Supplements 'Bad for you' Newspaper article
- Thread starter Typhon
- Start date
Hmm, I nice balanced view from a vitamin salesman there, this thread is going to be a spam magnet!
(EDIT: There were two ads above this post before, I wasn't calling Ride-on a vitamin salesman
)
I think one of the major concerns with vitamin suppliments that some recent studies have highlighted is the huge amounts contained in some suppliments, like tablets that contain nearer 1,000% of your RDA than 100%. The idea being that too much of a good thing can be bad
Just wondering if anyone had any studies they've read that either back or contradict the article
(EDIT: There were two ads above this post before, I wasn't calling Ride-on a vitamin salesman
)I think one of the major concerns with vitamin suppliments that some recent studies have highlighted is the huge amounts contained in some suppliments, like tablets that contain nearer 1,000% of your RDA than 100%. The idea being that too much of a good thing can be bad
Just wondering if anyone had any studies they've read that either back or contradict the article
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Antioxidant supps sure don't have much research backing up their health effects. And I've seen research indicating a shorter life for those who take the supps. No such research exists for fruits and veggies that are naturally high in anti oxidants, though. It's kind of weird. since a lot of foods that are good for you are thought to be so because or partly because of their anti oxidants, but when you supplement with anti oxidants, you don't really see any health benefits.
that's just one, though. If you do a google scholar search or pubmed you should be able to find quite a bit.
It makes you wonder if the antioxidants in natural foods for some reason help even though supplements don't. That would be kind of weird, since the supps have the same chemical structures as the real thing. Could it be what you take it in combination with? In fruits and veggies you have a buttload of different micronutrients, maybe the antioxidants help when you take it together with everything else in its natural package. Or maybe dietary antioxidants don't really help that much in the body, maybe the body makes just enough of them by itself and what really makes fruits and veggies so good for you is other stuff.
that's just one, though. If you do a google scholar search or pubmed you should be able to find quite a bit.
It makes you wonder if the antioxidants in natural foods for some reason help even though supplements don't. That would be kind of weird, since the supps have the same chemical structures as the real thing. Could it be what you take it in combination with? In fruits and veggies you have a buttload of different micronutrients, maybe the antioxidants help when you take it together with everything else in its natural package. Or maybe dietary antioxidants don't really help that much in the body, maybe the body makes just enough of them by itself and what really makes fruits and veggies so good for you is other stuff.
yeah.. I haven't read the entire article, though. They probably do some speculation in the discussion section about why it could be this way.
I really need to find out if antioxidants from normal food also can be harmful. Maybe there's something about the dosages.. the people who take supps get antioxidants both from the supps and from the foods they eat..
I really need to find out if antioxidants from normal food also can be harmful. Maybe there's something about the dosages.. the people who take supps get antioxidants both from the supps and from the foods they eat..
I know that vitamin B and C are water-soluble whereas the rest are fat-soluble. Since you excrete water rather easily, you can supposedly have high doses of vit B and C, and the excess will say goodbye as it goes down the toilet. The other vitamins, however, will stay in the body, and excessive volumes can lead to toxicity. I don't have a reference to cite, but it's the gist of what I got out of watching a documentary from a university in UK that specialises in study of vitamins.
I think if you go on a "witch hunt" as the author did, you can find negative evidance against almost anything if you look hard enough. Most of the research they presented is pretty suspect in some way or another.
Not that there might not be a hint of truth to some of it. I'm not a fan of "ODing" on supplements, but the fact is that much of the food we eat is deficient in nutrients. Moderation is key, and I agree that many times, the supplement is not the same as the food it came from (and hence does not carry the same benefits)
There's a pretty stupid statement that concludes the article:
“Some people are advised to take supplements and they should follow medical guidance and talk to their doctor if they are worried.”
Show me any medical program that has ANY modern, research based nutrition component. Asking your doctor about nutrition is not going to get you anywhere.
Not that there might not be a hint of truth to some of it. I'm not a fan of "ODing" on supplements, but the fact is that much of the food we eat is deficient in nutrients. Moderation is key, and I agree that many times, the supplement is not the same as the food it came from (and hence does not carry the same benefits)
There's a pretty stupid statement that concludes the article:
“Some people are advised to take supplements and they should follow medical guidance and talk to their doctor if they are worried.”
Show me any medical program that has ANY modern, research based nutrition component. Asking your doctor about nutrition is not going to get you anywhere.