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Supplements - Nutrition

General Information - Vitamins and Supplements

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To Supplement or Not to Supplement? “Foods are complex, and the nutrients within them interact in different and more beneficial ways than they would in supplements, she said. Also, many foods contain healthy dietary fiber, which isn't part of a multivitamin supplement, she said. "Food is still the ideal," Boyar said, stressing that she means "whole foods" -- those that are not processed or are as minimally processed as possible. Yet Boyar and other nutrition experts concede that supplements can often fill dietary gaps. That's particularly true, she said, for vitamin D and calcium, especially as people age. She also cited iron, which is often needed by premenopausal women, who lose it with their monthly periods. And, for women of childbearing age, folate supplements have been shown to help prevent birth defects. Overuse of supplements, though -- and particularly megadoses -- worries health experts. Megadoses of vitamin E, for instance, are particularly hazardous, Boyar said.”

Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for Men: Why multivitamins and other dietary supplements can be hazardous to your health “To be sure, vitamin supplements can be beneficial for certain groups of people. After the age of 55 or so, your body starts to lose the capacity to make vitamin D from sunshine, and adding a vitamin D pill may be a good idea. The elderly also lose the ability to absorb vitamin B12 from their diet, and some of this deficiency can be met by taking a B12 supplement. Cancer patients, or people eating fewer than 1,000 calories a day, may have vitamin deficiencies. Vegans may need some B vitamins and iron unless they are meticulous about getting these nutrients from their diet. “There really is no strong evidence to support the need of the average 35- to 55-year-old man to take a multivitamin,” says Cheryl Rock, MD, professor of nutrition in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. “If you’re concerned about your nutritional levels, a doctor can order tests. It is quite easy to find out, for example, if you are deficient in B12 or vitamin D. And usually one visit with a dietician will be covered by health insurance.””

Vitamins Stored In Bathrooms, Kitchens May Become Less Effective “High humidity present in bathrooms and kitchens could be degrading the vitamins and health supplements stored in those rooms, even if the lids are on tight, a Purdue University study shows. Lisa Mauer, an associate professor of food science, said that crystalline substances - including vitamin C, some vitamin B forms and other dietary supplements - are prone to a process called deliquescence, in which humidity causes a water-soluble solid to dissolve. Keeping those supplements away from warm, humid environments can help ensure their effectiveness. "You might see salt or sugar start to cake in the summer, start to form clumps, and that's a sign of deliquescence," said Mauer, whose findings were published in the early online version of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. "You can also get chemical instabilities, which are a little more problematic if you're consuming a dietary supplement with vitamin C for that vitamin C content." Kitchen salt, sugar and powdered drink mixes commonly cake, Mauer said, making their measurement more difficult but not rendering them useless. Chemical changes become more than a nuisance in vitamins and dietary supplements, however.”

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10 Reasons to Take Nutritional Supplements

Why Vitamins Are Hard To Swallow, UK “Dr Sharma argues that these supplements are manufactured by pharmaceutical companies and bear little resemblance to the natural vitamins and minerals found in fruit, vegetables and other foods. "So the Cochrane Review, which found that vitamin E may increase the risk of mortality, was not talking about vitamin E found in its natural state," he says. "The component in those supplements was alpha-tocopherol, which is just one part of eight different components found in naturally occurring vitamin E." These other components include flavonoids and carotenoids, found in carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, kale and tomatoes. Without them, says Dr Sharma, the body cannot successfully absorb the isolate vitamin. "This creates a deficiency in vitamin E, an antioxidant that destroys the free-radical cells which cause cancer," he says. Dr Sharma is not against supplements per se; he just thinks we should take them with care and under medical guidance. He also recommends eschewing isolate supplements for a more natural alternative. "I strongly believe that people should only take natural 'food-state' vitamins and minerals - I think going out and buying vitamin C, in isolate form, from, say, a chemist, is actually dangerous."”

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