As a satisfied multivitamin user for the past 20 years, I was startled at the conclusions of “Vitamin Pills: A False Hope?” I do not normally review articles that appear in mainstream newspapers; however, the author does a good job to cite current and ongoing research to substantiate her conclusions. The author states that Americans spend approximately 23 billion dollars a year on vitamin supplements. These numbers suggest a widespread belief that vitamin supplemetation enhances health.
In short, the author reviews empirical evidence that vitamin supplements may provide no health benefits or may even be harmful despite mainstream to the contrary. For example, the Women’s Health Initiative (tracked 161,000 older women’s vitamin use for 8 years) found no reduction in heart disease and cancer, and a large scale study of 15,000 male physicians’ intake of vitamins C and E for 10 years found no change in the risk of cancer or heart disease. Disturbingly, one study found increased mortality rates among 181,000 persons spanning 47 trials of antioxidant vitamins. Despite these negative findings, researchers are still hopeful that vitamin D might decrease risk of heart disease and chronic diseases, and researchers state that one explanation for these neutral or negative findings is that the potential benefits of vitamin supplements may not have been adequately discovered due to the study design (i.e., it is very difficult to isolate the effects of vitamins over a long period of time).
Where do we go from here? Should we abandon our vitamin supplements? This research reviewed here suggests that the answer might be “yes.” The obvious answer is to obtain adequate nutrition from foods, particularly vegetables and fruits, which the author notes have been shown to improve the quality of life and to reduce the risk of certain diseases and cancer. Of course, consult your physician before you make significant lifestyle modifications, and especially if your doctor recommended that you use vitamin supplementation.
Read the full article here.
Enjoy.
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