Should we take Multivitamins
Should we take Multivitamins
Should we take Multivitamins
Should we be taking multivitamins or supplements? There are so many strong arguments for both sides, the truth is there is no right or wrong answer to this question it really depends on your lifestyle.
We live in an age that people are eating more and more convenience foods and less fruit, vegetables and home cooked food that they are not getting the nutrients and vitamins that their body needs so they turn to multivitamins instead. Although in recent years with the percentage of obese people there seems to be a huge jump in the way people are thinking about their food and diets and health food or on the increase so surely these people don't need the extra supplements?
There are lots of different ways to get your vitamins, food is the top one next is tablets which combine up to 30 different vitamins and minerals or you can but them separate, other forms are capsules pastilles powders and some people (under medical supervision) can get an injection. All multivitamin give a RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) which a lot of which you see now are 100%RDA and are sold most.
If you are looking to cut the amount of calories you eat, you will probably be a good candidate for these as it will compensate for the missing nutrients. But there are multivitamins to suit all ages, from children to 60+ male and female ones to take if you are trying for a baby ones to take if you are menopausal you will be overwhelmed by the choices out there.
As for actual evidence for the use of multivitamins in 2002 a paper by Robert H. Fletcher and Kathleen M. Fairfield from the Harvard School of Medicine, in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated that "it appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements." In this article, which examined the clinical applications of vitamins for the prevention of chronic diseases in adults examined English-language articles about vitamins in relation to chronic diseases published between 1966 and 2002, and concluded that inadequate intake of several vitamins has been linked to the development of diseases including coronary heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis.
Similarly, the April 9, 1998 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine featured an editorial entitled "Eat Right and Take a Multivitamin" that was based on studies that showed health benefits resulting from the consumption of supplemental folate to prevent birth defects and possibly decrease the incidence of cardiovascular disease.
No for the against, in 2006 the National Institutes of Health convened an expert panel to examine the available evidence on Nutrient Supplements. This review concluded that "Most of the studies we examined do not provide strong evidence for beneficial health-related effects of supplements taken singly, in pairs, or in combinations of three or more." They noted that multivitamins could provide health benefits to some groups of people, such as postmenopausal women, but that there was "disturbing evidence of risk" in other groups, such as smokers. The panel's report concluded that the "present evidence is insufficient to recommend either for or against the use of Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements by the American public to prevent chronic disease."
Similarly, a 2006 report for the United States Department of Health and Human Services concluded that "regular supplementation with a single nutrient or a mixture of nutrients for years has no significant benefits in the primary prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, cataract, age-related macular degeneration or cognitive decline." However, the report noted that multivitamins have beneficial effects in people with poor nutritional status, vitamin D and calcium can help prevent fractures in older people, and that zinc and antioxidants can help prevent age-related macular degeneration in people at a high risk of developing this disease.
Also, a 2006 report for the United States Department of Health and Human Services concluded that "regular supplementation with a single nutrient or a mixture of nutrients for years has no significant benefits in the primary prevention of cancer, cardiovascular disease, cataract, age-related macular degeneration or cognitive decline." However, the report noted that multivitamins have beneficial effects in people with poor nutritional status, vitamin D and calcium can help prevent fractures in older people, and that zinc and antioxidants can help prevent age-related macular degeneration in people at a high risk of developing this disease.
In 2007 the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency published an updated set of recommendations for eating a healthy diet. The recommendations stated that pregnant women should take extra folic acid and iron and that older people might need extra vitamin D and iron. However, the report advised that "
Vitamin and Mineral Supplements are not a replacement for good eating habits" and stated that supplements are unnecessary for healthy adults who eat a balanced diet.
In February 2009, a study conducted in 161,808 postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative clinical trials concluded that after 8 years of follow-up "multivitamin use has little or no influence on the risk of common cancers, cardiovascular disease, or total mortality.
Now after reading all this it is really up to you what you wish to do but after looking closely at all the vitamins and minerals the chance of overdosing is nearly next to nil and the side effects are minimum if any, so there is no real harm in actually taking them and you could actually get some good from them.
Should we take Multivitamins
By: Domain Automator
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