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Medical Video: Dr. Mercola Talks About Indoor Air Pollution
For most people, mouth masks are a mandatory item that should not be abandoned when moving out of the house even though they are not having the flu or coughing. The reason is none other than not because of air pollution. Not surprisingly, the level of pollution in some regions has even been so severe that it is classified harmful to the health of the population. Jakarta (especially the North and West), Batam and Medan are listed as the three major cities in Indonesia with the worst levels of air pollution according to a recent study from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
Masks are a very good method of self-protection from air pollution. But there is one more precaution that is no less important than a mask, namely by taking a vitamin B complex supplement. What is the article?
Why is air pollution dangerous for health?
The impact of air pollution on health has long been a cause of concern for many people around the world. Continued exposure to air pollution is known to increase your risk for acute respiratory diseases, mental disorders, strokes, to Alzheimer's. However, not much is known about the actual mechanism of dirty air so that it can make people vulnerable to illness.
One thing that scientists know for certain is that PM2.5 particles are the most dangerous type of pollution to health. PM (Particular Matter) itself is a type of air pollution that consists of many different sized particles - from super small to almost invisible to pollens that can be seen with the naked eye. PM2.5 is a group of air pollution particles smaller than 2.5 millimeters. This is even 30 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair.
According to WHO, around 92 percent of the world's population lives in areas where PM2.5 levels in the air exceed the recommended threshold - 10 micrograms per cubic meter (μg / m3) per year. Based on the latest data from the World Bank website, the level of PM2.5 in Indonesian air per year reached 15.4 μg / m3.
PM2.5 is caused by emissions of combustion of motor vehicles and wood burning stoves, as well as by-products of chemicals that react with other gases. These particles are very small in size and almost invisible to the eye, so it is very easy to breathe and stick in the deepest corner of the lungs. This then triggers DNA mutations at the molecular level, which is manifested as inflammation and oxidative stress. Both are associated with long-term lung and heart health problems. Who would have thought that the risk of this health problem could be overcome by consuming complex B vitamins?
Vitamin B complex supplements repair damage caused by air pollution
A team of researchers from the University of California reported that complex vitamin supplements might be useful as a shield of self-protection against the risk of long-term damage due to air pollution. Vitamin B complex supplements have long been known to help treat or prevent certain health problems, including depression, fatigue, heart disease, reducing stress, and stimulating the immune system.
As explained above, chronic exposure to PM2.5 due to long-term air pollution can cause epigenetic changes in body cells which can damage health. These modifications do not change the DNA sequence, but instead, they affect how cells read genes. The study shows that gene modification due to air pollution seems to change the way the immune system works so that it blocks our body's defenses.
For this study, researchers looked at 10 volunteers initially deliberately conditioned in clean air and given placebo vitamins to check their body's initial reactions. Then participants were asked to take another placebo for four weeks before being given exposure to dirty air from the most polluted Toronto area, where there were a thousand vehicles that passed every hour. Dirty air is then inhaled directly by volunteers through oxygen masks. This experiment was then repeated with the same pattern, but each person was given a vitamin B supplement complex every day for four weeks of the experiment.
The result, the researchers found that consumption of complex B vitamins in high doses (2.5 mg of folic acid / B9, 50 mg of vitamin B6, and 1 mg of vitamin B12) every day for four weeks can reduce damage due to PM2.5 to 28-76 percent. They also found a similar impact reduction in mitochondrial DNA, the part of the cell that produces energy.
But the researchers emphasized that while the observed effects were real, their research had many limitations. First, the number of participants is very small (only 10 people). Second, there is little information about the exact dosage of vitamin B supplements to give rise to a response. Researchers did not measure doses at different doses, but immediately used a very high standard of doses - higher than recommendations during pregnancy. Follow-up studies are still needed to be able to ensure accurate dose measurements from vitamin B complex supplements to prevent damage due to pollution and safety.
Intake of complex B vitamins from fresh food is better than supplements
It doesn't hurt to start taking multivitamin supplements as one of the many ways to maintain health. The benefits of B vitamins if consumed long-term in the form of supplements are reported to protect you from the adverse effects of pollution.
But it has been proven repeatedly that consuming only one specific nutrient in the form of a supplement will not provide the same health benefits as consuming nutrients from the food as a whole. Therefore, your first focus is to always try to get your daily vitamin and mineral needs from food. Only then if you have applied a healthy diet but still feel less, it never hurts to take a multivitamin in addition.
On the other hand, experts agree that while we must make every effort to protect ourselves from the dangers of pollution, central government interference with the environment remains the most important. It is the responsibility of the government to protect the health of its people through maintaining air quality.
