Vitamin Supplements: Help or Hype?

Vitamins and minerals support good health - right? Yes, that's a fact, and deficiencies can be harmful to your health. In the perfect world, all of our nutrients would come from the variety of foods we eat. Choosing a colorful plate rich in fruits and vegetables is a lifestyle must-do. But we don't live in the perfect world. So, should you be taking a daily vitamin/mineral supplement? I'm asked this question all the time. Does it keep you healthy? Prevent disease? Do mega-doses work better?

source

A new report from the Archives of Internal Medicine adds further support to other recent studies that vitamin supplementation did not lower the risk for diseases like heart disease and cancer. This had been previously shown for single vitamin use, including vitamin A, C, and E.

As a nation, we've started to look at vitamin supplements with a lot of magical thinking, a magic bullet approach to both good health and disease prevention. While a daily vitamin/mineral supplement containing 100% of daily requirements (RDI) can be good insurance for a well-rounded diet, we should not view this as a substitute for consuming real food. Plus, the other aspects of a healthy lifestyle - physical activity, weight management, stress management, are all important to reducing disease risk.

Here's my bottom line: A daily 100% DV vitamin/mineral supplement (not mega-dosing) can provide insurance that you're meeting most daily requirements based on national guidelines. Look at this as a support to maintaining good health, but not lowering disease risk (that's where the controversy is). But when it comes to vitamins one size does not fit all and you'll need to talk with your doctor if you take prescription medications or have food restrictions and food allergies.

Do you regularly take vitamins or supplements? I'm curious to see what types everyone takes.