From when we were little kids, we were told that it was good to take your daily vitamin, and lets be honest, Flintstones vitamins were awesome. But are vitamins really that beneficial?
According to the American Heart Society, supplements can be somewhat beneficial but are in no way a replacement for the actual food that provides nutrition. Penny Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., R.D says that some “foods provide many bioactive compounds and dietary fiber that typically aren’t found in supplements.” She continues to state that supplements should only be taken if recommended by a doctor.
The American Heart Association also gives do’s and don’ts of supplements, an example of each one is: DO eat a healthy diet and DO NOT rely of supplements.
WebMD has given some insight to the topic as well. They have published information of three studies that were done to see if vitamins were any more beneficial to the body besides just having a healthy diet.
According to WebMD the studies were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine Journal. They found that the vitamins add no or little health benefits, Dr. Eliseo Guallar stated, “We believe that it’s clear that vitamins are not working,” The study showed that the vitamins showed little differences between the placebo pill that was given.
This study I find to be interesting because it goes against what we were taught when we were children. If these results are in fact true, then that means that there is no need to take a vitamin because they don’t really make a difference.
These experiments would be classified as a false negative if in fact vitamins do make a difference. Like we learned in class there is always room for chance, even if the probability is really small.
I think one way to see if vitamins make a difference in the long run would be to start an experiment with children, giving some vitamins, and others a placebo pill, and to observe them into adulthood. This would give researchers an idea of how vitamins work into the future and if they do make difference.
Resources:
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/news/20131216/experts-dont-waste-your-money-on-multivitamins?page=2
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Vitamin-Supplements-Healthy-or-Hoax_UCM_432104_Article.jsp
When I came to college, I knew that my diet would be slightly altered from what I was used to at home. Consequently, I started taking vitamins in order to supplement my meals. Since the beginning of fall, I have successfully stayed healthy. However, my case is just an example of an anecdote and not necessarily representative of a larger population. The studies you examined appear to be credible especially given the large sample sizes of the test groups. However, there are a lot of confounding variables in these types of experiments. Participants will react differently due to their different lifestyle habits. It is difficult to control for diets, exercise and a plethora of other factors that contribute to health and well being. I can hardly imagine that taking daily vitamins will do any harm unless they are taken in excess. However, vitamins can be expensive and if there are more studies reporting the ineffectiveness of vitamins, then it might be worth reconsidering the costs and benefits of making this purchase. This New York Times article outlines the function and importance of each of the 13 essential vitamins so that people can learn more.
I agree with some of the comments above, that it does depend on how a person eats in their daily lifestyle. I personally do take vitamins when I remember to, but my parents have always told me to take them, as well as my doctor. I agree that is a person eats healthy they do not really need to take vitamins unless they want an extra boost. When I came to college I started eating a lot healthier and did see a difference in my energy levels, and i assume that is because I have the healthy fruits and vegetables giving me energy and not the fatty and greasy foods weighing me down. I would like to see an experiment done when it comes to vitamins because I would like to know if I should save my money and not buy them.
Regardless of the science behind this a placebo effect can be beneficial as well. Personally, I take a multi vitamin every day. Or every day I remember at least. And I do notice an effect on my body and energy levels. When I take it I feel more energetic and usually have a better look on the day. When I don’t I don’t feel as motivated and can have a more sad mood. I get that that’s just me but sometimes a placebo effect can be good for you.
I never really took vitamins in the past up until recently when I started college. I never really gave it much thought that vitamins could make a difference but my doctor suggested that I give them a try. When I first got here for summer session I struggled to stay healthy the first few weeks because I was being exposed to so many germs. I than started taking mega mens vitamins every day and I haven’t been sick since. Looking at the studies above, I think it is hard to conclude whether or not vitamins are actually helpful or not. There are a lot of different vitamins out there and a lot of third variables that could affect the outcome of these trials. I think to get a more accurate answer to this question, we would need to test a lot of different kinds of vitamins and test them on different age groups. There is always some chance involved, but if a lot of different controlled trials are performed, we can reduce the probability of chance.
I have never really taken vitamins and have never been told to. I do believe that if you eat the right foods, you do not need to take vitamins. I think this topic is really interesting and you idea to give children vitamins and other people a placebo pill is a really good way to see if vitamins actually work. However, when you state : found that the vitamins add no or little health benefits”, it tends to lack important information. According to this article , \http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/news/20131216/experts-dont-waste-your-money-on-multivitamins, A doctor at Johns Hopkins school of public health believes that vitamins are not working. My question is do people take vitamins to keep them on track of being healthy or do they take them once they have gotten off track and want to regain their health.
I never take vitamins and every single time I go to the doctor she tells me, “you should really start taking them!” I always think that it isn’t necessary and that they don’t do anything but I never decided to look into it further. I found the topic very interesting but I feel you were lacking some vital information to make it efficient. You state that the studies done, ” found that the vitamins add no or little health benefits.” How many people were tested, for how long, what age group and etc? The people being tested may eat very healthy on a regular basis and this is why you aren’t able to see the vitamin effecting them. You also state, “I think one way to see if vitamins make a difference in the long run would be to start an experiment with children, giving some vitamins, and others a placebo pill, and to observe them into adulthood.” To add to this, I think that there should be groups with certain diets to see if there is an effect from vitamins. For example, a group that eats healthy who would maybe not need vitamins, a group that eats junk all the time because we would maybe be able to see a vitamin actually being useful here, and a group the mixes both(which would be your control I guess). This article suggests you only need to take vitamins if your nutritional diet is insufficient. So, if you know you eat healthy with well balanced meals– your vitamin expenditures may be unnecessary. But then again, it can’t hurt to take them.