Vitamins and supplements on the way out?

The use of vitamins and dietary supplements is one of those topics that divides people. I have always avoided taking pills myself.

Lately there has been a story practically every day about why you might want to avoid vitamins and supplements altogether, because they cannot prevent you from getting a cold and you even might be doing yourself harm. That seems to be the way the research studies are trending and this week the Wall Street Journal asked: “Is this the end of popping vitamins?” I am sure companies like GNC and Herbalife and the pharma companies will do just fine for years to come, playing on people’s fears. It’s a $20+ billion a year business. But perhaps the tide is turning?

Some people genuinely do have a vitamin/mineral deficiency – anemia or osteoporosis – and pregnant women are regularly cited. That said, most people are healthy and don’t need them, let alone multivitamins. You can get all the nutrients you need from eating a healthy diet. But, what if the average American diet is unhealthy? Again I would argue that people should be looking at why they feel they need to take a vitamin or a supplement in the first place. There is increasing evidence that vitamins and supplements may be harmful, especially for older people. Indeed recent research is knocking down the claims of natural foods as well – pomegranates, almonds, and so on. In other words, everything should be in moderation, not fetishized. How long before Omega-3 gets the axe?

Do these supplements have a placebo effect? I believe they do. Sometimes that is enough justification in itself, although it may simply reflect the fear of getting older. Fortunately, the body is expert at expelling what it does not want, but it does have to work harder to do it and that can shorten your life. Indeed I would like to see us reverse the usual questions: instead of “What do I lack?” we might ask “How successful is the body in getting rid of all the extra stuff being dumped in it for the wrong reasons?”