Below you’ll find topic areas for articles from the archives of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, including research papers, Case Reports and Editorials, as well as articles written by orthomolecular practitioners.
To learn more about orthomolecular health or search the archives of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, visit www.orthomed.org or JOM archives .
Topic V: PMS/PMDD
PMS / PMDD AND TWO THERAPEUTIC NUTRIENTS
Andrew Saul, PhD
The following is an excerpt form the article. For the complete article visit DoctorYourself.com.
Vitamin B-6
PMS/PMDD symptoms may indicate pyridoxine (vitamin B-6) deficiency, as they are greatly relieved by pyridoxine supplementation.
B-6 dosage to the tune of 500 milligrams (mg) daily is very safe. Probably tens of millions of women suffer PMS symptoms; only a very few cases of B - 6 overdose problems have been reported. Daily dosage over 2,000 mg has occasionally caused temporary neurological symptoms in some persons. But this only happens if pyridoxine is given alone, or way out of proportion to the other essential B-vitamins. Taking ALL the B vitamins together (as B-complex) is the safest and most effective therapeutic approach.
You can get some (probably less than 5 mg) of B-6 from food, if you really like to eat whole grains, seeds and organ meats. A goodly slice of beef liver contains a whopping 1.22 mg of B-6. Other dead animals parts contain less (turkey and chicken breasts are pretty good, but chicken liver is only 0.6 mg per serving), while most other foods contain very little. Avocados (0.5 mg each) and bananas (0.7 mg each) lead the pyridoxine league for fruits. Potatoes (0.7 mg each) and nuts (especially filberts, peanuts and walnuts) are relatively good veggie sources.
The US RDA for B-6 is about 2 mg daily (and it is LOWER for women), and this is ridiculously inadequate. A strong case can be made for increasing this to at least 25 to 65 mg per day for people without PMS symptoms. But don't hold your breath for any raising of standards anytime soon. Consider that some research (the 1975 MRCA study, for starters) has shown that of children ages 2 through 12, 74% did not get the US RDA of B-6. That’s pretty terrible, but it is worse for adults 19 and over: 99% got less than the US RDA of B-6. Does THAT ever explain the PMS problem in the USA!
Above copyright C 2003 and prior years by Andrew W. Saul. DoctorYourself.com
Other resources:
(1) Mgwater This site offers many complete papers by the worlds leading magnesium experts.
(2) More Magnesium Means Better Health. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service.
October 23, 2007.
