There are many conflicting studies and reports about health supplements. Is Vitamin C worth taking or not? Does Echinacea kill colds? Am I missing out not drinking Goji juice, wheatgrass extract and flaxseed oil every day? Author David McCandless has created a visualization of scientific evidence of health supplements.
Multivitamins don’t contain any proven health benefits.
If you take multivitamins, you may want to reconsider your morning routine. The latest issue of the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine, looks at the research and clinical trials and penned an editorial with a headline worth reading: “Enough is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Mineral Supplements.”
Study raises more questions about the health benefits of vitamins.
A new Biology Letters paper raises more questions about the benefits of vitamins as a health supplement. High doses of dietary antioxidants such as vitamins are claimed to slow the process of cellular aging by lessening the damage to proteins, lipids and DNA caused by free radicals. Some research has found that the longevity of mice could be extended by administering particular vitamin supplements, despite the supplements’ limited effectiveness in reducing free radical damage. However, the opposite was found to be true in voles in a new study.
According to a 2010 study by Colorado State University, about 68% of American adults take multivitamin supplements. At the same time the average American fills 12 prescriptions a year.
The study found a small increase in the risk of death among older women who took dietary supplements.
Most people receive little benefit from taking multivitamins and many other dietary supplements and they may even be harmful, according to researchers behind a large new study.