Dietary supplements
Should I take vitamins, minerals, or other nutritional supplements?
People normally take supplements for two main reasons:
- To prevent or treat deficiencies
- To achieve optimal health, reduce the risk of developing certain chronic diseases, and delay the onset of age-related problems
If I am eating healthy, do I still need to take supplements?
No one will dispute the fact that a balanced diet is the corner stone of any optimal nutrition program and is essential for helping you meet your needs for vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Supplements will not compensate for a poor diet. They will not compensate for risks created by bad habits such as smoking, drinking alcohol in excess, not doing any exercise, etc. Supplements by themselves will probably not cure diseases such as cancer, cardiac problems, or diabetes.
That being said, supplements do have an important role to play in the development of a healthy lifestyle. First, vitamin and mineral deficiencies are unfortunately still seen in our Western society. In some cases, vitamin supplements may therefore be indicated for the prevention or for the treatment of deficiencies. More importantly, however, research has shown that beyond the prevention of deficiencies, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients, when taken in optimal amounts, have a role to play in achieving optimal health, in reducing the risk of developing certain chronic diseases (heart diseases, some types of cancers, etc.), and in delaying the onset of some age-related problems (e.g., osteoporosis, macular degeneration).
It also appears that the amount of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients required for optimal health may also be difficult to obtain from diet alone. Studies show a high prevalence of suboptimal vitamin levels among the US population, suggesting that the usual US diet does not provide a sufficient amount of some of these nutrients. It has also been shown that a large portion of the population does not eat adequate amounts of each food group. In addition, and more importantly, the food we eat may not necessarily contain nutrients in adequate quantities, as fertilizers, modern processing, transport, and storing techniques further increase nutrient depletion of the food we eat.
In two articles published in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Robert H. Fletcher, MD, and Kathleen M. Fairfield, MD, from the Harvard Medical School(1), it was concluded that “Suboptimal intake of some vitamins, even above levels causing classic vitamin deficiency, is a risk factor for chronic diseases and common in the general population, especially the elderly”, and that “Inadequate intake of several vitamins has been linked to chronic diseases, including coronary heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis”. The authors recommend that adults take multivitamins daily.
Given the fact that suboptimal levels of vitamins are apparently a cause of chronic diseases, and that most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins through diet alone, it appears that multivitamin supplements do have a role to play in our quest for a longer, healthier, and happier life.
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(1) Vitamins for Chronic Disease Prevention in Adults: Clinical Applications. JAMA. 2002; 287:3127-3129 and Vitamins for chronic disease prevention in adults: scientific review. JAMA 2002; 287:3116-3126
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Important Notice:
Please take note of this text box before reading this page. Although we cannot rule out benefits of supplements, such as improved quality of life, recent studies have raised concerns about their long-term safety. They seem to demonstrate that some vitamins and supplements such as vitamin E, vitamin A, and beta-carotene, can potentially be harmful under certain conditions and within certain populations. In view of those recent findings, it is highly suggested that you consult your physician or health care provider before taking multivitamins or if you have any question about vitamins and other nutritional supplements.
