All this talk of vitamins, are they helpful or harmful....
shvits
Posts: 249 Member
Older women who used common dietary supplements died at slightly higher rates than women who did not rely on supplements, a large study has found.
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Here is an article from the NY Times from Feb. of 2012. Food for thought. Eat balanced diet as MFP suggests may be the best.
More Vital Signs Columns
Scientists followed 38,772 women, whose average age was 62 at the start of the study, over a period of 19 years, during which 15,594 of them died. Those using multivitamins or supplements of folic acid, iron, magnesium or zinc were more likely than women who did not to have died during that period, the researchers found.
Some supplements, like iron, were associated with a substantial increase in the risk of death, while others — vitamin A and vitamin D, for example — had no effect. Multivitamin use was linked to a 2.4 percent increase in the absolute risk of death, but calcium supplements appeared to decrease the risk.
The study, published on Monday in The Archives of Internal Medicine, was observational, and a variety of factors other than supplement use might have affected the outcome. The participants were older white women, and the findings may not be applicable to other populations, the authors warned.
“Other studies have not shown such dramatic results,” said the lead author, Jaakko Mursu, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota. “I would say that women should reconsider whether it’s really necessary to use supplements. And I would advise paying more attention to a healthy diet.”
A version of this article appeared in print on October 11, 2011, on page D6 of the New York edition with the headline: Prevention: Doubts on Women’s Use of Supplements.
Related
Here is an article from the NY Times from Feb. of 2012. Food for thought. Eat balanced diet as MFP suggests may be the best.
More Vital Signs Columns
Scientists followed 38,772 women, whose average age was 62 at the start of the study, over a period of 19 years, during which 15,594 of them died. Those using multivitamins or supplements of folic acid, iron, magnesium or zinc were more likely than women who did not to have died during that period, the researchers found.
Some supplements, like iron, were associated with a substantial increase in the risk of death, while others — vitamin A and vitamin D, for example — had no effect. Multivitamin use was linked to a 2.4 percent increase in the absolute risk of death, but calcium supplements appeared to decrease the risk.
The study, published on Monday in The Archives of Internal Medicine, was observational, and a variety of factors other than supplement use might have affected the outcome. The participants were older white women, and the findings may not be applicable to other populations, the authors warned.
“Other studies have not shown such dramatic results,” said the lead author, Jaakko Mursu, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota. “I would say that women should reconsider whether it’s really necessary to use supplements. And I would advise paying more attention to a healthy diet.”
A version of this article appeared in print on October 11, 2011, on page D6 of the New York edition with the headline: Prevention: Doubts on Women’s Use of Supplements.
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Awesome article, thanks for sharing!
It's all about the quality of your supplements. You cant just go pop a centrum and think that it's all good. "Laboratory made" vitamins are really not going to offer you nutritional benefit since our bodies arent really made to absorb them. You want vitamins drawn from REAL food, also known as "whole food vitamins"
One example, you can take calcium lactate, drawn from natural dairy products, or you can take calcium carbonate (most commonly found in stores) which is basically eating rocks... I don't see any of our ancestors eating rocks! Then there are the b vitamins, there are two types, one is made in a laboratory, the other derived from foods. Our body has a hard time telling the difference between the two, but I can't imagine that the whole food version isnt better for you. Vitamin C is another story. You get one version from broken down, inedible, orange peel, that is taken apart and put back together with other laboratory made ingredients (absorbic acid), or you can get REAL vitamin C derived from potatoes and onions and such, made into a vitamin. Absorbic acid is really actually just the SHELL of the vitamin C, there isn't actually any nutrition in it at all!
Sure, whole food vitamins arent as pretty, or as great tasting, but they are much better for you.
Anyone get a stomach ache after you take vitamins? You shouldn't. I am on a whole food vitamin regimen and I can take 6+ supplements at once and not have it affect my stomach at all. The artificial vitamins are much harder to absorb and your stomach reacts badly to them because they arent MEANT to be in your stomach. I noticed a big difference in zinc. I thought I was taking a good zinc because it was expensive (haha!) but I got stomach aches and headaches whenever I was taking it regularly. I changed to a whole food version, and suddenly I can take them without a problem.
The problem is finding a reliable company that actually makes what they say they do. I use Standard Process for a majority of my vitamins, you can get them through a holistic healthcare provider or nutritionist. I get them through my chiropractor or my nutritionist, whichever I see first. I do use nordic naturals for my fish oils, but there other vitamins aren't as high quality.
Of course, the best thing you can do, is eat a very healthy variety in your diet. But lets face it, that doesn't always happen!
I wish I had references for all of you, but this is just stuff from my head that I've learned over the years. As far as most vitamins go though, you are better off throwing them in the garbage and doing without than taking them. None is better than the crap you find on most shelves.
ETA: I think the article in the OP shows my point that taking no supplement is better than taking a bad supplement!0 -
That's amazing and disturbing. I take Andrew Lessman multi -- and it never, ever upsets my stomach. But I also take B12/Folate, Magnesium and sometimes extra calcium as well as Fish Oil and CoQ10. I am seeing my Naturopath tomorrow and will ask him what he thinks - I know he prefers natural, but not sure going off all supplements is the answer.0
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