Nutrient Deficiency Diseases

Research using 22,000 physicians under the supervision of the Department of Medicine at Harvard is studying the long-term effects of beta carotene (vitamin A) in lowering the incidence of cancer and boosting resistance to infection. It is also being studied in the treatment of AIDS. Beta carotene is a safer version of vitamin A than the preformed oil form called retinol. It is found in carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, spinach, collards, turnip greens, kale, and many other vegetables that.

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is used as a supplement by more people than any other supplement. Its popularity is due to the work of the two-time Nobel laureate, Linus Pauling who maintained that vitamin C was effective in preventing and lessening the effect of colds and in the treatment of cancer. Pauling's vitamin C program called for megadoses that far exceeded the government's RDA recommendations. Pauling recommended a daily dose of between 2,000 and 9,000 milligrams (mg). The National Research Council recommends 60 mg for adult daily and 100 mg for smokers.

The discovery of micro nutrition was made in the early twentieth century as a result of finding the cure for certain diseases, the nutrient deficiency diseases such as scurvy, beriberi, and pellagra. The new dimensions of fully understanding and using our knowledge of nutrients remain to be established from the ongoing research in this area of nutritional science.