Do Vitamin Supplements Make Us Any Healthier?

In a word- NO.

Most U.S. adults and more than 30 percent of American children take some form of dietary supplement, most often multivitamins and multiminerals, according to a report in the October 2007 issue of Archives of Pediatrics. Experts emphasize diet as the best source of nutrients for children, but physicians may recommend supplements for certain children at risk of deficiency.

Do dietary supplements work, and are they safe?

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent: The report found that about one third of kids in the United States are taking dietary supplements. Most were taking a daily multivitamin and a small group taking individual supplements such as vitamin C, calcium or iron. So, do your kids need to take a multivitamin daily to be healthy? The short answer: no. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend a daily multivitamin for children. They say most kids get the nutrients they need from their diet. But they do recommend 200 IU of vitamin D for children who don’t drink milk and also 5 to 10 mg of iron for babies who are breast-fed.

What about vitamin D?

Gupta: The biggest concern for the American Academy of Pediatrics is vitamin D deficiency. Rickets is a disorder that becomes apparent during infancy or childhood and is the result of insufficient vitamin D in the body. This is most common in breast-fed children. Here is the good news: Although a daily multivitamin might not be offering your child a tremendous amount of benefit, it certainly is not hurting them.

Dr. Gupta, why did you say in your book that adults might be wasting money on daily supplement pills?

Gupta: Here’s the problem: Despite the billions of dollars people spend, there’s virtually no research showing that supplements can make you healthier or live longer. There is some research, but most finds there’s no benefit at all.

Two examples from the Journal of the American Medical Association: Ginkgo doesn’t help memory, and Echinacea doesn’t work to fight colds. And you’ve heard of antioxidants? One study found that taking antioxidants, such as vitamins A and E, in pill form, might actually be harmful. So it’s possibly a waste of money because there’s no powerful proof behind supplements. Yet, honestly, I take a few even though I don’t know if they’re doing anything for me. You could say it’s a leap of faith. The National Institute on Aging doesn’t specifically recommend any supplement.

If there’s no evidence, what’s driving people to take these supplements?

Gupta: People think they’re shortcuts. We like shortcuts. And there’s clever marketing to encourage us to give them a try, whether it’s supplements, vitamins or antioxidants. Some supplements do show promise, even without much data yet to back it up, such as alpha lipoic acid to fight off heart disease and diabetes and fish oil with omega-3 fatty acid. Also, even if you eat a healthy diet, taking a multivitamin may just give you an extra boost of nutrients — although, again, no research out there proves this yet.

The bottom line is studies have shown that a good diet, not pills, is the safest and best way to stay healthy. In my book, "Chasing Life," I recommend eating a "colorful diet" Research has shown eating a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables can protect you against heart disease, cancer and even the effects of aging

Dr. Gupta talks here about Vitamin D deficiency. As you know if you have been following my blog, that I am a huge proponent of Grass-fed meat, raw butter, cage free organic chickens and eggs…because we get large amounts of Vitamin A, D and E from eating these foods!  There is no substitute for getting real Vitamin D in this form!

The following is an article I wrote in 2001;

Can we get the nutrients we need through supplements?

By Millie Barnes

You rush out the door in the morning after grabbing orange juice, two pieces of toast with margarine, and a handful of vitamins. Have you had a healthy breakfast? Gotten the vitamins you needed for the day? Lets take a look….

You consumed 321 calories, 5 grams of fat. Unfortunately, no vitamin C, because your source of C was from concentrate. Vitamin C, being one of the water soluble vitamins is extremely light and heat sensitive. Twenty minutes after you have squeezed fresh orange juice, half the vitamin C is gone. So how much is left in the concentrate? None. Plus there was very little nutrients in the toast, a highly refined food. Also the margarine contains hydrogenated fats, chemicals and additives. Hydrogenation is a process that chemically treats fats or oils to make them stay hard at room temperature. Unfortunately they also stay hard in your arteries. Fruit spreads, apple butter, tahini ( sesame butter); all of these are better choices.

“But I took my vitamins!”, you say. Yes, that is true, but our absorption of vitamins and minerals when they are from chemical sources is very low. We need to get these precious nutrients in the food they occurred in to begin with. Let’s look at why. Fruits and vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals, but they are also rich in enzymes. On a molecular level, you cannot absorb a vitamin or mineral molecule without a live enzyme attached to it! Enzymes are the catalyst that allow our body to assimilate the nutrients we need. Notice that I said a live enzyme. Live enzymes occur in foods that are ALIVE! Not processed or cooked. Because these processes kill the enzymes. Notice that every culture in the world begins or ends meals with a salad or some fruit. It was observed over time that this aided digestion and improved health.

So, are we looking at an all raw diet? No, it is almost impossible given the way we live today and is not healthy. You need high quality proteins (grass fed meat, free range organic chicken and eggs, small amounts of cold water fish), healthy saturated fats from coconut oil, butter and meat stocks, fresh vegetables and small servings of fruit…and you’ve got a diet rich in nutrients, high in fiber and moisture and low in toxins. In other words diet that will give you high energy, repair and maintain your immune system, allow you to maintain your ideal weight, and allow you to heal. You’ll look and feel far better, sleep better, exercise more and have more fun..

Notice that in the last paragraph that I mentioned that our diet should be low in toxins. In our culture, the diseases that we suffer from are diseases of excess, not deficiencies. Another way of saying it would be that we suffer from toxemia. In our culture, we don’t see beriberi, pellagra, rickets or scurvy. And no American doctor has ever diagnosed a case of Kwashiorkor; protein deficiency. Vitamins and minerals are easy to come by. The reason why toxemia and not deficiency is the cause of symptoms is twofold. First, some vitamins are depleted because they play a role in the bodies’ detoxification of harmful substances within. Vitamin C is a notable example of this. Secondly, drugs and drug like substances, such as coffee, tea, alcohol, medications, junk food, sugar, preservatives, food dyes, in fact all non-food substances, interfere with the bodies absorption and/or utilization of vitamins and other nutrients. We also need to realize that that food processing, storage and preservation all deplete vitamins in food.

So the next time you go to the grocery store, buy grass fed beef, free range organic chicken, cage free eggs (NOT Omega fed eggs!). Buy healthy organic butter and coconut oil, use them liberally. Head to the produce aisle, stay away from boxed and canned food. Avoid grains in any form, avoid anything processed. Find and frequent a good seafood market. A good rule of thumb is to remember you should be able to hold the food in your hands and tell how it grew! If you buy foods that needs labels, make sure you know what the items listed really are, and that you can pronounce them! Read labels!.

There are many benefits from following these recommendations. In a few weeks you will notice that your energy is higher. Getting up in the morning is easier, you’ll have slept better. Your allergies and sinus problems will improve dramatically. Your skin will look better. You will lose weight, if needed. Your stomach will get flatter as your digestion improves. You will attain more emotional poise. When you feel way better, life gets way funner!!! So what are you waiting on?