Are There Vitamin & Hormone Imitators in Our Body?

[mark!]

There are serotonin imitators, acetylcholine imitators, also several metals, like lead, are very good 'actors' in our body, but is it true that there are also vitamin imitators and hormone imitators in our body?

 

[Evo]

There are serotonin imitators, acetylcholine imitators, also several metals, like lead, are very good 'actors' in our body, but is it true that there are also vitamin imitators and hormone imitators in our body?

Please post links to the studies to which you are referring so that everyone that reads this thread can read the same thing so there is no confusion, Thanks.

 

[mark!]

It's a general question, really. I'm not referring to a study I know of, I'm referring to a study that might be there or not. The question is only about vitamins and hormone imitators, if that is true. Are there studies about this? Because I couldn't find them on the web, that's why maybe somebody here can help me out?

 

[Ygggdrasil]

I'm not sure I understand what you're looking for either. When you refer to imitators of serotonin and acetylcholine, are you talking about human-made pharmaceuticals, natural compounds from species like plants, endogenous compounds made by the human body, or something else? Similarly, when you refer to lead as a "good" actor, how is lead acting in a "good" way? I'm only aware of lead poisoning.

With regard to hormone imitators, there are many drugs that imitate hormones (e.g. birth control pills contain compounds mimicking estrogens and other hormones), and there are many compounds classified as endocrine disruptors that are thought to cause health problems by mimicking hormones.

 

[jim mcnamara]

There are foods that have a negative effect on nutrients, sometimes called food antagonism.

Biotin is a required nutrient. Avidin is a component of uncooked egg white. Avidin binds biotin, such that animals (or humans) fed on raw egg white become biotin deficient. For humans on almost any reasonable diet a biotin deficiency is hard to find.
This discusses the avidin biotin discovery; it is old.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja01858a052
Biotin deficiency in humans:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotin_deficiency

More generally there are foods that bind or alter nutrients and render them unavailable. Plant phytates, for example in legume seeds ( ex., beans and peas), bind required dietary metal ions - like copper, zinc, magnesium, and manganese. Phytates are metal ion-citrate complexes seed bearing plants use to store nutrients for the next generation.

Humans on long term diets high in phytic acid and phytates: for them this is a problem in developing countries because severe deficiencies can result due to phytates binding nutrients:
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/133/9/2973S.long

And for vegetarians, this discusses what you need to know for a healthful diet, avoiding the phytate issues:
http://www.andjrnl.org/article/S0002-8223(03)00294-3/abstract