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Exploring the Safety and Dosage Levels of Metals in Multivitamins

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Exploring the Safety and Dosage Levels of Metals in Multivitamins

A Cooper Aerobics Facebook Fan recently expressed their concern about copper in Cooper Complete® vitamins and supplements after reading an article from The Huffington Post, 3 Metals That Might Cause Memory Problems. This article discusses potential health risks with iron, aluminum, and copper.

Iron is an essential mineral and handles the task of transporting oxygen to the muscles and organs. Iron also plays a role in the nervous system, as iron levels impact dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels. If the iron content of our blood falls, we may feel tired or have reduced energy, and immune system becomes impaired. A deficiency may be caused by iron deficiency anemia or anemia associated with chronic disease.

There are two forms of dietary iron: heme and non-heme. Heme iron sources come from animal foods (meat, fish and poultry), non-heme iron is found in non-meat foods such as beans, lentils, yeast leavened whole grain breads, dried fruits, broccoli, spinach and other leafy greens, strawberries, nuts, and enriched pastas, rice and cereals. While our diets contain far more non-heme iron, this non-meat-based iron is not as readily absorbed by our body. Individuals who follow a diet completely free from any animal product (so no animal products whatsoever, including eggs and dairy) are most likely to have an iron deficiency, but lacto-vegetarians (who include eggs and diary in their diet) also have an increased risk being iron deficient.

Healthy adults typically absorb about 10 to 15 percent of the dietary iron consumed each day. Current storage levels of iron have the greatest influence on our absorption—when our levels are low iron absorption increases; when the levels are high, absorption decreases. It’s counterintuitive, but the amount of iron our body absorbs decreases with increasing doses, so when taking supplements it’s helpful to take the daily dose in two or three equally spaced doses.

Cooper Complete Teen multivitamin and Mineral Supplement formulation contains iron as iron is important for growth. Cooper Complete Original and Basic One both have “with iron” formulations as women in their childbearing years having a monthly menstrual cycle can benefit from the additional iron. Elite Athletes, those who are exercising at 80 percent or more of their maximal heart rate a minimum of five hours per week, also benefit from supplemental iron as the iron is a tremendous help in healing (from the extreme workout). Our standard recommendation is that post-menopausal women and all men avoid supplemental iron unless their personal physician has recommended otherwise.

The Huffington Post article suggests swapping out cast-iron pans for stainless steel, and references a study that found iron content of spaghetti sauce increased more than nine times after being cooked in a cast-iron skillet. We’re reluctant to support this recommendation as a well-seasoned cast-iron pan is honestly the original “non-stick” pan! This said—cast-iron is best used for searing—most good cooks would abhor the idea of slow cooking acidic spaghetti sauce in cast-iron as the acidity in the sauce will absolutely retard the “seasoning” that the cook has been building up over decades of use.

The mineral copper naturally occurs in all kinds of foods, including dark leafy vegetables, legumes, nut, grains and fruit. Because copper is on the earth’s crust, most surface and ground water also contain small amounts of this mineral. Copper supports the absorption, storage, and metabolism of iron. It also plays a role in wound healing and red blood cell production. Similar to iron, the body absorbs varying amounts of copper. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that about one third to one half of the copper consumed is actually absorbed, with the excess excreted. Our body needs about two milligrams of copper per day, so as much as four milligrams would need to be consumed to get to this level. Researchers are studying the impact of copper on cancer, bone health, cardiovascular disease, arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease. Research does support that copper taken in excess might be problematic, and some studies, albeit more testimonial than theoretical, suggest copper is linked to mental function (and autism). When our team looks at research, we are looking for studies that contain large populations and are long-running as this research provides the best snapshot on long-term health. Right now, with the small studies we’ve seen (some with people, and some with mice and rabbits), we haven’t answered the question on copper and memory loss. Do individuals with impaired brains absorb higher levels of copper, or does copper potentially impair the brain? This is an important question to answer. As with many other conditions, we may eventually learn that many factors contribute to the disease. (For example, a 40 year study of 800 Swedish women found that the women with higher levels of stress during middle age were more likely to develop Alzheimer’s.)

As with iron, the Cooper Complete supplement line contains multivitamins “with” and “without” copper. (Cooper Complete original formulation and Elite Athlete contain 2 mg copper gluconate, while copper is not included in the Basic One formulation.)

One of the benefits of Cooper Complete Nutritional Supplements is that our team of physicians, researchers and dietitians review all Cooper Complete product formulations on a regular basis and adjust ingredients and ingredient levels, based upon the latest scientific research. Formulations change as the body of research evolves, so typically a single study doesn’t sway us to adjust formulations (unless it’s a really large, long study)—we definitely look at trends and overall picture. Please know that we are looking at the science on copper, as well as other ingredients, and will adjust formulations as needed.

Article provided by Jill Turner, President of Cooper Complete®.