
114
00:06:58,443 --> 00:07:00,490
the course of history.
115
00:07:00,490 --> 00:07:02,990
His name was Dr. Casimir Funk.
116
00:07:04,117 --> 00:07:09,117
♪ It must have been some flash of inspiration ♪
117
00:07:09,655 --> 00:07:14,655
♪ Rendered scientifically precise ♪
118
00:07:15,397 --> 00:07:20,397
♪ Conclusions that he drew from observation ♪
119
00:07:21,576 --> 00:07:26,576
♪ Feeding pigeons different types of rice ♪
120
00:07:26,698 --> 00:07:29,688
♪ He said some get sick ♪
121
00:07:29,688 --> 00:07:32,431
♪ Some get well ♪
122
00:07:32,431 --> 00:07:37,431
♪ It ain't no germ or virus, not as far as I can tell ♪
123
00:07:38,013 --> 00:07:43,013
♪ There's something else inside that feed ♪
124
00:07:43,796 --> 00:07:46,396
♪ It isn't something bad they get ♪
125
00:07:46,396 --> 00:07:49,474
♪ It's something good they need ♪
126
00:07:49,474 --> 00:07:53,920
♪ Thank you Dr. Funk ♪
127
00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:57,587
♪ For helping us understand ♪
128
00:07:59,121 --> 00:08:01,568
At the turn of the 20th century, millions of people were
129
00:08:01,568 --> 00:08:04,823
suffering from diseases rarely seen today, things like
130
00:08:04,823 --> 00:08:08,071
beri beri, pellagra, rickets, and scurvy.
131
00:08:08,071 --> 00:08:09,548
Now, the thinking at the time was that it was the
132
00:08:09,548 --> 00:08:12,859
presence of something bad that made us sick, germs and
133
00:08:12,859 --> 00:08:15,042
toxins were all the range.
134
00:08:15,042 --> 00:08:17,632
♪ It all comes down to the (mumbles) aminos ♪
135
00:08:17,632 --> 00:08:19,284
♪ Casimir Funk is ♪
136
00:08:19,284 --> 00:08:22,878
When Funk fed his pigeons white rice, starch, or sugar,
137
00:08:22,878 --> 00:08:24,211
they became ill.
138
00:08:25,357 --> 00:08:28,509
But fed brown rice, they recovered.
139
00:08:28,509 --> 00:08:31,378
So Funk wanted to identify the substance in the brown rice
140
00:08:31,378 --> 00:08:32,711
that cured them.
141
00:08:34,893 --> 00:08:37,095
Now, Funk didn't know where this mystery substance actually
142
00:08:37,095 --> 00:08:40,822
was but he invented a word to describe it, from the Latin
143
00:08:40,822 --> 00:08:44,440
vita, meaning life, and amine, containing nitrogen.
144
00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:46,831
Later, the E was dropped in English, so the word
145
00:08:46,831 --> 00:08:48,234
became vitamin.
146
00:08:48,234 --> 00:08:52,308
Dr. Funk invented a catchy word that captured a fresh idea.
147
00:08:52,308 --> 00:08:55,160
There was a new family of nutrients, the absence of which
148
00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:56,826
caused disease.
149
00:08:56,826 --> 00:08:59,314
Soon it became evident that they were not all amines,
150
00:08:59,314 --> 00:09:01,169
but the name stuck and the word vitamin
151
00:09:01,169 --> 00:09:04,752
became famous, taking on a life of its own.
152
00:09:08,435 --> 00:09:11,518
♪ Thank you Dr. Funk ♪
153
00:09:13,646 --> 00:09:17,373
Over the next few decades, all 13 vitamins were identified.
154
00:09:17,373 --> 00:09:20,697
Soon, they were synthesized and turned into pills.
155
00:09:20,697 --> 00:09:23,787
Little did Dr. Funk realize, his vitamins would spawn
156
00:09:23,787 --> 00:09:27,035
100 billion dollar a year industry.
157
00:09:27,035 --> 00:09:28,702
Vitamania had begun.
158
00:09:31,140 --> 00:09:34,450
♪ Thank you Dr. Funk ♪
159
00:09:34,450 --> 00:09:38,200
♪ Casimir Funk, Casimir Funk ♪
160
00:09:40,461 --> 00:09:43,044
(lively music)
161
00:09:45,288 --> 00:09:48,099
I've come here to one of the largest nutritional trade
162
00:09:48,099 --> 00:09:49,349
shows on Earth.
163
00:09:58,677 --> 00:10:02,106
They're expecting tens of thousands of people, all buying
164
00:10:02,106 --> 00:10:05,070
and selling the latest and greatest in vitamins and dietary
165
00:10:05,070 --> 00:10:06,070
supplements.
166
00:10:07,115 --> 00:10:09,615
I want to see what's on offer.
167
00:10:14,284 --> 00:10:16,879
After about four days, you really feel all the brain
168
00:10:16,879 --> 00:10:20,466
health benefits, so cognitive support, memory support,
169
00:10:20,466 --> 00:10:22,260
amazing sleep.
170
00:10:22,260 --> 00:10:25,404
Historically, silver's known to be antiviral, antifungal,
171
00:10:25,404 --> 00:10:28,268
antibacterial to build your immune system by potentiating
172
00:10:28,268 --> 00:10:29,553
your white blood cell count.
173
00:10:29,553 --> 00:10:32,836
They're organic botanical source vitamins and instead of
174
00:10:32,836 --> 00:10:35,568
putting them in isolated sugar syrups, we put them
175
00:10:35,568 --> 00:10:36,651
in more food.
176
00:10:41,433 --> 00:10:44,352
Vitamins have managed to develop this halo around them
177
00:10:44,352 --> 00:10:48,307
where everything the word vitamin touches seems like it
178
00:10:48,307 --> 00:10:51,678
should be both miraculous and safe.
179
00:10:51,678 --> 00:10:53,721
Science journalist Catherine Price spent
180
00:10:53,721 --> 00:10:57,170
five years investigating vitamins.
181
00:10:57,170 --> 00:10:59,912
We tend to think of vitamins and supplements as this kind
182
00:10:59,912 --> 00:11:02,221
of home grown industry of people gathering herbs in their
183
00:11:02,221 --> 00:11:04,194
backyards and boiling oranges
184
00:11:04,194 --> 00:11:05,978
for vitamin C and it's actually
185
00:11:05,978 --> 00:11:08,145
a 40 billion dollar a year industry
186
00:11:08,145 --> 00:11:10,570
in the US and 100 billion dollars
187
00:11:10,570 --> 00:11:13,751
around the world and it's growing rapidly.
188
00:11:13,751 --> 00:11:15,864
Who is taking vitamins?
189
00:11:15,864 --> 00:11:17,636
More than half of Americans are taking some kind of
190
00:11:17,636 --> 00:11:22,329
supplement and ironically, that half is often the healthier
191
00:11:22,329 --> 00:11:25,171
half of the American population.
192
00:11:25,171 --> 00:11:27,350
You have to have a certain amount of awareness and interest
193
00:11:27,350 --> 00:11:30,904
in health to go out and buy these products.
194
00:11:30,904 --> 00:11:34,179
It has omega-369 and it's the only sauce of omega-7
195
00:11:34,179 --> 00:11:36,095
in the plant sauce world.
196
00:11:36,095 --> 00:11:39,400
All of our multi-vitamins have a base of omega-3
197
00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:43,281
fish oil, multi-vitamin as well as vitamins E12 and D3.
198
00:11:43,281 --> 00:11:46,674
C, D, E, all your B vitamins.
199
00:11:46,674 --> 00:11:49,651
Folic acid, you name it, it's in there.
200
00:11:49,651 --> 00:11:53,192
Most vitamins are self prescribed.
201
00:11:53,192 --> 00:11:56,150
They're not recommended by a doctor.
202
00:11:56,150 --> 00:11:57,824
So we should know that the biggest category for
203
00:11:57,824 --> 00:12:00,331
vitamins is multi-vitamins.
204
00:12:00,331 --> 00:12:03,379
Most of us, not all of us, have been taught from a young age
205
00:12:03,379 --> 00:12:05,754
they're something that you take just in case.
206
00:12:05,754 --> 00:12:07,914
Just in case you don't get enough fruits and vegetables
207
00:12:07,914 --> 00:12:10,912
from your diet, just take the multi-vitamin.
208
00:12:10,912 --> 00:12:12,790
And I think when you talk about vitamins, a big part of the
209
00:12:12,790 --> 00:12:14,746
psychology is hope.
210
00:12:14,746 --> 00:12:17,412
What you're looking at right here is a powdered magnesium
211
00:12:17,412 --> 00:12:18,711
citrate formula.
212
00:12:18,711 --> 00:12:21,669
We have an adrenal fatigue formula that has a very heavy
213
00:12:21,669 --> 00:12:23,335
B-complex.
214
00:12:23,335 --> 00:12:25,773
These are biological response modifiers.
215
00:12:25,773 --> 00:12:28,121
Are there like vitamins in here?
216
00:12:28,121 --> 00:12:29,783
Yeah, there's--
217
00:12:29,783 --> 00:12:30,841
Some?
218
00:12:30,841 --> 00:12:34,710
Then, Catherine told me something I found staggering.
219
00:12:34,710 --> 00:12:36,755
How are vitamins regulated?
220
00:12:36,755 --> 00:12:38,711
Vitamins are not regulated the way that you would think
221
00:12:38,711 --> 00:12:40,468
they would be.
222
00:12:40,468 --> 00:12:43,514
Technically, the FDA is in control of them, but all of
223
00:12:43,514 --> 00:12:46,536
these products around us, all of the 85 thousand dietary
224
00:12:46,536 --> 00:12:49,356
supplement products on the shelves,
225
00:12:49,356 --> 00:12:52,446
none of them are required to be tested for safety
226
00:12:52,446 --> 00:12:55,235
or for efficacy before they're sold.
227
00:12:55,235 --> 00:12:56,585
So not at all.
228
00:12:56,585 --> 00:13:00,371
The FDA cannot require any of these companies to test them
229
00:13:00,371 --> 00:13:02,658
to make sure they do what they say or that they're not
230
00:13:02,658 --> 00:13:04,794
going to hurt you.
231
00:13:04,794 --> 00:13:07,073
And it's not just the US.
232
00:13:07,073 --> 00:13:10,437
In Australia and Europa as well, they're not required to be
233
00:13:10,437 --> 00:13:12,937
tested for safety before sale.
234
00:13:13,909 --> 00:13:16,591
But what about kid's vitamins?
235
00:13:16,591 --> 00:13:18,542
Children's vitamins are regulated the same way adult
236
00:13:18,542 --> 00:13:20,471
vitamins are, which is to say they're not required to be
237
00:13:20,471 --> 00:13:23,815
tested for safety or for efficacy before they're sold.
238
00:13:23,815 --> 00:13:26,323
So what you're giving your child doesn't have
239
00:13:26,323 --> 00:13:27,406
to be tested?
240
00:13:28,785 --> 00:13:29,702
So nothing?
241
00:13:30,572 --> 00:13:31,405
No.
242
00:13:35,985 --> 00:13:39,189
Never in history have we had the ability to manipulate
243
00:13:39,189 --> 00:13:42,573
our nutrition in such extraordinary ways, but how do we know
244
00:13:42,573 --> 00:13:45,752
if what we're doing is a good idea or not?
245
00:13:45,752 --> 00:13:49,091
I'm a scientist, my background is in physics, and so I have
246
00:13:49,091 --> 00:13:51,723
a bias towards evidence and I'm skeptical of some of the
247
00:13:51,723 --> 00:13:54,464
marketing claims made here, but I'm trying to keep an open
248
00:13:54,464 --> 00:13:57,985
mind, after all, there have been at least 10 Nobel prizes
249
00:13:57,985 --> 00:14:01,775
awarded for vitamin science, so I'm in search of a deeper
250
00:14:01,775 --> 00:14:05,168
understanding and I want to start with the basics, like
251
00:14:05,168 --> 00:14:07,335
what exactly is a vitamin?
252
00:14:09,268 --> 00:14:12,018
(peaceful music)
253
00:14:15,615 --> 00:14:19,865
Vitamins are chemicals that are essential for life.
254
00:14:21,598 --> 00:14:25,015
Without them, we get sick and we can die.
255
00:14:28,945 --> 00:14:32,421
Our bodies can't make vitamins by themselves, so we usually
256
00:14:32,421 --> 00:14:35,017
get them from our food.
257
00:14:35,017 --> 00:14:38,141
So far, 13 vitamins have been identified and although they
258
00:14:38,141 --> 00:14:41,965
share a name, these are very different molecules and they
259
00:14:41,965 --> 00:14:44,450
do very different things.
260
00:14:44,450 --> 00:14:47,033
(bright music)
261
00:14:48,670 --> 00:14:51,872
♪ Hey, hey, I'm vitamin A ♪
262
00:14:51,872 --> 00:14:55,896
♪ The first vitamin on display ♪
263
00:14:55,896 --> 00:14:59,829
♪ When you open your eyes, I help you see the light ♪
264
00:14:59,829 --> 00:15:04,279
♪ When the germs arise, I'm gonna teach you to fight ♪
265
00:15:04,279 --> 00:15:07,608
♪ Here we come, we're the vitamin Bs ♪
266
00:15:07,608 --> 00:15:10,926
♪ We're a great big family ♪
267
00:15:10,926 --> 00:15:14,297
♪ So much energy you can gain ♪
268
00:15:14,297 --> 00:15:17,946
♪ For your metabolism and your genes and your brain ♪
269
00:15:17,946 --> 00:15:22,946
♪ One two three five six seven nine 12, the Bs ♪
270
00:15:23,646 --> 00:15:27,204
♪ Howdy folks, they call me vitamin C ♪
271
00:15:27,204 --> 00:15:28,446
♪ Vitamin C ♪
272
00:15:28,446 --> 00:15:33,446
♪ I'm a healer and protector and I can almost guarantee ♪
273
00:15:34,052 --> 00:15:39,052
♪ You're impervious to scurvy if you get your share of me ♪
274
00:15:39,906 --> 00:15:44,906
♪ Vitamin C, vitamin C, vitamin C ♪
275
00:15:47,157 --> 00:15:52,157
♪ I think it's unfair, it almost seems cruel ♪
276
00:15:54,378 --> 00:15:59,378
♪ To come from the sun and still be so cool ♪
277
00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:05,645
♪ Warmest regards, vitamin D ♪
278
00:16:05,645 --> 00:16:08,170
♪ Yeah ♪
279
00:16:08,170 --> 00:16:13,170
♪ Well, babe I know sometimes it's hard to recognize ♪
280
00:16:13,762 --> 00:16:18,762
♪ When you need some help to antioxidize ♪
281
00:16:19,222 --> 00:16:23,584
♪ So stop those radicals from running wild and free ♪
282
00:16:23,584 --> 00:16:28,584
♪ Look to me, E ♪
283
00:16:29,718 --> 00:16:32,481
♪ Hey I'm K, there's something I'd say, I keep your body ♪
284
00:16:32,481 --> 00:16:34,679
♪ Rocking in a critical way ♪
285
00:16:34,679 --> 00:16:37,430
♪ A well known cornerstone for your blood and bone ♪
286
00:16:37,430 --> 00:16:40,073
♪ I can't do it alone, you need all the crew, the whole ♪
287
00:16:40,073 --> 00:16:43,037
♪ Retinue, props to do because that's how you grew ♪
288
00:16:43,037 --> 00:16:45,682
♪ And that's what you need to get through the day, ♪
289
00:16:45,682 --> 00:16:49,849
♪ Talk about vitamins A through K ♪
290
00:16:55,971 --> 00:16:58,967
The 13 vitamins can be divided into two teams, the water
291
00:16:58,967 --> 00:17:02,991
soluble team consisting of all the B vitamins and vitamin C
292
00:17:02,991 --> 00:17:04,224
and the fat soluble team,
293
00:17:04,224 --> 00:17:07,746
consisting of A, D, E, and K, ADEK.
294
00:17:07,746 --> 00:17:10,006
So why does this matter?
295
00:17:10,006 --> 00:17:12,838
Well, we can get rid of excess water soluble vitamins
296
00:17:12,838 --> 00:17:15,566
in our urine, but the fat soluble ones are stored in our
297
00:17:15,566 --> 00:17:18,808
livers and fatty tissue, so they're the ones that can
298
00:17:18,808 --> 00:17:21,475
build up easily to toxic levels.
299
00:17:23,658 --> 00:17:26,440
What does a food data miner do?
300
00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:28,406
So essentially, I'm looking at all
301
00:17:28,406 --> 00:17:31,807
these different kind of (mumbles) foods.
302
00:17:31,807 --> 00:17:33,693
Someone who's an expert in the vitamins in our
303
00:17:33,693 --> 00:17:36,776
food is dietician Dr. Yasmine Probst.
304
00:17:38,441 --> 00:17:42,777
If I could see the amount of vitamins that I need every day,
305
00:17:42,777 --> 00:17:44,123
it would look like this?
306
00:17:44,123 --> 00:17:44,956
That's right,
307
00:17:44,956 --> 00:17:45,789
that's a very close representation
308
00:17:45,789 --> 00:17:48,328
to what we need, they're tiny.
309
00:17:48,328 --> 00:17:49,523
There's hardly anything here.
310
00:17:49,523 --> 00:17:50,684
Exactly.
311
00:17:50,684 --> 00:17:52,044
They're a speck on this plate here.
312
00:17:52,044 --> 00:17:54,633
Yeah, like vitamin D there, nearly invisible.
313
00:17:54,633 --> 00:17:56,064
Yeah, exactly.
314
00:17:56,064 --> 00:17:59,390
It just looks like a few pinches of salt or spice.
315
00:17:59,390 --> 00:18:02,050
Yeah, so it might be about the size of say, a poppy seed
316
00:18:02,050 --> 00:18:06,714
or something really tiny that people see on a regular basis.
317
00:18:06,714 --> 00:18:09,559
So in order to get all the vitamins I need in a day, this
318
00:18:09,559 --> 00:18:11,400
is the food I need to eat?
319
00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:14,587
That's right, that's right, not very many foods at all.
320
00:18:14,587 --> 00:18:18,011
But I would eat this in one meal, this looks like dinner
321
00:18:18,011 --> 00:18:19,338
and dessert to me.
322
00:18:19,338 --> 00:18:21,273
Well, this is the amount that you would need as an
323
00:18:21,273 --> 00:18:22,732
average adult male.
324
00:18:22,732 --> 00:18:25,134
Some people imagine you need to eat a giant mound
325
00:18:25,134 --> 00:18:27,875
of food, you know like a pile of spinach to get the vitamins
326
00:18:27,875 --> 00:18:31,114
that you need in a day, but it's really not that much.
327
00:18:31,114 --> 00:18:33,137
Well, I guess there's a little bit of confusion out there.
328
00:18:33,137 --> 00:18:35,317
People think that the amount of food that you need are
329
00:18:35,317 --> 00:18:38,352
these really big numbers but it's really not that much
330
00:18:38,352 --> 00:18:41,054
and it's more about eating the right foods in the right
331
00:18:41,054 --> 00:18:44,686
balance so that you get the right nutrients that you need.
332
00:18:44,686 --> 00:18:47,693
One carrot gives me all I would need of vitamin A.
333
00:18:47,693 --> 00:18:51,129
That's right, one medium carrot.
334
00:18:51,129 --> 00:18:53,918
When we eat a carrot, vitamins are released
335
00:18:53,918 --> 00:18:58,751
into the bloodstream, beginning a complex molecular dance.
336
00:18:59,593 --> 00:19:00,843
Take vitamin A.
337
00:19:01,811 --> 00:19:05,956
Our body makes it from a plant chemical called beta carotene
338
00:19:05,956 --> 00:19:09,637
and transforms it into forms of vitamin A that are essential
339
00:19:09,637 --> 00:19:14,637
for sight, immune function, and even how an embryo develops.
340
00:19:16,439 --> 00:19:20,523
Each of the vitamins trigger amazing chemical reactions,
341
00:19:20,523 --> 00:19:24,606
and together, they impact every part of our body.
342
00:19:25,610 --> 00:19:30,523
We can't hear, smell, think, touch, taste, breathe
343
00:19:30,523 --> 00:19:33,001
without these 13 vitamins,
344
00:19:33,001 --> 00:19:36,751
they don't just keep us alive, they are life.
345
00:19:38,417 --> 00:19:42,384
And when it's all working well, it's a wonder.
346
00:19:42,384 --> 00:19:47,384
But when we don't have enough, when there are deficiencies,
347
00:19:47,541 --> 00:19:49,541
the body's systems fail.
348
00:19:54,829 --> 00:19:58,106
I noticed that I was getting very tired.
349
00:19:58,106 --> 00:20:01,105
Weakness, blood was coming out through the side of the
350
00:20:01,105 --> 00:20:04,855
teeth and stuff and it started getting worse.
351
00:20:07,475 --> 00:20:12,223
And then I also noticed that I was sleeping a lot.
352
00:20:12,223 --> 00:20:17,223
Now, I'm talking about from six in the afternoon all the way
353
00:20:18,251 --> 00:20:21,418
'til 10 in the morning, I mean, a lot.
354
00:20:22,770 --> 00:20:25,884
And so that kind of scared me, so I knew something
355
00:20:25,884 --> 00:20:30,134
was wrong, so that's why I'm glad I went and I seen
356
00:20:31,244 --> 00:20:32,654
Dr. Churchill.
357
00:20:32,654 --> 00:20:35,321
(intense music)
358
00:20:42,464 --> 00:20:45,128
Sonny Lopez had a disease that no one had
359
00:20:45,128 --> 00:20:49,696
thought to look for, let alone test for for decades,
360
00:20:49,696 --> 00:20:52,113
and he wasn't the first case.
361
00:20:55,073 --> 00:21:00,073
So the first patient came in with painful, bruisy rash
362
00:21:00,252 --> 00:21:04,296
on both of his legs and general joint pains and fatigue
363
00:21:04,296 --> 00:21:08,988
and other systems and he had been treated for what they
364
00:21:08,988 --> 00:21:12,425
thought was an infection of the legs with no improvement,
365
00:21:12,425 --> 00:21:16,576
people were looking for blood clots and other things and all
366
00:21:16,576 --> 00:21:19,873
of the tests were coming up negative.
367
00:21:19,873 --> 00:21:23,040
Someone thought to ask about his diet.
368
00:21:24,345 --> 00:21:27,774
They found that he had been eating nothing but white bread
369
00:21:27,774 --> 00:21:31,879
and American cheese for the last several years.
370
00:21:31,879 --> 00:21:36,002
No fruits, no vegetables, nothing that would provide you
371
00:21:36,002 --> 00:21:41,002
with the basic level of nutrition that you would need.
372
00:21:41,084 --> 00:21:43,975
Then, with that kind of nutritional problem, maybe we should
373
00:21:43,975 --> 00:21:48,250
check some vitamin levels and his vitamin C level came back
374
00:21:48,250 --> 00:21:51,809
at absolutely undetectable, level of zero.
375
00:21:51,809 --> 00:21:54,282
Dr. Eric Churchill was stunned.
376
00:21:54,282 --> 00:21:57,092
He realized the patients had a disease common more than
377
00:21:57,092 --> 00:21:59,675
100 years ago, they had scurvy.
378
00:22:01,643 --> 00:22:03,944
This is something you hear about with pirates in the
379
00:22:03,944 --> 00:22:07,414
18th century, it's just not a disease that we thought
380
00:22:07,414 --> 00:22:08,997
people had anymore.
381
00:22:10,011 --> 00:22:12,761
(dramatic music)
382
00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:22,666
Scurvy was absolutely devastating
383
00:22:22,666 --> 00:22:27,066
it's been estimated that between the late 1400s and early
384
00:22:27,066 --> 00:22:30,862
1800s, two million sailors perished as a result
385
00:22:30,862 --> 00:22:32,195
of this disease.
386
00:22:33,185 --> 00:22:35,275
It's harder than I expected.
387
00:22:35,275 --> 00:22:37,942
Medical historian Dr. John Waller has studied the links
388
00:22:37,942 --> 00:22:39,942
between scurvy and diet.
389
00:22:41,261 --> 00:22:43,820
So this is a typical daily ration for a sailor in the
390
00:22:43,820 --> 00:22:48,820
royal navy in the 18th century, about a pound of very hard
391
00:22:48,915 --> 00:22:50,516
ship's biscuit.
392
00:22:50,516 --> 00:22:52,813
Then they would get something like half a pint
393
00:22:52,813 --> 00:22:53,980
of dried peas.
394
00:22:55,033 --> 00:22:59,704
Then salted meat, and it would be washed down with something
395
00:22:59,704 --> 00:23:01,324
like a gallon of beer every day.
396
00:23:01,324 --> 00:23:04,156
But there was something missing from their diet.
397
00:23:04,156 --> 00:23:07,079
Yeah, there's something very, very significant missing.
398
00:23:07,079 --> 00:23:09,746
And that of course is vitamin C.
399
00:23:10,915 --> 00:23:12,715
The thought that certain foods might
400
00:23:12,715 --> 00:23:14,859
cure scurvy wasn't a new one.
401
00:23:14,859 --> 00:23:18,731
It was an old idea that had been discovered and forgotten
402
00:23:18,731 --> 00:23:19,648
many times.
403
00:23:20,866 --> 00:23:25,393
Every so often, somebody would try citrus fruits.
404
00:23:25,393 --> 00:23:28,079
The sailors would make what appeared to be a miraculous
405
00:23:28,079 --> 00:23:32,079
recovery, but it never became standard practice.
406
00:23:33,292 --> 00:23:34,867
So how did they eventually figure out
407
00:23:34,867 --> 00:23:36,375
how to cure scurvy?
408
00:23:36,375 --> 00:23:38,315
It happened very gradually, but there were a few
409
00:23:38,315 --> 00:23:40,560
really critical moments.
410
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:44,893
One of them took place in 1747, when a Scottish born
411
00:23:45,961 --> 00:23:50,260
ship's surgeon ran what is the first controlled
412
00:23:50,260 --> 00:23:52,927
clinical trial in human history.
413
00:23:54,742 --> 00:23:58,069
Dr. James Lind had seen the horrors of scurvy
414
00:23:58,069 --> 00:23:59,417
firsthand.
415
00:23:59,417 --> 00:24:02,682
Usually the ship's surgeon would try a range of supposed
416
00:24:02,682 --> 00:24:07,461
remedies and hope for the best, but Lind came up with a
417
00:24:07,461 --> 00:24:08,378
novel idea.
418
00:24:09,658 --> 00:24:14,177
He took 12 men with scurvy and split them into pairs.
419
00:24:14,177 --> 00:24:16,490
Each pair was given ship's rations plus one of the
420
00:24:16,490 --> 00:24:19,450
supposed cures of the time.
421
00:24:19,450 --> 00:24:22,950
Cider, vinegar, seawater, something called
422
00:24:24,385 --> 00:24:29,385
"elixir of vitriol" made from sulfuric acid, a concoction
423
00:24:29,602 --> 00:24:33,352
of garlic and mustard, or oranges and lemons.
424
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,140
The two sailors who had been receiving the citrus fruits
425
00:24:40,140 --> 00:24:43,025
had made a really remarkable recovery.
426
00:24:43,025 --> 00:24:47,497
Now, the two who had received cider were somewhat improved.
427
00:24:47,497 --> 00:24:50,864
The rest, they had continued to deteriorate and they were
428
00:24:50,864 --> 00:24:53,139
fast on the way to dying.
429
00:24:53,139 --> 00:24:57,478
So this experiment had allowed him to arrive at a really
430
00:24:57,478 --> 00:25:02,172
clear conclusion, that fresh fruits and vegetables
431
00:25:02,172 --> 00:25:05,757
really can be used to cure scurvy.
432
00:25:05,757 --> 00:25:08,589
How significant would you consider Lind's experiment?
433
00:25:08,589 --> 00:25:11,602
There's no question that this single discovery saved
434
00:25:11,602 --> 00:25:15,360
millions of lives, but there's a broader and every bit as
435
00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:20,183
enduring effect of Lind's work and that is the way in which
436
00:25:20,183 --> 00:25:23,988
controlled clinical trial eventually becomes orthodoxy
437
00:25:23,988 --> 00:25:24,988
in medicine.
438
00:25:26,124 --> 00:25:29,735
It's a species altering development.
439
00:25:29,735 --> 00:25:33,060
Humans had unlocked the way to identify
440
00:25:33,060 --> 00:25:34,810
what cures will work.
441
00:25:36,272 --> 00:25:39,104
When Lind goes to publish his findings a few years later,
442
00:25:39,104 --> 00:25:42,405
he buries the information in a few paragraphs 200 pages
443
00:25:42,405 --> 00:25:44,844
into his 400 page book.
444
00:25:44,844 --> 00:25:47,442
It's as though not even Lind realizes the significance
445
00:25:47,442 --> 00:25:50,146
of his own discovery, and it may have been forgotten
446
00:25:50,146 --> 00:25:53,082
yet again if not for the work of a young doctor Gilbert
447
00:25:53,082 --> 00:25:56,567
Blain who manages to convince the British navy to supply
448
00:25:56,567 --> 00:25:58,733
lemon juice to its sailors.
449
00:25:58,733 --> 00:26:00,150
The year is 1795.
450
00:26:01,755 --> 00:26:05,117
That's one year after Lind's death and 48 years after his
451
00:26:05,117 --> 00:26:07,338
historic experiment.
452
00:26:07,338 --> 00:26:10,171
(whimsical music)
453
00:26:11,323 --> 00:26:15,504
With lemons and later limes as their secret weapon,
454
00:26:15,504 --> 00:26:20,140
the British navy emerged as the strongest on the globe.
455
00:26:20,140 --> 00:26:24,410
The supply of fruit shaped the destiny of nations, allowing
456
00:26:24,410 --> 00:26:28,811
us to venture out across the seas, to live and to thrive
457
00:26:28,811 --> 00:26:31,311
fueled by the right nutrition.
458
00:26:37,216 --> 00:26:40,502
But today, it seems that knowledge is being forgotten
459
00:26:40,502 --> 00:26:41,942
once again.
460
00:26:41,942 --> 00:26:43,647
How many people live here?
461
00:26:43,647 --> 00:26:45,389
I'd say about 15.
462
00:26:45,389 --> 00:26:47,142
And how long you been living here?
463
00:26:47,142 --> 00:26:48,809
Five years, Derek.
464
00:26:48,809 --> 00:26:50,571
That's a pretty long time.
465
00:26:50,571 --> 00:26:52,321
Yes, it is.
466
00:26:55,734 --> 00:26:57,688
This is my castle right here.
467
00:26:57,688 --> 00:26:58,521
Wow.
468
00:27:01,458 --> 00:27:04,854
This is my family, this is everybody I love.
469
00:27:04,854 --> 00:27:07,271
That's me back when I was 21.
470
00:27:08,523 --> 00:27:10,005
You had a lot of hair back then.
471
00:27:10,005 --> 00:27:12,705
Yes, that was back in the hippie days, you know?
472
00:27:12,705 --> 00:27:14,027
It's a beautiful family.
473
00:27:14,027 --> 00:27:14,860
Thanks.
474
00:27:16,110 --> 00:27:19,175
This is all the stuff, this is where I keep my cereal,
475
00:27:19,175 --> 00:27:21,175
my bread, peanut butter.
476
00:27:23,033 --> 00:27:26,541
Refrigerate down the hall here, come on, I'll show you.
477
00:27:26,541 --> 00:27:30,374
I like to eat burgers, hot dogs, sodas, cakes,
478
00:27:33,184 --> 00:27:36,818
bad cereals, I'm not gonna lie to you.
479
00:27:36,818 --> 00:27:38,815
I do eat a lot of sugar.
480
00:27:38,815 --> 00:27:42,565
When I have my coffee, 15 sugars, two creams.
481
00:27:44,968 --> 00:27:49,635
Many people who have difficulty affording food tend to
482
00:27:50,478 --> 00:27:54,061
go for food that is high fat, high calorie,
483
00:27:55,165 --> 00:27:57,089
and very filling.
484
00:27:57,089 --> 00:27:59,287
If you have a limited food budget, those are the meals
485
00:27:59,287 --> 00:28:02,933
that will fill you up and will satisfy you more than
486
00:28:02,933 --> 00:28:05,566
eating fruits and vegetables.
487
00:28:05,566 --> 00:28:08,712
Alright doc, how you been?
Good, good.
488
00:28:08,712 --> 00:28:11,611
In Sonny's case, he has got a lot of other things to worry
489
00:28:11,611 --> 00:28:15,787
about and for him, making sure to eat enough fruits
490
00:28:15,787 --> 00:28:19,333
and vegetables is very far down on his list.
491
00:28:19,333 --> 00:28:21,539
I thought I had some kind of vicious disease and I was
492
00:28:21,539 --> 00:28:26,456
really, really scared, because that's an ugly word, scurvy.
493
00:28:27,682 --> 00:28:30,744
So once we had diagnosed Sonny with scurvy,
494
00:28:30,744 --> 00:28:34,214
the first thing we did was to give him vitamin C tablets
495
00:28:34,214 --> 00:28:38,086
to correct the deficiency, and then, at a later visit
496
00:28:38,086 --> 00:28:39,578
when he said he was having trouble getting those
497
00:28:39,578 --> 00:28:43,348
supplements, I took out my prescription pad and I wrote
498
00:28:43,348 --> 00:28:47,015
"One orange every day" and handed it to him.
499
00:28:48,788 --> 00:28:51,083
It turned out that Sonny was part of an
500
00:28:51,083 --> 00:28:53,500
extraordinary scurvy cluster.
501
00:28:54,362 --> 00:28:56,886
In the last five years, we've documented 30 cases
502
00:28:56,886 --> 00:28:59,974
of scurvy and as far as I'm aware, that's the largest
503
00:28:59,974 --> 00:29:03,400
collection of scurvy cases in the developed world outside
504
00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,389
of some exceptional circumstances like war or refugee
505
00:29:07,389 --> 00:29:09,054
situations.
506
00:29:09,054 --> 00:29:10,954
So is it just an issue of all these people with scurvy
507
00:29:10,954 --> 00:29:12,595
not eating enough?
508
00:29:12,595 --> 00:29:13,772
It's really not.
509
00:29:13,772 --> 00:29:17,206
It's about the quality of the food that you eat.
510
00:29:17,206 --> 00:29:19,811
Over half of the people that we diagnose with scurvy
511
00:29:19,811 --> 00:29:23,946
are actually obese and so they are getting enough calories
512
00:29:23,946 --> 00:29:28,755
in their diet but they are low quality, low nutrition
513
00:29:28,755 --> 00:29:33,292
calories, we use the phrase hypercaloric malnutrition
514
00:29:33,292 --> 00:29:35,964
one of the things about scurvy is that it's really not
515
00:29:35,964 --> 00:29:37,714
difficult to prevent.
516
00:29:38,562 --> 00:29:42,045
This is not a high nutritional bar to reach.
517
00:29:42,045 --> 00:29:44,614
And even something like a handful of ketchup packets
518
00:29:44,614 --> 00:29:48,897
a day contain enough vitamin C to keep you out of scurvy.
519
00:29:48,897 --> 00:29:51,457
Not that I recommend people get all of their vitamin C
520
00:29:51,457 --> 00:29:54,624
from ketchup packets, but it's enough.
521
00:29:56,186 --> 00:29:58,989
Surprisingly, the top vitamin C foods
522
00:29:58,989 --> 00:30:01,235
aren't all citrus.
523
00:30:01,235 --> 00:30:04,078
Kiwi fruit, strawberries, and red peppers are all
524
00:30:04,078 --> 00:30:05,161
rich sources.
525
00:30:09,176 --> 00:30:13,516
But vitamin C is fragile, it degrades with time.
526
00:30:13,516 --> 00:30:16,911
One study showed that left at room temperature, 75 percent
527
00:30:16,911 --> 00:30:21,161
of the vitamin C in an apple can be lost in a week.
528
00:30:22,788 --> 00:30:26,355
So just over time, the nutritional content is going down.
529
00:30:26,355 --> 00:30:29,665
Yeah, it's affected by heat, by light, by storage
530
00:30:29,665 --> 00:30:31,681
conditions, lots of different things.
531
00:30:31,681 --> 00:30:33,375
So what should you do if you want to maximize
532
00:30:33,375 --> 00:30:34,974
your nutrition?
533
00:30:34,974 --> 00:30:37,747
I think keep it fresh, keep it local.
534
00:30:37,747 --> 00:30:40,126
The sooner you pick it and consume it, that's probably
535
00:30:40,126 --> 00:30:40,959
the best.
536
00:30:44,772 --> 00:30:47,372
Fascination with the power of vitamin C
537
00:30:47,372 --> 00:30:50,530
led scientists to isolate it and determine its
538
00:30:50,530 --> 00:30:52,873
chemical structure.
539
00:30:52,873 --> 00:30:56,206
In 1937, this work one two Nobel prizes.
540
00:30:58,766 --> 00:31:01,497
And led to the world's first synthetic
541
00:31:01,497 --> 00:31:03,330
or artificial vitamin.
542
00:31:05,119 --> 00:31:07,038
So where do you think the vitamin C in your pills
543
00:31:07,038 --> 00:31:07,955
comes from?
544
00:31:12,562 --> 00:31:14,917
This is the last remaining manufacturing plant for
545
00:31:14,917 --> 00:31:17,554
vitamin C in the western world.
546
00:31:17,554 --> 00:31:21,098
The vast majority of vitamins produced today are synthetic.
547
00:31:21,098 --> 00:31:24,210
That is, they're man made in chemical factories, and in
548
00:31:24,210 --> 00:31:27,601
general, the goal is to duplicate the exact structure
549
00:31:27,601 --> 00:31:30,118
of the naturally occurring vitamins.
550
00:31:30,118 --> 00:31:32,903
Now, we'd hoped to show you how that's done here,
551
00:31:32,903 --> 00:31:35,329
but after 12 months of negations, we've not been able
552
00:31:35,329 --> 00:31:38,909
to film inside, so instead, to understand how to create
553
00:31:38,909 --> 00:31:42,576
a vitamin, we're gonna have to make our own.
554
00:31:44,078 --> 00:31:46,823
To build a vitamin, you need raw materials.
555
00:31:46,823 --> 00:31:49,490
(truck beeping)
556
00:31:51,057 --> 00:31:53,385
And believe it or not, at least eight vitamins can be
557
00:31:53,385 --> 00:31:56,669
synthetically created from fossil fuel products like
558
00:31:56,669 --> 00:31:57,502
coal tar.
559
00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:03,378
They contain components like acetone, found in nail
560
00:32:03,378 --> 00:32:07,536
polish remover, short chain alkanes, found in petrol,
561
00:32:07,536 --> 00:32:11,625
and various aromatic rings found in (mumbles).
562
00:32:11,625 --> 00:32:15,239
The idea is to rearrange these building blocks into more
563
00:32:15,239 --> 00:32:17,842
complex chemical compounds.
564
00:32:17,842 --> 00:32:22,472
Actually building vitamins, precision matters, as a single
565
00:32:22,472 --> 00:32:24,472
bond can alter function.
566
00:32:27,023 --> 00:32:31,603
Not all synthetic vitamins come from fossil fuels.
567
00:32:31,603 --> 00:32:35,853
For example, if you extract sugars from corn syrup.
568
00:32:38,174 --> 00:32:42,635
Ferment them with bacteria and add a chemical reaction,
569
00:32:42,635 --> 00:32:45,052
you have synthetic vitamin C.
570
00:32:46,896 --> 00:32:49,780
Most synthetic vitamins are chemically identical
571
00:32:49,780 --> 00:32:51,951
to the natural form, but without the fiber
572
00:32:51,951 --> 00:32:55,201
and micronutrients that come with food.
573
00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:00,199
The end result is a vitamin made not by a plant,
574
00:33:00,199 --> 00:33:01,449
but in a plant.
575
00:33:02,784 --> 00:33:05,284
(jazzy music)
576
00:33:06,864 --> 00:33:08,366
It's far more efficient and cheaper
577
00:33:08,366 --> 00:33:11,949
to produce vitamins on an industrial scale.
578
00:33:13,649 --> 00:33:16,512
Today, more than 80 percent of the world's vitamin C is
579
00:33:16,512 --> 00:33:19,641
made in China, and it's pretty hard to work out where all
580
00:33:19,641 --> 00:33:22,429
of the raw materials for vitamins come from but most
581
00:33:22,429 --> 00:33:27,429
are produced unquestionably like this, synthetically.
582
00:33:27,476 --> 00:33:29,835
And then they're sent out across the globe to manufacturing
583
00:33:29,835 --> 00:33:33,847
plants, ready to be turned into vitamin pills.
584
00:33:33,847 --> 00:33:36,347
(jazzy music)
585
00:33:47,449 --> 00:33:50,888
Here in Australia, manufacturers are required to test
586
00:33:50,888 --> 00:33:54,543
raw materials on arrival, to ensure the product is what
587
00:33:54,543 --> 00:33:56,293
it says on the label.
588
00:33:59,226 --> 00:34:01,809
Then, the manufacturing begins.
589
00:34:15,159 --> 00:34:18,032
The raw vitamin material is blended with additives
590
00:34:18,032 --> 00:34:21,052
and binding agents, a different recipe
591
00:34:21,052 --> 00:34:23,052
for a different product.
592
00:34:25,106 --> 00:34:28,472
Given the amount of vitamin needed is generally tiny,
593
00:34:28,472 --> 00:34:32,099
what makes up the rest of the pill?
594
00:34:32,099 --> 00:34:34,999
Well, inactive materials like cellulose, sugars,
595
00:34:34,999 --> 00:34:38,378
or rice flour are often added to provide bulk and to
596
00:34:38,378 --> 00:34:41,461
help the tablets dissolve in the gut.
597
00:34:43,417 --> 00:34:46,403
Colors and flavors can also be added to make the tablets
598
00:34:46,403 --> 00:34:47,653
more palatable.
599
00:34:50,361 --> 00:34:53,045
The manufacturing process is similar for most synthetic
600
00:34:53,045 --> 00:34:57,212
vitamins, depending on the end product being made.
601
00:35:00,739 --> 00:35:04,231
Thousands of generic looking pills then fill containers
602
00:35:04,231 --> 00:35:07,731
and the distinctive packaging takes place.
603
00:35:10,179 --> 00:35:12,396
The vitamins are now branded and they're ready
604
00:35:12,396 --> 00:35:13,896
to hit the market.
605
00:35:21,432 --> 00:35:24,076
It's interesting, if vitamin manufacturers here want to
606
00:35:24,076 --> 00:35:27,426
claim "made in Australia," by law, none of the raw
607
00:35:27,426 --> 00:35:30,593
ingredients actually have to come from this country.
608
00:35:30,593 --> 00:35:32,461
And if you want to claim your product is natural,
609
00:35:32,461 --> 00:35:34,910
well, most of the regulators worldwide haven't defined
610
00:35:34,910 --> 00:35:37,951
what natural means, and so it can say natural on the label
611
00:35:37,951 --> 00:35:41,118
and yet contain synthetic ingredients.
612
00:35:42,891 --> 00:35:44,857
But what if you've never taken a vitamin pill
613
00:35:44,857 --> 00:35:46,400
in your life?
614
00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:48,867
You might think this entire vitamin manufacturing process
615
00:35:48,867 --> 00:35:52,831
is irrelevant to you, but then, you'd be wrong.
616
00:35:52,831 --> 00:35:55,453
It turns out even if you're not popping vitamin pills,
617
00:35:55,453 --> 00:35:58,650
chances are you are ingesting synthetic vitamins because
618
00:35:58,650 --> 00:36:03,400
in at least 95 nations, they're being added to your food.
619
00:36:06,220 --> 00:36:07,803
Eat Wonder Bread!
620
00:36:08,658 --> 00:36:11,096
You want to grow bigger and stronger, don't you?
621
00:36:11,096 --> 00:36:12,443
Golly, sure!
622
00:36:12,443 --> 00:36:13,494
Okay!
623
00:36:13,494 --> 00:36:16,357
A sandwich daily and two slices of Wonder Bread every meal
624
00:36:16,357 --> 00:36:18,863
give you eight elements you need.
625
00:36:18,863 --> 00:36:20,952
Around half the countries on Earth allow the
626
00:36:20,952 --> 00:36:25,002
addition of synthetic vitamins to common food products.
627
00:36:25,002 --> 00:36:27,483
It's called fortification.
628
00:36:27,483 --> 00:36:30,724
That's why you can help yourself grow bigger and stronger
629
00:36:30,724 --> 00:36:32,900
eight ways with Wonder Bread.
630
00:36:32,900 --> 00:36:35,479
So be sure to eat Wonder Bread!
631
00:36:35,479 --> 00:36:38,062
(lively music)
632
00:36:42,302 --> 00:36:44,912
In places like the US and Australia, fortifying
633
00:36:44,912 --> 00:36:48,662
bread flour and margarine is required by law.
634
00:36:51,096 --> 00:36:54,292
And companies often decide to add vitamins, mostly from
635
00:36:54,292 --> 00:36:55,375
the B family.
636
00:36:58,017 --> 00:37:00,629
The B vitamins are sometimes called the pep vitamins,
637
00:37:00,629 --> 00:37:02,402
they help our bodies produce energy and assist
638
00:37:02,402 --> 00:37:03,990
in cell development.
639
00:37:03,990 --> 00:37:06,924
Now, they're all water soluble, like vitamin C, which means
640
00:37:06,924 --> 00:37:09,409
our bodies don't store them, so we have to replenish
641
00:37:09,409 --> 00:37:10,326
them often.
642
00:37:11,369 --> 00:37:14,967
Their discovery and synthesis took over 50 years and led
643
00:37:14,967 --> 00:37:16,634
to six Nobel prizes.
644
00:37:17,476 --> 00:37:20,143
(factory music)
645
00:37:28,416 --> 00:37:31,777
One of the vitamins added to bread is B9, better known
646
00:37:31,777 --> 00:37:35,842
as folate, so why is it being added to my bread?
647
00:37:35,842 --> 00:37:38,425
(all shouting)
648
00:37:54,756 --> 00:37:57,924
At 29, Kim Robins is an international wheelchair
649
00:37:57,924 --> 00:37:59,257
basketball star.
650
00:38:04,633 --> 00:38:08,216
He tours the world, playing professionally.
651
00:38:14,748 --> 00:38:18,605
His body and entire life has been shaped by the power
652
00:38:18,605 --> 00:38:19,438
of folate.
653
00:38:20,532 --> 00:38:23,449
(applause, cheers)
654
00:38:26,063 --> 00:38:30,269
Kim was born with a hemangioma on his back
655
00:38:30,269 --> 00:38:33,760
in the middle of his shoulder blades.
656
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:38,427
It was a legion which looked a bit like a red birthmark.
657
00:38:39,872 --> 00:38:44,039
We were assured at birth that everything was okay.
658
00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:57,229
And it wasn't until he was six months when flags started
659
00:38:57,229 --> 00:39:00,512
to be raised that perhaps he wasn't meeting all of
660
00:39:00,512 --> 00:39:01,762
his milestones.
661
00:39:02,687 --> 00:39:05,080
After months of tests, Kim was diagnosed
662
00:39:05,080 --> 00:39:07,650
with a neural tube defect.
663
00:39:07,650 --> 00:39:10,641
Effectively, a whole in his spinal column which caused
664
00:39:10,641 --> 00:39:12,058
permanent damage.
665
00:39:14,646 --> 00:39:17,305
Part of my disability is that I have chronic back pain
666
00:39:17,305 --> 00:39:22,055
and that's in my lower back, so I get pain maybe 200, 250
667
00:39:23,099 --> 00:39:24,099
times a day.
668
00:39:25,298 --> 00:39:27,387
It's kind of like a back spasm.
669
00:39:27,387 --> 00:39:29,804
My brain's fully functioning.
670
00:39:31,129 --> 00:39:35,245
I guess it affects my leg function to some extent
671
00:39:35,245 --> 00:39:37,945
so I can walk, not super well, but I can walk
672
00:39:37,945 --> 00:39:39,540
a little bit.
673
00:39:39,540 --> 00:39:41,957
Neural tube defects like Kim's can be caused
674
00:39:41,957 --> 00:39:45,290
by the lack of folate long before birth.
675
00:39:50,288 --> 00:39:53,122
If you eat folate, it's the best kind of diet because
676
00:39:53,122 --> 00:39:57,856
it's actually found richly in leafy green vegetables,
677
00:39:57,856 --> 00:39:59,881
it's found in things like asparagus, it's found in
678
00:39:59,881 --> 00:40:03,930
strawberries, it's found in whole grains, so if you are
679
00:40:03,930 --> 00:40:06,918
eating fruits and vegetables, it's quite likely that you
680
00:40:06,918 --> 00:40:09,585
will have a diet rich in folate.
681
00:40:11,282 --> 00:40:15,418
Folate is very important for both DNA and RNA repair,
682
00:40:15,418 --> 00:40:19,116
but also for the rapid development and multiplication
683
00:40:19,116 --> 00:40:21,973
of cells which is what's happening in the fetus,
684
00:40:21,973 --> 00:40:24,676
so it's essential for that.
685
00:40:24,676 --> 00:40:27,332
Professor Fiona Stanley led the Australian arm
686
00:40:27,332 --> 00:40:30,135
of an international children's study that showed lack of
687
00:40:30,135 --> 00:40:33,609
folate in a mother's diet before she was pregnant could
688
00:40:33,609 --> 00:40:36,806
cause major defects in utero.
689
00:40:36,806 --> 00:40:40,428
If before a woman knows that she's pregnant, the fetus
690
00:40:40,428 --> 00:40:42,909
is starting to form all of its major organs and one of
691
00:40:42,909 --> 00:40:46,616
the earliest, by perhaps the seventh week is the
692
00:40:46,616 --> 00:40:51,616
neural tube which starts as an open little trough and then
693
00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:56,034
starts to zipper up and it zips up and down.
694
00:40:56,034 --> 00:40:59,172
I think of it like a zipper going down and as each link
695
00:40:59,172 --> 00:41:02,653
forms together, that's part of the neural tube forming
696
00:41:02,653 --> 00:41:05,078
and if it misses one link, that's where the neural tube
697
00:41:05,078 --> 00:41:06,411
defect would be.
698
00:41:07,296 --> 00:41:11,419
Mine is up between T2 and T6, which is quite high up and
699
00:41:11,419 --> 00:41:14,257
so my spinal cord's a little bit withered, so some
700
00:41:14,257 --> 00:41:17,697
messages get through and some messages don't
701
00:41:17,697 --> 00:41:20,138
By the time a woman knows she's pregnant,
702
00:41:20,138 --> 00:41:21,863
it can be too late.
703
00:41:21,863 --> 00:41:24,689
So scientists sought a way to get a form of folate into
704
00:41:24,689 --> 00:41:27,585
a food that everyone might eat.
705
00:41:27,585 --> 00:41:31,176
There were lots of debates about what staple food
706
00:41:31,176 --> 00:41:35,783
should be fortified, and of course the one that was
707
00:41:35,783 --> 00:41:38,252
suggested was flour, bread making flour because bread seems
708
00:41:38,252 --> 00:41:40,669
to be such a ubiquitous food.
709
00:41:42,266 --> 00:41:44,480
In 2009, Australian bread was fortified
710
00:41:44,480 --> 00:41:47,313
with folic acid, synthetic folate.
711
00:41:49,821 --> 00:41:53,986
It might be added to all white flour for bread making.
712
00:41:53,986 --> 00:41:57,738
It's the same in the US, Canada, and the UK.
713
00:41:57,738 --> 00:42:01,155
Organic or traditional breads are exempt.
714
00:42:03,304 --> 00:42:06,037
Folic acid supplements are also recommended for women
715
00:42:06,037 --> 00:42:08,370
planning to become pregnant.
716
00:42:09,427 --> 00:42:14,016
I had no idea about folate before I fell pregnant.
717
00:42:14,016 --> 00:42:17,766
I didn't even know about neural tube defects.
718
00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:23,213
How it would have changed things if I'd have had folate
719
00:42:23,213 --> 00:42:25,380
in the early stages, we...
720
00:42:29,865 --> 00:42:32,485
That would have been a huge difference, maybe Kim wouldn't
721
00:42:32,485 --> 00:42:33,568
be like this.
722
00:42:37,062 --> 00:42:41,645
I can't change what's happened, it happened and I can't
723
00:42:43,524 --> 00:42:45,357
blame myself for that.
724
00:42:46,723 --> 00:42:49,640
(players shouting)
725
00:42:51,434 --> 00:42:53,524
With folic acid fortification
726
00:42:53,524 --> 00:42:56,553
and supplementation, the rate of neural tube defects
727
00:42:56,553 --> 00:42:58,553
in Australia has halved.
728
00:43:01,271 --> 00:43:03,127
I think it's pretty cool to be doing something
729
00:43:03,127 --> 00:43:04,127
that I love.
730
00:43:05,972 --> 00:43:08,467
A lot of people ask me "If you could, would you prefer not
731
00:43:08,467 --> 00:43:11,177
"to be in a wheelchair" and I say no because of maybe I
732
00:43:11,177 --> 00:43:13,876
never would have done all the things that I've done and I'm
733
00:43:13,876 --> 00:43:17,630
fairly satisfied with where I am and where I'm going.
734
00:43:17,630 --> 00:43:20,547
(crowd applauding)
735
00:43:31,474 --> 00:43:34,098
Over 4000 neural tube defects occur every
736
00:43:34,098 --> 00:43:38,419
year in the European union, yet fortification is not
737
00:43:38,419 --> 00:43:39,669
mandatory here.
738
00:43:40,695 --> 00:43:44,445
So why is Europe taking a different approach?
739
00:43:46,604 --> 00:43:48,793
(foreign language)
740
00:43:48,793 --> 00:43:52,055
Dr. Mathilde Touvier leads a team of French researchers
741
00:43:52,055 --> 00:43:54,720
investigating the relationships between nutrition
742
00:43:54,720 --> 00:43:56,281
and health.
743
00:43:56,281 --> 00:43:58,037
I'll take that, thank you.
744
00:43:58,037 --> 00:43:59,589
It's all yours.
Thank you.
745
00:43:59,589 --> 00:44:01,713
How much of this bread is fortified?
746
00:44:01,713 --> 00:44:04,522
No bread is fortified, in France, we don't fortify
747
00:44:04,522 --> 00:44:06,522
the flour with anything.
748
00:44:07,642 --> 00:44:09,932
But you have the same problems here with neural tube
749
00:44:09,932 --> 00:44:11,582
defects.
750
00:44:11,582 --> 00:44:15,574
Yes, sure, in fact, it is recommended for women who want
751
00:44:15,574 --> 00:44:18,963
to get pregnant or at the beginning of pregnancy to increase
752
00:44:18,963 --> 00:44:23,300
their intakes of vitamin B9 to prevent these birth defects.
753
00:44:23,300 --> 00:44:25,238
But why not just put it in the bread?
754
00:44:25,238 --> 00:44:29,444
No, the bread in France is quite a secret and traditional
755
00:44:29,444 --> 00:44:32,611
product, and no, it's not transformed.
756
00:44:34,154 --> 00:44:36,694
But do you add vitamins to any foods?
757
00:44:36,694 --> 00:44:39,745
Yes, there are fortifications of food with some vitamins
758
00:44:39,745 --> 00:44:42,160
or minerals but it's not mandatory, it's at the
759
00:44:42,160 --> 00:44:44,323
discretion of manufacturers.
760
00:44:44,323 --> 00:44:45,782
A lot of people around the world are worried about
761
00:44:45,782 --> 00:44:47,763
getting too few vitamins.
762
00:44:47,763 --> 00:44:49,521
Your concern is too many.
763
00:44:49,521 --> 00:44:53,562
Yeah, it depends on country such as France or Europe.
764
00:44:53,562 --> 00:44:57,156
You don't have problems of deficiency in general, you really
765
00:44:57,156 --> 00:45:01,361
have much more problem of excess, excess in the sugar,
766
00:45:01,361 --> 00:45:04,103
salt, and so on and maybe excess in vitamins if you take
767
00:45:04,103 --> 00:45:07,261
fortified foods, stable foods rich in vitamins, minerals
768
00:45:07,261 --> 00:45:09,032
and daily supplements.
769
00:45:09,032 --> 00:45:12,199
Maybe you can reach excessive intakes.
770
00:45:14,068 --> 00:45:16,971
The fortification of food by governments is the result
771
00:45:16,971 --> 00:45:21,122
of a careful assessment of potential risks versus benefits,
772
00:45:21,122 --> 00:45:24,643
but these days, industry can modify almost any food or
773
00:45:24,643 --> 00:45:29,204
drink with additional nutrients without the same scrutiny.
774
00:45:29,204 --> 00:45:32,163
In the United States, you can find a claim about the things
775
00:45:32,163 --> 00:45:35,338
that these products bring to you, 200 percent of which you
776
00:45:35,338 --> 00:45:39,838
need per day, and if the recommendation is 100 person,
777
00:45:41,035 --> 00:45:44,659
why are you taking 200 per person, and American people
778
00:45:44,659 --> 00:45:47,446
are used to such claims and they are used with this idea
779
00:45:47,446 --> 00:45:50,779
of too much of a thing is really better.
780
00:45:52,239 --> 00:45:56,165
In Europe, we really don't have this state of mind.
781
00:45:56,165 --> 00:45:58,564
Today, there is one vitamin in particular that's
782
00:45:58,564 --> 00:46:02,420
increasingly being added to our food, vitamin D.
783
00:46:02,420 --> 00:46:05,679
Low vitamin D has been linked to cancer, heart disease,
784
00:46:05,679 --> 00:46:10,054
dementia, it's been linked to over 100 different conditions.
785
00:46:10,054 --> 00:46:12,475
There are some who claim we're in a midst of a global
786
00:46:12,475 --> 00:46:15,028
vitamin D deficiency.
787
00:46:15,028 --> 00:46:17,392
So how do we decide whether we need extra vitamin D
788
00:46:17,392 --> 00:46:18,225
or not?
789
00:46:20,052 --> 00:46:22,802
(peaceful music)
790
00:46:36,335 --> 00:46:39,886
I've come to one of the coldest places on Earth
791
00:46:39,886 --> 00:46:44,469
to better understand the hottest vitamin on the planet.
792
00:46:49,217 --> 00:46:53,124
For centuries, a mysterious and horrible condition affected
793
00:46:53,124 --> 00:46:55,920
thousands of children all around the world.
794
00:46:55,920 --> 00:46:59,356
Their bones grew weak and broke easily and many were
795
00:46:59,356 --> 00:47:01,023
deformed, many died.
796
00:47:04,181 --> 00:47:07,446
They call the condition rickets, but no one knew
797
00:47:07,446 --> 00:47:08,696
what caused it.
798
00:47:10,336 --> 00:47:13,659
Oddly, here on the Norwegian coast, fewer cases were
799
00:47:13,659 --> 00:47:17,909
reported, so an important clue appeared to be fish.
800
00:47:19,574 --> 00:47:21,991
(airy music)
801
00:47:35,113 --> 00:47:38,062
The world's greatest cod harvest takes place here
802
00:47:38,062 --> 00:47:39,895
from January to April.
803
00:47:41,023 --> 00:47:44,106
(machinery whirring)
804
00:47:47,566 --> 00:47:50,672
Millions of tons are caught, their flesh
805
00:47:50,672 --> 00:47:52,589
helping feed the world.
806
00:47:55,978 --> 00:47:57,728
That is one big fish!
807
00:47:58,805 --> 00:48:01,807
But there's another benefit.
808
00:48:01,807 --> 00:48:06,224
A powerful traditional medicine called cod liver oil.
809
00:48:07,667 --> 00:48:10,398
Here in Norway, the stories of the healing powers of
810
00:48:10,398 --> 00:48:14,731
the cod liver oil go back more than 1000 years.
811
00:48:14,731 --> 00:48:17,975
It was a key part of the viking diet, prized for its
812
00:48:17,975 --> 00:48:20,830
strength giving utilities.
813
00:48:20,830 --> 00:48:24,163
The Norse called it the gold of the sea.
814
00:48:25,470 --> 00:48:28,145
This is a messy business.
815
00:48:28,145 --> 00:48:31,292
I don't know that I like it very much.
816
00:48:31,292 --> 00:48:35,042
So how do you know which one has a big liver?
817
00:48:36,177 --> 00:48:37,594
That's the liver.
818
00:48:39,483 --> 00:48:41,657
So the cod liver oil, do you think of it as a food
819
00:48:41,657 --> 00:48:43,074
or as a medicine?
820
00:48:55,092 --> 00:48:56,425
Not really sick.
821
00:48:57,282 --> 00:48:59,282
Does it taste like fish?
822
00:49:00,246 --> 00:49:02,163
Do you like the flavor?
823
00:49:07,193 --> 00:49:09,507
(laughing)
824
00:49:09,507 --> 00:49:11,924
(airy music)
825
00:49:17,548 --> 00:49:21,033
There are hundreds of thousands of heads and tails strung
826
00:49:21,033 --> 00:49:25,242
out on drying racks almost every village.
827
00:49:25,242 --> 00:49:29,582
And it's incredible to see the scale of the cod fishing here
828
00:49:29,582 --> 00:49:30,749
and the smell.
829
00:49:31,946 --> 00:49:35,869
The stench of cod blankets entire villages.
830
00:49:35,869 --> 00:49:39,810
The locals say it's the smell of money, but the value
831
00:49:39,810 --> 00:49:43,404
of cod and their livers goes far beyond money.
832
00:49:43,404 --> 00:49:45,321
It's also about health.
833
00:49:47,200 --> 00:49:49,783
(gulls crying)
834
00:49:52,767 --> 00:49:55,453
Professor Magritt Brustad is an expert in the links
835
00:49:55,453 --> 00:49:59,536
between food like cod and diseases, like rickets.
836
00:50:01,545 --> 00:50:06,249
Rickets was a huge problem in Norway some years ago.
837
00:50:06,249 --> 00:50:10,999
Rickets is a condition that is characterized by soft bone
838
00:50:13,038 --> 00:50:17,949
so it causes your bone and your skeleton be disformed
839
00:50:17,949 --> 00:50:20,427
and it's rather painful.
840
00:50:20,427 --> 00:50:22,504
And if this happens in childhood,
841
00:50:22,504 --> 00:50:23,819
it's permanent.
842
00:50:23,819 --> 00:50:27,136
Yeah, if it's not treated.
843
00:50:27,136 --> 00:50:30,122
I mean, this is just horrible.
844
00:50:30,122 --> 00:50:31,955
Yeah, a lot of pain.
845
00:50:34,947 --> 00:50:38,831
We knew many years ago that cod liver oil could cure
846
00:50:38,831 --> 00:50:41,498
rickets, but we didn't know why.
847
00:50:42,799 --> 00:50:46,248
Magritt and I have come to see how codfish is turned
848
00:50:46,248 --> 00:50:48,575
into cod liver oil.
849
00:50:48,575 --> 00:50:49,878
Welcome.
Thank you!
850
00:50:49,878 --> 00:50:52,628
You are not seeing this before.
851
00:50:53,716 --> 00:50:56,958
It's a simple if revolting business.
852
00:50:56,958 --> 00:51:00,400
Cut out the fish livers, throw them into barrels,
853
00:51:00,400 --> 00:51:03,025
and let them decompose.
854
00:51:03,025 --> 00:51:07,260
The oil grows darker in the rotting process.
855
00:51:07,260 --> 00:51:12,001
Then skim off the oil from the surface and drink.
856
00:51:12,001 --> 00:51:13,834
You sure this is safe?
857
00:51:17,398 --> 00:51:19,981
Yeah, it's not bad.
858
00:51:22,704 --> 00:51:23,780
(all laughing)
859
00:51:23,780 --> 00:51:25,254
That was much better
860
00:51:25,254 --> 00:51:26,754
than I remember it as a child.
861
00:51:26,754 --> 00:51:27,587
Really?
862
00:51:28,653 --> 00:51:32,925
It's not nearly as bad as I was expecting.
863
00:51:32,925 --> 00:51:36,100
Cod liver oil was so successful in treating rickets
864
00:51:36,100 --> 00:51:37,957
that people across Europe began
865
00:51:37,957 --> 00:51:40,374
feeding it to their children.
866
00:51:41,264 --> 00:51:46,181
In the 1870s, it reached America, and mass marketing began.
867
00:51:50,210 --> 00:51:52,877
(vibrant music)
868
00:51:53,809 --> 00:51:57,392
But still, no one understood why it worked.
869
00:52:02,856 --> 00:52:06,441
In the early days, cod liver oil was mostly marketed
870
00:52:06,441 --> 00:52:11,441
as again, a kind of product that would help build flesh.
871
00:52:11,865 --> 00:52:15,520
In fact, this one product here of Scott's Emulsion, one of
872
00:52:15,520 --> 00:52:18,399
the biggest cod liver oil products.
873
00:52:18,399 --> 00:52:22,407
Scott started making this product in the 1870s.
874
00:52:22,407 --> 00:52:26,738
He really believed in advertising and he was able to make
875
00:52:26,738 --> 00:52:30,659
a fortune off of this particular product.
876
00:52:30,659 --> 00:52:32,842
You know, the important thing is if you're marketing this,
877
00:52:32,842 --> 00:52:36,755
you want people to take it as much as possible.
878
00:52:36,755 --> 00:52:39,836
By the late 1890s, the cod liver oil industry
879
00:52:39,836 --> 00:52:43,205
was booming, but the marketing ran decades ahead of
880
00:52:43,205 --> 00:52:44,205
the science.
881
00:52:45,683 --> 00:52:49,896
It wasn't until 1913 that biochemist Elmer McCullum
882
00:52:49,896 --> 00:52:52,752
and Marguerite Davis proved the existence of an essential
883
00:52:52,752 --> 00:52:55,272
nutrient in cod liver oil.
884
00:52:55,272 --> 00:52:58,045
They called it fat soluble A.
885
00:52:58,045 --> 00:53:00,628
A simply for the first vitamin.
886
00:53:01,516 --> 00:53:05,141
McCullum later identified another vitamin in cod liver oil,
887
00:53:05,141 --> 00:53:07,974
fat soluble D, the fourth vitamin.
888
00:53:09,951 --> 00:53:14,618
And McCullum proved it was vitamin D that cured rickets.
889
00:53:15,593 --> 00:53:18,062
So you have this new scientific knowledge coalescing with
890
00:53:18,062 --> 00:53:21,894
what is already kind of a market out there, so if you're
891
00:53:21,894 --> 00:53:24,863
marketing this stuff, I can't imagine anything better
892
00:53:24,863 --> 00:53:26,335
to come along.
893
00:53:26,335 --> 00:53:27,523
- [Derek] It's pretty incredible, right?
894
00:53:27,523 --> 00:53:30,476
It is pretty incredible.
895
00:53:30,476 --> 00:53:35,071
And there were hints of something else at play.
896
00:53:35,071 --> 00:53:38,285
In 1920, microbiologist Harriette Chick carried out an
897
00:53:38,285 --> 00:53:40,368
experiment with children.
898
00:53:41,947 --> 00:53:46,706
Half were given cod liver oil, the other half were not.
899
00:53:46,706 --> 00:53:48,783
As expected, the children given the oil
900
00:53:48,783 --> 00:53:52,844
didn't develop rickets, but then Dr. Chick noticed that
901
00:53:52,844 --> 00:53:56,678
children with rickets who spent time outside in the sun
902
00:53:56,678 --> 00:53:57,928
healed rapidly.
903
00:53:58,879 --> 00:54:02,323
She determined that cod liver oil and sunshine both
904
00:54:02,323 --> 00:54:03,490
cured rickets.
905
00:54:07,063 --> 00:54:09,230
And vitamin D is the link.
906
00:54:16,391 --> 00:54:19,097
How's that sunlight feeling?
907
00:54:19,097 --> 00:54:20,570
Oh, it's wonderful.
908
00:54:20,570 --> 00:54:21,837
Isn't it?
909
00:54:21,837 --> 00:54:25,004
So how does the sun deliver a vitamin?
910
00:54:25,934 --> 00:54:30,192
When sunlight hits our skin, something remarkable happens.
911
00:54:30,192 --> 00:54:34,747
Just under the surface lies a type of cholesterol.
912
00:54:34,747 --> 00:54:37,678
When the sun's ultraviolet rays hit this molecule,
913
00:54:37,678 --> 00:54:41,345
it transforms, becoming a form of vitamin D.
914
00:54:42,974 --> 00:54:47,652
This is the same molecule found in cod liver oil.
915
00:54:47,652 --> 00:54:50,638
It then travels to the liver, where it's converted into
916
00:54:50,638 --> 00:54:54,952
the form that doctors measure in our blood.
917
00:54:54,952 --> 00:54:58,869
This is then activated by the kidneys, and now,
918
00:55:00,621 --> 00:55:05,050
it's ready to help absorb calcium, building strong, healthy,
919
00:55:05,050 --> 00:55:06,633
rickets free bones.
920
00:55:07,827 --> 00:55:10,495
Think that's about enough sun for one day.
921
00:55:10,495 --> 00:55:12,912
(airy music)
922
00:55:19,066 --> 00:55:22,729
But here in the far north, during the dark winter months,
923
00:55:22,729 --> 00:55:25,900
there's a distinct lack of sunshine, so to get enough
924
00:55:25,900 --> 00:55:30,387
vitamin D, over generations, people have devised rather
925
00:55:30,387 --> 00:55:32,970
remarkable meals to compensate.
926
00:55:34,097 --> 00:55:35,264
This is cod.
927
00:55:36,453 --> 00:55:40,748
And this is cod eggs, and this is the boiled liver.
928
00:55:40,748 --> 00:55:43,688
It's fresh cod liver oil together with onion and pepper
929
00:55:43,688 --> 00:55:45,260
and salt.
930
00:55:45,260 --> 00:55:49,141
And this is potatoes, Norwegians always have potato.
931
00:55:49,141 --> 00:55:51,928
Ahh, very good.
932
00:55:51,928 --> 00:55:54,760
This is the traditional (foreign language),
933
00:55:54,760 --> 00:55:57,400
packed with vitamin D.
934
00:55:57,400 --> 00:56:00,343
So one meal of this will give you 16 out of 20
935
00:56:00,343 --> 00:56:05,063
daily doses of the recommended amount of vitamin D.
936
00:56:05,063 --> 00:56:08,175
This has kind of saved our vitamin D health
937
00:56:08,175 --> 00:56:10,525
in the north during the dark season.
938
00:56:10,525 --> 00:56:13,596
But not everyone likes oily fish, let alone
939
00:56:13,596 --> 00:56:16,096
fish livers and cod liver oil.
940
00:56:17,386 --> 00:56:21,523
So scientists invented something far more palatable.
941
00:56:21,523 --> 00:56:25,231
So the first really important vitamin pill is this
942
00:56:25,231 --> 00:56:30,231
Osdogal, and this was developed actually by Casimir Funk.
943
00:56:30,662 --> 00:56:34,333
We've solved a big problem that messy, nauseating oil
944
00:56:34,333 --> 00:56:38,861
is now a nice little pill in (mumbles) coated.
945
00:56:38,861 --> 00:56:41,686
So cod liver oil really started this whole vitamin
946
00:56:41,686 --> 00:56:43,126
explosion?
947
00:56:43,126 --> 00:56:46,822
Yes, cod liver oil really is the beginning of it.
948
00:56:46,822 --> 00:56:49,405
(bright music)
949
00:56:50,299 --> 00:56:52,729
With the new pills readily available, the era
950
00:56:52,729 --> 00:56:57,092
of cod as a key source of vitamin D was ended, and soon,
951
00:56:57,092 --> 00:57:00,092
the vast majority of vitamin D would be created in an
952
00:57:00,092 --> 00:57:05,092
utterly different manner from an utterly different beast.
953
00:57:05,415 --> 00:57:08,165
(sheep bleating)
954
00:57:09,640 --> 00:57:13,053
Today, most of the world's vitamin D pills are created
955
00:57:13,053 --> 00:57:15,553
from the greasy wool of sheep.
956
00:57:16,838 --> 00:57:18,838
Mostly Australian sheep.
957
00:57:20,561 --> 00:57:23,700
(clippers buzzing)
958
00:57:23,700 --> 00:57:27,450
So how do you turn sheep wool into a vitamin?
959
00:57:28,996 --> 00:57:30,663
Let's give it a try.
960
00:57:33,175 --> 00:57:36,924
Well, the wool is coated in a type of grease or lanolin,
961
00:57:36,924 --> 00:57:40,394
it's the stuff that makes your hands feel soft.
962
00:57:40,394 --> 00:57:42,870
It's a mixture of fatty acids produced by the sheep's
963
00:57:42,870 --> 00:57:47,787
oil glands, and this lanolin is the key to making synthetic
964
00:57:48,921 --> 00:57:49,754
vitamin D.
965
00:57:51,347 --> 00:57:54,750
(sheep bleating)
966
00:57:54,750 --> 00:57:56,917
Here's how it can be done.
967
00:58:00,123 --> 00:58:02,981
The lanolin is separated from the wool by boiling in
968
00:58:02,981 --> 00:58:04,981
hot water and detergent.
969
00:58:05,981 --> 00:58:09,993
Around 15 percent of the lanolin is a form of cholesterol,
970
00:58:09,993 --> 00:58:12,993
like the cholesterol under our skin.
971
00:58:14,076 --> 00:58:18,529
This is a extracted and oxidized to produce a new compound
972
00:58:18,529 --> 00:58:21,736
which is then irradiated with ultraviolet light,
973
00:58:21,736 --> 00:58:25,569
transforming it into a precursor of vitamin D.
974
00:58:27,131 --> 00:58:30,425
This chemical process mimics the biological process
975
00:58:30,425 --> 00:58:33,175
of the sunlight hitting our skin.
976
00:58:34,063 --> 00:58:36,898
Several more steps create the end product,
977
00:58:36,898 --> 00:58:38,565
synthetic vitamin D.
978
00:58:43,269 --> 00:58:46,502
And of course, it's not done like this, but on an
979
00:58:46,502 --> 00:58:49,002
industrial scale in factories.
980
00:58:49,963 --> 00:58:52,713
(peaceful music)
981
00:58:55,728 --> 00:58:57,684
Chemists from the University of Melbourne calculated
982
00:58:57,684 --> 00:59:01,486
that you can make a lot of money from a sheep's fleece.
983
00:59:01,486 --> 00:59:04,599
Online, vitamin D3 can seel for about 50 Australian
984
00:59:04,599 --> 00:59:08,893
dollars per gram, but packaged in pill form, it can sell
985
00:59:08,893 --> 00:59:11,643
for around 3700 dollars per gram.
986
00:59:13,523 --> 00:59:17,606
This makes vitamin D far more valuable than gold.
987
00:59:20,024 --> 00:59:23,157
But the million dollar question is should we be taking
988
00:59:23,157 --> 00:59:24,490
vitamin D pills?
989
00:59:36,013 --> 00:59:38,513
(tense music)
990
00:59:41,566 --> 00:59:45,837
Today, most of us spend large parts of our days indoors,
991
00:59:45,837 --> 00:59:49,535
with limited exposure to direct sunlight.
992
00:59:49,535 --> 00:59:52,438
So do we need more vitamin D?
993
00:59:52,438 --> 00:59:55,105
Should we be taking supplements?
994
00:59:56,051 --> 00:59:59,240
Dr. Rachel Neale is part of a global investigation
995
00:59:59,240 --> 01:00:00,823
trying to find out.
996
01:00:02,240 --> 01:00:05,850
Vitamin D's not just a vitamin, vitamin D is a hormone
997
01:00:05,850 --> 01:00:08,320
that has a range of incredibly powerful effects
998
01:00:08,320 --> 01:00:11,590
on the cells in our body that could determine whether or not
999
01:00:11,590 --> 01:00:14,789
that cell starts to divide uncontrollably and become
1000
01:00:14,789 --> 01:00:17,471
a cancer for example or whether or not that cell gets
1001
01:00:17,471 --> 01:00:19,804
a mutation and kills itself.
1002
01:00:20,974 --> 01:00:23,918
So it's this incredibly powerful molecule that we need
1003
01:00:23,918 --> 01:00:27,340
to understand a lot more about before we just recommend
1004
01:00:27,340 --> 01:00:30,673
that everybody should take a supplement.
1005
01:00:33,627 --> 01:00:35,798
Rachel leads one of the world's largest
1006
01:00:35,798 --> 01:00:39,159
clinical trials of high dose vitamin D.
1007
01:00:39,159 --> 01:00:44,159
21 thousand people are taking a vitamin D pill or a placebo,
1008
01:00:44,168 --> 01:00:46,585
a sugar pill, for five years.
1009
01:00:47,543 --> 01:00:50,402
They're trying to see if taking vitamin D supplements
1010
01:00:50,402 --> 01:00:54,235
reduces the risk of cancer and other diseases.
1011
01:00:55,510 --> 01:00:59,183
I think the general public have a perception that
1012
01:00:59,183 --> 01:01:02,894
vitamin D is proven to be beneficial for a whole range
1013
01:01:02,894 --> 01:01:04,956
of different health outcomes, like cancer and
1014
01:01:04,956 --> 01:01:07,407
cardiovascular disease and the reality is that we know
1015
01:01:07,407 --> 01:01:10,831
vitamin D's incredibly important for our bones, but beyond
1016
01:01:10,831 --> 01:01:13,331
that, we don't yet have proof.
1017
01:01:14,176 --> 01:01:16,740
So why all the uncertainty?
1018
01:01:16,740 --> 01:01:21,153
Well first, there's debate around how much we actually need.
1019
01:01:21,153 --> 01:01:24,638
Vitamin D is measured in our blood in units generally
1020
01:01:24,638 --> 01:01:26,888
called nanomoles per liter.
1021
01:01:27,878 --> 01:01:32,309
Experts agree that below 25 is considered deficient,
1022
01:01:32,309 --> 01:01:35,251
but knowing what levels are sufficient is trickier.
1023
01:01:35,251 --> 01:01:37,232
A level over 50 is generally thought to be enough
1024
01:01:37,232 --> 01:01:41,649
for good bone health for most people but others argue
1025
01:01:44,271 --> 01:01:46,688
for 75 or 100 or even higher.
1026
01:01:49,097 --> 01:01:52,557
It's worth noting that the US used a different measure,
1027
01:01:52,557 --> 01:01:56,646
nanograms per milliliter and like metric versus imperial,
1028
01:01:56,646 --> 01:01:59,896
this can cause international confusion.
1029
01:02:01,199 --> 01:02:05,426
So we don't yet have a single number that is accepted
1030
01:02:05,426 --> 01:02:09,056
by all organizations and all scientists and all doctors
1031
01:02:09,056 --> 01:02:10,473
around the world.
1032
01:02:11,737 --> 01:02:16,319
There's also controversy around blood testing,
1033
01:02:16,319 --> 01:02:17,846
with studies showing different labs can get very different
1034
01:02:17,846 --> 01:02:21,887
results, and although we know taking supplements increases
1035
01:02:21,887 --> 01:02:25,759
the levels of vitamin D in our blood, we don't yet know
1036
01:02:25,759 --> 01:02:28,419
if this improves our health.
1037
01:02:28,419 --> 01:02:31,002
(lively music)
1038
01:02:44,054 --> 01:02:47,096
So we don't know what vitamin D does yet.
1039
01:02:47,096 --> 01:02:50,054
We've got hints about what vitamin D might do but what
1040
01:02:50,054 --> 01:02:51,955
we don't know is-
1041
01:02:51,955 --> 01:02:53,901
Different kinds of studies are revealing
1042
01:02:53,901 --> 01:02:56,616
different kinds of clues.
1043
01:02:56,616 --> 01:02:58,993
These people are getting a fair amount of vitamin D.
1044
01:02:58,993 --> 01:03:00,388
They are.
1045
01:03:00,388 --> 01:03:02,463
Vitamin D studies are often
1046
01:03:02,463 --> 01:03:06,790
observational, meaning they observe the world as it is.
1047
01:03:06,790 --> 01:03:09,707
For example, people with cancer often have low levels
1048
01:03:09,707 --> 01:03:11,810
of vitamin D in their blood.
1049
01:03:11,810 --> 01:03:15,681
The link is clear and potentially important.
1050
01:03:15,681 --> 01:03:19,255
But it doesn't tell us if low vitamin D caused the cancer
1051
01:03:19,255 --> 01:03:22,422
or if the cancer caused low vitamin D.
1052
01:03:25,489 --> 01:03:28,885
To work it out, we need to do the kind of study pioneered
1053
01:03:28,885 --> 01:03:31,135
by James Lind back in 1747.
1054
01:03:32,412 --> 01:03:34,829
The randomized control trial.
1055
01:03:35,857 --> 01:03:40,535
Take a group of people, divide randomly in two, give
1056
01:03:40,535 --> 01:03:45,134
vitamin D to one group and a placebo to the other, then, if
1057
01:03:45,134 --> 01:03:47,874
you see a difference between these groups, you know it was
1058
01:03:47,874 --> 01:03:52,541
caused by vitamin D, and better still, do this at scale.
1059
01:03:53,896 --> 01:03:56,334
The more people in your study, the more confident you can
1060
01:03:56,334 --> 01:03:57,834
be of the results.
1061
01:03:59,495 --> 01:04:02,245
Rachel's results are due in 2021.
1062
01:04:06,657 --> 01:04:09,528
It's very exciting but currently the jury really is out
1063
01:04:09,528 --> 01:04:13,861
on what we should be recommending to the population.
1064
01:04:19,920 --> 01:04:23,022
Despite the uncertainty, in 2016, UK
1065
01:04:23,022 --> 01:04:25,896
scientists recommended an increase in the recommended
1066
01:04:25,896 --> 01:04:28,063
daily amount of vitamin D.
1067
01:04:29,736 --> 01:04:31,403
Not everyone agrees.
1068
01:04:32,945 --> 01:04:35,893
One high profile champion of vitamin D has since changed
1069
01:04:35,893 --> 01:04:36,726
his mind.
1070
01:04:37,878 --> 01:04:40,628
Geneticist professor Tim Spector.
1071
01:04:41,646 --> 01:04:44,865
I've studied vitamin D a lot in the last 15 years
1072
01:04:44,865 --> 01:04:46,755
and we were the first group to show
1073
01:04:46,755 --> 01:04:49,572
that the levels in individuals is
1074
01:04:49,572 --> 01:04:53,383
actually partly controlled by your genes so we always assume
1075
01:04:53,383 --> 01:04:56,864
it's purely how much sunshine you get or how much oily fish
1076
01:04:56,864 --> 01:05:00,917
you're eating but in fact, about 50 percent of the levels
1077
01:05:00,917 --> 01:05:04,398
vary just because the genes you've got and so everyone
1078
01:05:04,398 --> 01:05:08,697
has a different normal level of their vitamins and that is
1079
01:05:08,697 --> 01:05:11,144
generally holding true for all the vitamins we've been able
1080
01:05:11,144 --> 01:05:15,038
to test so far so our idea of normal should actually be very
1081
01:05:15,038 --> 01:05:18,554
person specific so you might have a normal level that's
1082
01:05:18,554 --> 01:05:21,988
three times higher than mine and we don't really know what
1083
01:05:21,988 --> 01:05:24,738
is the good level and what's low.
1084
01:05:25,737 --> 01:05:28,071
I think the public (mumbles) realize there is a controversy
1085
01:05:28,071 --> 01:05:31,742
here and all these amounts of vitamins are important for us,
1086
01:05:31,742 --> 01:05:33,819
but let's wait for the proper trials before we make a
1087
01:05:33,819 --> 01:05:36,993
decision rather than the default being the artificial
1088
01:05:36,993 --> 01:05:40,325
chemical first, worry about it later.
1089
01:05:40,325 --> 01:05:42,097
Let's get our facts right, make sure we're not doing
1090
01:05:42,097 --> 01:05:44,232
something harmful first.
1091
01:05:44,232 --> 01:05:46,118
There's no doubt that we need to clinically manage
1092
01:05:46,118 --> 01:05:49,285
people who have vitamin deficiency, it's important we
1093
01:05:49,285 --> 01:05:53,109
recognize that vitamin D deficiency is a real thing, but we
1094
01:05:53,109 --> 01:05:56,640
don't yet have the evidence to be able to say to the general
1095
01:05:56,640 --> 01:06:01,640
population taking a vitamin D supplement is a good thing.
1096
01:06:02,042 --> 01:06:05,359
So should we just get more sun?
1097
01:06:05,359 --> 01:06:08,149
What about the risk of skin cancer?
1098
01:06:08,149 --> 01:06:13,149
Well, like everything around vitamin D, it's complicated.
1099
01:06:13,291 --> 01:06:15,896
In sunny climates, most people get enough from short bursts
1100
01:06:15,896 --> 01:06:19,201
of sunshine a few times a week.
1101
01:06:19,201 --> 01:06:22,824
Although of course sunscreen should always be used.
1102
01:06:22,824 --> 01:06:26,756
And in less sunny places, more deliberate sun exposure
1103
01:06:26,756 --> 01:06:31,756
may be needed, or your doctor may recommend supplementation.
1104
01:06:33,469 --> 01:06:38,469
Vitamin D is powerful, no question, but can we get too much
1105
01:06:38,520 --> 01:06:40,436
of a good thing?
1106
01:06:40,436 --> 01:06:42,936
(tense music)
1107
01:06:53,740 --> 01:06:58,367
They were born at 9:45, so he came out first and she was
1108
01:06:58,367 --> 01:07:02,187
a minute later, so they're just a minute apart.
1109
01:07:02,187 --> 01:07:04,634
When Becky Jackson gave birth to twins Joe
1110
01:07:04,634 --> 01:07:07,358
and Elizabeth, she was thrilled.
1111
01:07:07,358 --> 01:07:09,591
So that's three months and you know,
1112
01:07:09,591 --> 01:07:12,069
Joe was such a little chunkalunk at first.
1113
01:07:12,069 --> 01:07:13,890
But when she noticed her five month old
1114
01:07:13,890 --> 01:07:17,397
daughter wasn't growing as quickly as her twin brother,
1115
01:07:17,397 --> 01:07:19,412
Becky began to worry.
1116
01:07:19,412 --> 01:07:22,194
And so here's five months and you can see her eyes look
1117
01:07:22,194 --> 01:07:26,349
a little baggy and sunken and her face just looks
1118
01:07:26,349 --> 01:07:28,097
a little strange.
1119
01:07:28,097 --> 01:07:32,142
These pictures, nothing was alarming really until this one.
1120
01:07:32,142 --> 01:07:35,074
Suddenly, things took a turn for the worse.
1121
01:07:35,074 --> 01:07:38,848
Elizabeth wasn't gaining weight and she just wouldn't eat.
1122
01:07:38,848 --> 01:07:41,694
I noticed one day when I was changing her diaper that
1123
01:07:41,694 --> 01:07:44,179
her stomach looked sunken, I could see the bottom of her
1124
01:07:44,179 --> 01:07:48,929
ribcage and her skin looked and felt strange, almost like
1125
01:07:49,781 --> 01:07:51,436
pizza dough.
1126
01:07:51,436 --> 01:07:54,480
Becky took her to the doctor for blood tests.
1127
01:07:54,480 --> 01:07:56,858
The next day, the doctor called.
1128
01:07:56,858 --> 01:08:00,803
She said "You have to go to children's hospital right now,
1129
01:08:00,803 --> 01:08:05,094
"everything is all over the place, things that are low
1130
01:08:05,094 --> 01:08:07,568
"should be high, things that are high should be low,
1131
01:08:07,568 --> 01:08:10,644
"nothing is where it should be."
1132
01:08:10,644 --> 01:08:13,144
(tense music)
1133
01:08:18,478 --> 01:08:23,203
I was freaking out, I was panicked, I didn't know what any
1134
01:08:23,203 --> 01:08:28,036
of it meant for a couple of days which was the scary part.
1135
01:08:28,961 --> 01:08:31,667
The tests revealed that Elizabeth had toxic
1136
01:08:31,667 --> 01:08:35,509
levels of vitamin D and this was causing dangerously high
1137
01:08:35,509 --> 01:08:38,092
levels of calcium in her blood.
1138
01:08:39,493 --> 01:08:43,586
I have never seen a case of vitamin D toxicity until
1139
01:08:43,586 --> 01:08:44,919
I saw Elizabeth.
1140
01:08:45,986 --> 01:08:49,554
She's only five or six months old and pretty much a baby's
1141
01:08:49,554 --> 01:08:52,759
diet is mostly formula, so we had to do a little
1142
01:08:52,759 --> 01:08:57,759
investigation why or where could she have gotten that.
1143
01:08:57,816 --> 01:09:01,378
When they first said the words "hypercalcemia" to me,
1144
01:09:01,378 --> 01:09:05,013
then I did what every parent does and I googled and I got
1145
01:09:05,013 --> 01:09:08,980
online and I found out everything I could about it and then
1146
01:09:08,980 --> 01:09:11,907
I started to see a recurring theme of high doses of
1147
01:09:11,907 --> 01:09:14,852
vitamin D, vitamin D overdose.
1148
01:09:14,852 --> 01:09:16,602
And I knew instantly.
1149
01:09:19,082 --> 01:09:21,978
So you start with powdered goat's milk and you put in
1150
01:09:21,978 --> 01:09:23,749
eight scoops.
1151
01:09:23,749 --> 01:09:25,444
Becky didn't have enough breast milk for
1152
01:09:25,444 --> 01:09:28,463
both twins, so she decided to keep Joe on breast milk
1153
01:09:28,463 --> 01:09:31,610
while Elizabeth received a mix of breast milk and homemade
1154
01:09:31,610 --> 01:09:33,261
formula.
1155
01:09:33,261 --> 01:09:36,428
Vitamin C, vitamin E, coral calcium.
1156
01:09:39,490 --> 01:09:41,729
This is cod liver oil.
1157
01:09:41,729 --> 01:09:44,248
It was an organic recipe of goat milk
1158
01:09:44,248 --> 01:09:47,364
and coconut milk from a local health store.
1159
01:09:47,364 --> 01:09:51,427
And this was the soy lecithin which is a thickener.
1160
01:09:51,427 --> 01:09:53,834
And wanting to do the best for her baby,
1161
01:09:53,834 --> 01:09:57,401
Becky decided to add a little something extra to the mix.
1162
01:09:57,401 --> 01:10:00,053
And then lastly is the vitamin D.
1163
01:10:00,053 --> 01:10:01,795
How much do you put in?
1164
01:10:01,795 --> 01:10:04,962
Well, the recipe calls for one drop.
1165
01:10:07,149 --> 01:10:08,463
One drop.
1166
01:10:08,463 --> 01:10:09,296
That's all that--
that's it.
1167
01:10:09,296 --> 01:10:12,053
Put in.
Which seems trivial
1168
01:10:12,053 --> 01:10:15,401
at best, that's just silliness, that's not gonna do anything
1169
01:10:15,401 --> 01:10:19,401
for anybody, so I would do the whole dropperful.
1170
01:10:22,483 --> 01:10:26,111
One ML or full dropper, like most infant droppers,
1171
01:10:26,111 --> 01:10:29,028
would contain about 20 to 30 drops.
1172
01:10:31,658 --> 01:10:34,603
If there's too much vitamin D, then you will reabsorb
1173
01:10:34,603 --> 01:10:39,210
a lot of the calcium, then it causes some of the symptoms
1174
01:10:39,210 --> 01:10:43,022
would be increased urination, lack of appetite, both of
1175
01:10:43,022 --> 01:10:45,889
which could lead to dehydration.
1176
01:10:45,889 --> 01:10:49,396
If this condition persisted without any treatment
1177
01:10:49,396 --> 01:10:53,353
or intervention, this could ultimately lead to Elizabeth
1178
01:10:53,353 --> 01:10:55,186
having kidney failure.
1179
01:11:00,783 --> 01:11:03,463
And then this was in the actual hospital with the feeding
1180
01:11:03,463 --> 01:11:07,177
tube but she's rounded out, she's plumped up and had
1181
01:11:07,177 --> 01:11:10,231
started to look normal again.
1182
01:11:10,231 --> 01:11:12,540
It took 10 days in hospital to stabilize
1183
01:11:12,540 --> 01:11:13,457
her levels.
1184
01:11:14,719 --> 01:11:16,469
I felt very guilty.
1185
01:11:17,335 --> 01:11:21,982
I did this, this is something that I did and I knew that I
1186
01:11:21,982 --> 01:11:25,885
was giving her too much when I was doing it but I thought
1187
01:11:25,885 --> 01:11:27,270
"What harm could there be?
1188
01:11:27,270 --> 01:11:29,634
"It's just a vitamin, it's like vitamin C, you get rid
1189
01:11:29,634 --> 01:11:34,051
"of what you don't need, how could it be a big deal?"
1190
01:11:35,199 --> 01:11:38,085
I was trying to be a good mom, I was trying to go above
1191
01:11:38,085 --> 01:11:42,418
and beyond in a very easy, every day way that seemed
1192
01:11:43,612 --> 01:11:44,612
so harmless.
1193
01:11:49,633 --> 01:11:53,094
I think people have underestimated the power of these
1194
01:11:53,094 --> 01:11:55,094
vitamins with vitamin D.
1195
01:11:57,814 --> 01:12:02,632
You know, little mistakes can mean a lot if it's tenfold,
1196
01:12:02,632 --> 01:12:06,299
hundredfold, that can really spell disaster.
1197
01:12:08,574 --> 01:12:11,080
Luckily, Elizabeth is now fine.
1198
01:12:11,080 --> 01:12:12,913
Her levels are normal.
1199
01:12:14,892 --> 01:12:18,329
It's difficult to overdose on vitamins in food, but easy
1200
01:12:18,329 --> 01:12:21,747
to do with manmade vitamins as they can be consumed in such
1201
01:12:21,747 --> 01:12:26,090
large quantities, and fat soluble vitamins like D can
1202
01:12:26,090 --> 01:12:30,257
accumulate in body fat, reaching dangerous levels.
1203
01:12:36,396 --> 01:12:39,056
Becky Jackson and her family are not alone.
1204
01:12:39,056 --> 01:12:42,860
In 2015, the US Poison Center reported over 3000 calls
1205
01:12:42,860 --> 01:12:45,384
concerning children under six who had taken too much
1206
01:12:45,384 --> 01:12:46,217
vitamin D.
1207
01:12:48,692 --> 01:12:51,192
(tense music)
1208
01:12:56,153 --> 01:12:58,716
Throughout the world, the potential risks of dietary
1209
01:12:58,716 --> 01:13:02,439
supplements are being studied carefully.
1210
01:13:02,439 --> 01:13:05,655
There's no question now that we have the data after
1211
01:13:05,655 --> 01:13:09,818
decades of study, really, that the supplements are not
1212
01:13:09,818 --> 01:13:11,206
risk free.
1213
01:13:11,206 --> 01:13:13,440
And in America, supplements send tens of thousands of
1214
01:13:13,440 --> 01:13:17,722
consumers to emergency departments every year and thousands
1215
01:13:17,722 --> 01:13:20,942
of hospitalizations every year are due to serious side
1216
01:13:20,942 --> 01:13:23,445
effects of supplements.
1217
01:13:23,445 --> 01:13:25,224
Tonight, Walgreens and Target have pulled
1218
01:13:25,224 --> 01:13:27,009
the products nationwide.
1219
01:13:27,009 --> 01:13:28,465
GNC did the same in--
1220
01:13:28,465 --> 01:13:31,378
In 2015, dietary supplements were pulled off
1221
01:13:31,378 --> 01:13:35,775
the shelves of four major pharmacy chains in New York.
1222
01:13:35,775 --> 01:13:38,174
Most of the supplements tested didn't contain the
1223
01:13:38,174 --> 01:13:41,687
materials listed on the label and many contained
1224
01:13:41,687 --> 01:13:42,770
contaminants.
1225
01:13:44,497 --> 01:13:47,364
One of the serious safety concerns has been serious
1226
01:13:47,364 --> 01:13:50,558
deficits in the manufacturing process.
1227
01:13:50,558 --> 01:13:53,095
For example, there have been multi-vitamins in which the
1228
01:13:53,095 --> 01:13:57,457
amount of a mineral has been 100 times greater than what
1229
01:13:57,457 --> 01:14:01,448
it should be, leading to serious health defects.
1230
01:14:01,448 --> 01:14:04,615
In other multi-vitamins, there has been drugs that weren't
1231
01:14:04,615 --> 01:14:08,281
supposed to be in there at all, such as anabolic steroids,
1232
01:14:08,281 --> 01:14:10,722
these are steroids that weightlifters might clandestinely
1233
01:14:10,722 --> 01:14:14,522
use to get stronger have been found in multi-vitamins
1234
01:14:14,522 --> 01:14:19,420
at such levels that people taking it became sick.
1235
01:14:19,420 --> 01:14:22,139
Specific risks are appearing around specific
1236
01:14:22,139 --> 01:14:24,222
vitamins, like vitamin D.
1237
01:14:25,094 --> 01:14:28,542
We're seeing levels of five times, ten times normal
1238
01:14:28,542 --> 01:14:31,562
in the blood of my patients when I see them with
1239
01:14:31,562 --> 01:14:35,622
osteopetrosis and studies are now showing these people
1240
01:14:35,622 --> 01:14:38,644
are now actually more prone to fractures and more prone
1241
01:14:38,644 --> 01:14:43,226
to falling down and all the evidence is building up that we
1242
01:14:43,226 --> 01:14:47,890
actually have a fairly narrow range of where these
1243
01:14:47,890 --> 01:14:49,057
vitamins work.
1244
01:14:50,632 --> 01:14:53,369
Every vitamin has a toxic level and some of them are
1245
01:14:53,369 --> 01:14:55,591
actually not that much higher than just the normal
1246
01:14:55,591 --> 01:14:57,546
nutritional amount.
1247
01:14:57,546 --> 01:15:01,280
I see patients all the time who have vitamin B six levels
1248
01:15:01,280 --> 01:15:03,890
in the toxic range and it can cause nerve damage
1249
01:15:03,890 --> 01:15:04,890
for example.
1250
01:15:06,646 --> 01:15:09,373
In the 1990s, studies testing a form of
1251
01:15:09,373 --> 01:15:13,344
vitamin A were halted when it became clear that participants
1252
01:15:13,344 --> 01:15:16,261
were at an increased risk of dying.
1253
01:15:17,913 --> 01:15:21,552
That really shocked I think almost everyone.
1254
01:15:21,552 --> 01:15:23,807
We need to look at the type of supplement, we need to look
1255
01:15:23,807 --> 01:15:26,314
at the amount of supplement, we need to look at what's
1256
01:15:26,314 --> 01:15:30,049
being given to and it does seem that there are some places
1257
01:15:30,049 --> 01:15:33,565
where vitamin supplements can definitely provide benefit,
1258
01:15:33,565 --> 01:15:36,120
there are a number of places where they can provide
1259
01:15:36,120 --> 01:15:39,089
some harm and there are a lot of places where they're still
1260
01:15:39,089 --> 01:15:42,183
not sure what the outcomes will be.
1261
01:15:42,183 --> 01:15:46,255
So the big picture is that these products are not
1262
01:15:46,255 --> 01:15:47,997
entirely safe.
1263
01:15:47,997 --> 01:15:49,909
It's not that they're gonna harm everyone who's gonna take
1264
01:15:49,909 --> 01:15:51,436
them, certainly not.
1265
01:15:51,436 --> 01:15:52,997
The majority of people aren't gonna experience any
1266
01:15:52,997 --> 01:15:54,731
adverse effects.
1267
01:15:54,731 --> 01:15:56,730
But my concern is this.
1268
01:15:56,730 --> 01:16:01,730
If these products are offering none to almost no benefit
1269
01:16:02,154 --> 01:16:07,154
to a healthy consumer, but posing a small risk of harm,
1270
01:16:07,259 --> 01:16:10,482
why should we be recommending them and why should consumers
1271
01:16:10,482 --> 01:16:11,649
be using them?
1272
01:16:14,633 --> 01:16:16,342
Now there's no questions that medicines can have
1273
01:16:16,342 --> 01:16:18,547
dangerous side effects and complications.
1274
01:16:18,547 --> 01:16:20,874
But they're clearly stated on the label and doctors know
1275
01:16:20,874 --> 01:16:22,161
to look out for them.
1276
01:16:22,161 --> 01:16:23,601
It's a known risk.
1277
01:16:23,601 --> 01:16:26,123
The issue with vitamins and dietary supplements is that
1278
01:16:26,123 --> 01:16:28,789
they're perceived to be risk free.
1279
01:16:28,789 --> 01:16:31,619
Yet there can be complications, there can be side effects,
1280
01:16:31,619 --> 01:16:34,063
and there can be bad products.
1281
01:16:34,063 --> 01:16:36,220
It's not a no risk proposition.
1282
01:16:36,220 --> 01:16:38,803
(lively music)
1283
01:16:41,428 --> 01:16:44,778
Yet, in the US, there's no legal requirement for products
1284
01:16:44,778 --> 01:16:47,645
to be tested for safety or effectiveness before
1285
01:16:47,645 --> 01:16:48,978
they go on sale.
1286
01:16:50,411 --> 01:16:53,220
In the US and in many countries, the laws are lax to the
1287
01:16:53,220 --> 01:16:55,120
point where you can basically put any combination of
1288
01:16:55,120 --> 01:16:58,486
vitamins and minerals in a pill, call it anything you want
1289
01:16:58,486 --> 01:17:01,545
and make pseudo-health claims for it.
1290
01:17:01,545 --> 01:17:03,378
So it's the wild west.
1291
01:17:05,509 --> 01:17:08,930
Clearly, there is a huge problem in supplement use that's
1292
01:17:08,930 --> 01:17:11,422
not regulated, there are things there
1293
01:17:11,422 --> 01:17:12,694
that shouldn't be there,
1294
01:17:12,694 --> 01:17:16,161
there are things that should be there that aren't there.
1295
01:17:16,161 --> 01:17:19,218
It is sort of the wild west.
1296
01:17:19,218 --> 01:17:21,925
To understand how this could happen, we need
1297
01:17:21,925 --> 01:17:23,008
to look back.
1298
01:17:26,651 --> 01:17:29,156
To see how the line between food
1299
01:17:29,156 --> 01:17:31,489
and medicine became blurred.
1300
01:17:33,283 --> 01:17:38,283
♪ Well, let's talk about the US government of 1938 ♪
1301
01:17:40,132 --> 01:17:45,132
♪ The burgeoning new industry, they didn't regulate ♪
1302
01:17:46,668 --> 01:17:48,108
♪ Said it makes no sense ♪
1303
01:17:48,108 --> 01:17:53,108
♪ They're just dispensing nutrients my dear ♪
1304
01:17:53,592 --> 01:17:58,592
♪ And if we pop that bottle top, we know what we would hear ♪
1305
01:17:58,773 --> 01:18:03,773
♪ I am not a medicine, I am not a drug ♪
1306
01:18:04,848 --> 01:18:08,811
♪ Dude, I'm food, so don't intrude, it's rude ♪
1307
01:18:08,811 --> 01:18:12,256
♪ To pull my plug ♪
1308
01:18:12,256 --> 01:18:17,256
♪ I wanna be a mystery, don't peer inside the pill ♪
1309
01:18:19,253 --> 01:18:23,089
♪ And if I'm not a medicine ♪
1310
01:18:23,089 --> 01:18:26,506
♪ Perhaps you never will ♪
1311
01:18:28,561 --> 01:18:31,736
In 1938, a new US law requires all pharmaceutical
1312
01:18:31,736 --> 01:18:35,184
drugs to be tested for safety, but vitamins escaped
1313
01:18:35,184 --> 01:18:37,605
this regulation, opening the door for the industry
1314
01:18:37,605 --> 01:18:38,981
to expand.
1315
01:18:38,981 --> 01:18:41,824
And by the 1970s, the industry is booming.
1316
01:18:41,824 --> 01:18:44,716
The FDA, concerned about high dose vitamins, tries to
1317
01:18:44,716 --> 01:18:47,543
tighten the rules, but fails.
1318
01:18:47,543 --> 01:18:49,412
They try again in the 90s.
1319
01:18:49,412 --> 01:18:51,502
This time, they want better labeling and to remove
1320
01:18:51,502 --> 01:18:53,276
unsafe products.
1321
01:18:53,276 --> 01:18:55,517
But the industry fights back, claiming the regulation
1322
01:18:55,517 --> 01:19:00,282
will make it too expensive and limit consumer choice.
1323
01:19:00,282 --> 01:19:05,282
♪ You know I wear my therapeutic promises with pride ♪
1324
01:19:06,915 --> 01:19:11,915
♪ But every name I have to claim discreetly qualified ♪
1325
01:19:13,466 --> 01:19:18,466
♪ No reason to investigate, no reason to delay ♪
1326
01:19:20,359 --> 01:19:24,781
♪ You might just live forever if you take me twice a day ♪
1327
01:19:24,781 --> 01:19:29,781
♪ Oh but I am not a medicine, I am not a drug ♪
1328
01:19:32,108 --> 01:19:37,108
♪ To keep me cheap you need to sweep me right under the rug ♪
1329
01:19:38,774 --> 01:19:43,774
♪ Hey FDA, get out the way, why can't we stay like this ♪
1330
01:19:45,437 --> 01:19:50,437
♪ Where I am not a medicine ♪
1331
01:19:52,245 --> 01:19:55,662
♪ And ignorance is bliss ♪
1332
01:19:59,717 --> 01:20:04,717
In 1994, a new US law is passed, forbidding the testing
1333
01:20:04,957 --> 01:20:07,927
of dietary supplements for safety or effectiveness
1334
01:20:07,927 --> 01:20:08,927
before sale.
1335
01:20:15,356 --> 01:20:18,794
And the industry explodes from around 4000 products
1336
01:20:18,794 --> 01:20:19,961
to over 85000.
1337
01:20:22,499 --> 01:20:24,249
Perhaps the most surprising part about the way that
1338
01:20:24,249 --> 01:20:27,612
supplements are regulated is that it is because of
1339
01:20:27,612 --> 01:20:31,307
us consumers, we supported this legislation.
1340
01:20:31,307 --> 01:20:35,035
We lobbied on behalf of the dietary supplement industry
1341
01:20:35,035 --> 01:20:38,931
to get congress to pass a sweeping law in 1994 that
1342
01:20:38,931 --> 01:20:42,608
forever forbade the FDA from requiring that dietary
1343
01:20:42,608 --> 01:20:46,398
supplements be tested or for efficacy before they're sold.
1344
01:20:46,398 --> 01:20:48,015
What do you mean forever?
1345
01:20:48,015 --> 01:20:52,268
Like unless there's another law, that's just how it is.
1346
01:20:52,268 --> 01:20:54,685
(soft music)
1347
01:20:56,407 --> 01:21:00,406
Different countries have different regulations.
1348
01:21:00,406 --> 01:21:02,972
In Australia, most vitamin products are classified as
1349
01:21:02,972 --> 01:21:04,972
complimentary medicines.
1350
01:21:06,118 --> 01:21:08,844
Manufacturers must certify that they use low risk
1351
01:21:08,844 --> 01:21:11,458
ingredients, products contain what they say they
1352
01:21:11,458 --> 01:21:16,458
contain and they have evidence to back up health claims.
1353
01:21:16,856 --> 01:21:20,037
But, it's a trust based system.
1354
01:21:20,037 --> 01:21:23,355
Products don't have to be proven safe or effective
1355
01:21:23,355 --> 01:21:25,272
before they go on sale.
1356
01:21:29,117 --> 01:21:31,687
In Europe, vitamin products are regulated as food
1357
01:21:31,687 --> 01:21:35,207
supplements and again, they don't have to be tested
1358
01:21:35,207 --> 01:21:37,557
before they go on sale.
1359
01:21:37,557 --> 01:21:39,466
However, the laws are tougher.
1360
01:21:39,466 --> 01:21:42,207
To claim a health benefit, for example, manufacturers
1361
01:21:42,207 --> 01:21:47,110
must show proven scientific evidence, and in France,
1362
01:21:47,110 --> 01:21:49,991
high doses of vitamins generally need a medical
1363
01:21:49,991 --> 01:21:51,074
prescription.
1364
01:21:54,700 --> 01:21:56,655
But increasingly, people are buying their vitamin
1365
01:21:56,655 --> 01:21:58,447
products online.
1366
01:21:58,447 --> 01:22:00,947
(tense music)
1367
01:22:05,779 --> 01:22:09,196
So globally, it's a case of buyer beware.
1368
01:22:10,430 --> 01:22:13,462
(players shouting)
1369
01:22:13,462 --> 01:22:18,126
And yet, we can't forget that in cases of real deficiency,
1370
01:22:18,126 --> 01:22:21,459
vitamin supplements can transform lives.
1371
01:22:25,941 --> 01:22:28,441
They can save a child's sight.
1372
01:22:30,279 --> 01:22:32,279
They can be life savers.
1373
01:22:34,078 --> 01:22:38,262
But what if we're healthy, with no known deficiency?
1374
01:22:38,262 --> 01:22:42,012
How do we decide whether to take them or not?
1375
01:22:44,210 --> 01:22:47,693
My final stop is to meet experts planning the ultimate
1376
01:22:47,693 --> 01:22:48,860
human journey.
1377
01:22:51,956 --> 01:22:56,123
I wanna know, are they taking supplements to Mars?
1378
01:22:59,291 --> 01:23:00,923
And liftoff.
1379
01:23:00,923 --> 01:23:05,137
The (mumbles) of (mumbles) hit a new era of American
1380
01:23:05,137 --> 01:23:06,637
space exploration.
1381
01:23:12,356 --> 01:23:15,090
NASA is preparing to send humans to Mars
1382
01:23:15,090 --> 01:23:16,090
around 2030.
1383
01:23:19,378 --> 01:23:22,775
Imagine a three year round trip with only the food
1384
01:23:22,775 --> 01:23:25,192
you have on board to survive.
1385
01:23:26,555 --> 01:23:28,500
They can't go down the street and go to a restaurant.
1386
01:23:28,500 --> 01:23:30,773
If they don't like what you've provided, they can't go
1387
01:23:30,773 --> 01:23:34,342
to the grocery store and have hundreds of choices.
1388
01:23:34,342 --> 01:23:37,546
So this is where we freeze dry the products.
1389
01:23:37,546 --> 01:23:40,190
Dr. Grace Douglas leads NASA's research into
1390
01:23:40,190 --> 01:23:43,302
the nutritional needs of astronauts.
1391
01:23:43,302 --> 01:23:46,757
The focus is on taking whole foods into space.
1392
01:23:46,757 --> 01:23:49,588
And all of our freeze dried foods get made in this lab
1393
01:23:49,588 --> 01:23:51,950
here, so cook like you would at home and then they get put
1394
01:23:51,950 --> 01:23:56,950
in here frozen and the moisture gets pulled out of them.
1395
01:23:57,082 --> 01:24:00,025
In flight, they'll add the water back and it rehydrates
1396
01:24:00,025 --> 01:24:02,753
to be just like the meal it was before we pulled
1397
01:24:02,753 --> 01:24:04,152
the water out.
1398
01:24:04,152 --> 01:24:06,198
Some of the vitamins actually do really well through
1399
01:24:06,198 --> 01:24:07,670
this process.
1400
01:24:07,670 --> 01:24:10,753
(cheerful whistling)
1401
01:24:14,556 --> 01:24:18,999
Strawberry shortcake, ready for you, Chris.
1402
01:24:18,999 --> 01:24:20,325
I like the look of this,
1403
01:24:20,325 --> 01:24:22,242
this is your shrimp dish, is it?
1404
01:24:22,242 --> 01:24:24,518
That's shrimp cocktail.
Wow, these are really
1405
01:24:24,518 --> 01:24:26,705
cool, and a burger, of course, very American.
1406
01:24:26,705 --> 01:24:28,178
Yes.
1407
01:24:28,178 --> 01:24:31,967
So this one's sweet and sour chicken.
1408
01:24:31,967 --> 01:24:36,926
Honey coming out pretty well there, there we go.
1409
01:24:36,926 --> 01:24:38,894
Chocolate pudding cake.
1410
01:24:38,894 --> 01:24:41,100
So will NASA be sending vitamin supplements
1411
01:24:41,100 --> 01:24:42,646
to Mars?
1412
01:24:42,646 --> 01:24:43,948
Pretty good.
1413
01:24:43,948 --> 01:24:45,950
The only one we send is vitamin D and that's because
1414
01:24:45,950 --> 01:24:47,836
you get a lot of your vitamin D exposure from sunlight
1415
01:24:47,836 --> 01:24:50,736
exposure on your skin and we're not gonna have that option
1416
01:24:50,736 --> 01:24:52,207
in space flight.
1417
01:24:52,207 --> 01:24:53,409
Only vitamin D?
1418
01:24:53,409 --> 01:24:56,025
Yeah, we expect that we have all the other nutrients
1419
01:24:56,025 --> 01:24:59,674
in a wide variety of a balanced food system.
1420
01:24:59,674 --> 01:25:01,836
Why is food better than supplements?
1421
01:25:01,836 --> 01:25:06,086
Food is just core and fundamental to every aspect
1422
01:25:06,953 --> 01:25:09,272
of human health and performance, so it's central
1423
01:25:09,272 --> 01:25:12,300
to these missions and there's really no way because there's
1424
01:25:12,300 --> 01:25:14,714
so many different vitamins in food, there's so many
1425
01:25:14,714 --> 01:25:17,895
things that you're getting that you can't replicate
1426
01:25:17,895 --> 01:25:19,895
at this point in a pill.
1427
01:25:20,799 --> 01:25:24,248
Okay, there we go, it says 75, so we're gonna put in 75.
1428
01:25:24,248 --> 01:25:26,936
I mean to me, it feels like the linchpin, right?
1429
01:25:26,936 --> 01:25:30,411
To determine whether a crew gets to Mars and is happy and
1430
01:25:30,411 --> 01:25:33,094
healthy and ready to go.
1431
01:25:33,094 --> 01:25:35,084
It sounds to me comes down to the food.
1432
01:25:35,084 --> 01:25:36,517
It's one of the great needs,
1433
01:25:36,517 --> 01:25:37,733
you have oxygen, water, and food,
1434
01:25:37,733 --> 01:25:39,504
and no matter what, you can't go anywhere
1435
01:25:39,504 --> 01:25:41,378
or do anything with the human system without those three
1436
01:25:41,378 --> 01:25:43,497
critical things.
1437
01:25:43,497 --> 01:25:44,330
How do you like it?
1438
01:25:44,330 --> 01:25:48,247
It's fantastic, I would eat this, absolutely.
1439
01:25:49,398 --> 01:25:50,904
For three years.
1440
01:25:50,904 --> 01:25:52,895
For three years, this is all I get?
1441
01:25:52,895 --> 01:25:53,728
Yeah.
1442
01:25:56,195 --> 01:25:57,952
This is mission control Houston.
1443
01:25:57,952 --> 01:26:00,272
As we come up on the first two critical Orion program
1444
01:26:00,272 --> 01:26:03,978
milestones, the service module faring panel jettison
1445
01:26:03,978 --> 01:26:05,962
and the launch abort system jettison--
1446
01:26:05,962 --> 01:26:08,277
Our growing understanding of the power
1447
01:26:08,277 --> 01:26:12,027
of food is revealing something extraordinary.
1448
01:26:16,843 --> 01:26:19,979
As well as the 13 vitamins, there are thousands of other
1449
01:26:19,979 --> 01:26:24,573
chemicals in food, a multitude of molecules working
1450
01:26:24,573 --> 01:26:27,906
in complex and often mysterious synergy.
1451
01:26:30,671 --> 01:26:34,370
Together, they protect against disease, but they don't
1452
01:26:34,370 --> 01:26:37,805
always have that same power if they're isolated
1453
01:26:37,805 --> 01:26:38,972
from our food.
1454
01:26:40,988 --> 01:26:43,571
(all laughing)
1455
01:26:46,838 --> 01:26:50,869
At this point in time, we can't begin to think that a
1456
01:26:50,869 --> 01:26:54,577
supplement could replicate what we would get from a food
1457
01:26:54,577 --> 01:26:57,494
or replace whole foods in our diet.
1458
01:26:58,448 --> 01:27:02,604
Foods contain dozens of essential micronutrients, but they
1459
01:27:02,604 --> 01:27:05,997
also contain literally thousands of compounds that we've
1460
01:27:05,997 --> 01:27:10,215
only minimally studied up until this point in time.
1461
01:27:10,215 --> 01:27:12,844
Even if it's comfortable to think that this pill will
1462
01:27:12,844 --> 01:27:16,924
solve many problem of the daily life and will prevent
1463
01:27:16,924 --> 01:27:20,512
longterm or chronic diseases, and it's not true and it's not
1464
01:27:20,512 --> 01:27:23,711
proven for the moment and what is proven are the
1465
01:27:23,711 --> 01:27:26,794
relationship between diet and health.
1466
01:27:29,092 --> 01:27:31,144
I actually think it's unfortunate that there's been
1467
01:27:31,144 --> 01:27:34,863
so much hype and pseudoscience around vitamins, so you
1468
01:27:34,863 --> 01:27:39,190
have people who are evidence based, science based who think
1469
01:27:39,190 --> 01:27:42,137
"Oh, vitamins are all nonsense," no, they're not, actually,
1470
01:27:42,137 --> 01:27:45,804
it's science, it's nutrition, it's medicine.
1471
01:27:46,848 --> 01:27:51,088
What's nonsense is over hyping vitamins or pretending that
1472
01:27:51,088 --> 01:27:54,005
they're something that they're not.
1473
01:27:57,405 --> 01:27:59,595
You know, before, when I thought of vitamins, I thought
1474
01:27:59,595 --> 01:28:00,974
of pills.
1475
01:28:00,974 --> 01:28:04,003
I had kind of forgotten that they all come from food, but
1476
01:28:04,003 --> 01:28:06,049
now I've learned it's really not that hard to get everything
1477
01:28:06,049 --> 01:28:09,408
you need from food and there's so much more to food than
1478
01:28:09,408 --> 01:28:11,420
we currently understand.
1479
01:28:11,420 --> 01:28:13,782
After all, we've been getting our food from vitamins for
1480
01:28:13,782 --> 01:28:15,728
millions of years.
1481
01:28:15,728 --> 01:28:18,469
You think we'd have it all worked out in barely a hundred?
1482
01:28:18,469 --> 01:28:20,124
So should we take our vitamins?
1483
01:28:20,124 --> 01:28:21,166
Yes!
1484
01:28:21,166 --> 01:28:23,877
By eating good food, and if you feel like you need something
1485
01:28:23,877 --> 01:28:26,855
extra, maybe the best thing to do is think of vitamins
1486
01:28:26,855 --> 01:28:28,317
as if they're medicines.
1487
01:28:28,317 --> 01:28:32,234
That is, if you take them, take them seriously.
1488
01:28:34,017 --> 01:28:38,434
(people chattering under soft music)
1489
01:28:52,338 --> 01:28:54,838
(tense music)
1489
01:28:55,305 --> 01:29:01,639
Support us and become VIP member
to remove all ads from www.OpenSubtitles.org
121488
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get subtitles in any language from opensubtitles.com, and translate them here.