A latest study has said that vitamin shortage might be responsible for triggering many of the modern life ills.
“The deficiency of one or more of the 40 micro-nutrients in people’s diet, essential for a healthy life could be compensated by taking dietary supplements in the form of vitamin pills to counteract many of the disorders associated with ageing,” said Professor Bruce Ames, of University of California.
This chronic shortage of vitamins and other ‘micro-nutrients’ in the diet might result in diseases such as cancer, obesity and the degenerative diseases of ageing.
Many people on a high-calorie diet in the West or poor diet in developing countries were short of micro-nutrients, causing the body to go into an emergency ‘triage’ response in which it tried to keep its metabolism in balance by the process of compensation, ensuring immediate survival.
“The consequences included increase in DNA damage, causing future cancers, a lowered immune defense, and a decay of the mitochondrial ‘power plants’ of the cells, which causes accelerated ageing,” he added.