Vitamin efficiency: Experts say supplements are often unnecessary

[HuckleB]

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/mar/16/vitamin-efficiency/

This is from 2009. This is just one of many studies that indicate that most people don't need to take multiple vitamins. Of course, the supplement industry does not want that to be known, so it is doing all it can to confuse people. Let's not be confused. Democrats have the chance to be the pro-science party. Let's be that!

it's an odd thing. There are people who actually argue that wasting money on unproven supplements will somehow save us money on health care. Can we get back to some basic logic? PLEASE!

[tabatha]

1. That was the opinion of a person I know.

Until cancer struck - now doctors have prescribed 1000 mg VitC daily, plus VitD and Lipoic acid.

Prevention is probably better than cure, which does not always work.

[HuckleB]

2. So you think the research shows that taking those supplements would have prevented the cancer?

Uh, try again.

And cut the worthless anecdotes from the equation. Thanks.

PS: http://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/the-multi-vitamin-fallacy/

[tabatha]

3. I guess you missed that research.

I don't consider "sciencebasedlife" a credible source.

[BuddhaGirl]

4. indeed! a "skeptic" and a Randian

no axe to grind there! LOL

[HuckleB]

7. Thanks for adding to the evidence about the truth of your stances.

You've just shown again that evidence is meaningless to you, and that ad hominem BS is your usual modus operandi.

:rofl:

[BuddhaGirl]

9. wrong again

and where did I state that evidence is "meaningless?" I made no such statement. :hi:

[HuckleB]

10. As usual, you ignore the evidence you've offered.

You've made it clear time and again that evidence is meaningless to you.

Heck, you did it again when you offered your usual ad hominem response to science.

Again and again, the evidence is against your claims, yet you keep making those claims.

It's funny. Sad, but funny.

[BuddhaGirl]

12. Fail again

I have not stated, nor do I claim that evidence is meaningless to me.

That you're still doing this on is funny...sad, but funny.

Ad hominem? People who live in glass houses....I'm sure you know the rest :hi:

[HuckleB]

14. You have shown it.

Actions tend to speak louder than words.

YES, you have failed, as you always do.

[BuddhaGirl]

16. no, you fail again

you have not shown anything.

[HuckleB]

19. You keep telling yourself that.

You did it again this morning. You gave a +1 to an OP that is pure spam, and who's pushing something that is not supported by the consensus of evidence/of science.

You chose to ignore the posts that showed the reality.

You do not care about science. You do not care about evidence. You care about blindly defending your preconceived notions.

There is no denying it. Not if you're honest.

[BuddhaGirl]

26. LOL

"You do not care about science. You do not care about evidence. You care about blindly defending your preconceived notions."

You keep telling yourself that. Oh, and "pure spam" is just your opinion. :-)

[HuckleB]

27. I don't have to tell myself that.

You've proven it.

Thanks for the kicks!

[HuckleB]

5. You consider an anecdote a valid source, however.

Are you saying those two studies didn't happen? And are you saying they don't say what they do?

It appears that you'll use any source that supports BIG SUPPLEMENT, but ignore all sources that care about honesty and integrity and science.

[NickB79]

29. If you don't like Sciencebasedlife.com, read the papers themselves it reported on

It's not hard, since they give all the details to find them:

"The multivitamin as insurance policy is an old wives’ tale, and we need to debunk it” -Miriam Nelson, PhD, director of the John Hancock Research Center on Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity at Tufts University."

"The first study was a review of 63 randomized, controlled trials on MV’s, published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, found that MV’s did nothing to prevent cancer or heart disease in most populations (the exception being developing countries where nutritional deficiencies are widespread). In the second study, published last year, scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center followed 160,000 postmenopausal women for about 10 years. The researchers’ conclusion:

"Multivitamins failed to prevent cancer, heart disease, and all causes of death for all women. Whether the women were healthy eaters or ate very few fruits and vegetables, the results were the same,” says the lead author, Marian Neuhouser, PhD."

Credibility is not an issue here, since these were large, peer-reviewed and published studies.

[MedicalAdmin]

18. Kyle?

[HuckleB]

22. Sam?

:rofl:

[MedicalAdmin]

24. LOL.

:hangover:

[saras]

6. Insurance is almost always unnecessary.

If you come up with a reliable way of proving, in the individual case, that supplements are unnecessary, then many people using them would quit using them. It's that simple.

[HuckleB]

8. Now, you're asking science to prove a negative?

:rofl:

[no_hypocrisy]

11. I consider my naturopath to be an "expert" with respect

to supplements and I'm on a regime under her supervision. I don't worry about other "experts".

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HuckleB]

23. Naturopaths tend to use self-selected preliminary research to justify their "regimens."

That's not really expertise.

[cleanhippie]

28. Where do you purchase your "supplements" directed by your ND?

From the the ND's office?

[xchrom]

13. recommend

[Trillo]

17. There's no study linked in the article you reference, at least that I can see.

Using this http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=%22Women%27s+Health+Initiative%22+%22Archives+of+Internal+Medicine%22+multivitamin+161%2C000&btnG=Search&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_ylo=&as_vis=0">search string, which uses only words and phrases used in the article apparently in reference to the study that is claimed to exist by The Courier, you'll note there are zero results.

Is this 2009 article talking about a study that has disappeared from the Internet in the last couple of years, or in reference to something never published on the Internet, including even a mere citation?

[HuckleB]

21. Goodness. 237,000 results here.

ttp://www.google.com/#sclient=psy-ab&hl=en&source=hp&q=Archives+of+Internal+Medicine+2009+supplements+women's+health+initiative&pbx=1&oq=Archives+of+Internal+Medicine+2009+supplements+women's+health+initiative&aq=f&aqi=q-w1&aql=1&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=22500l26945l1l27261l26l16l0l0l0l0l565l7830l4-3.12l15l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=72ef36fa3e6c10f9&biw=1264&bih=715

Including: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/169/3/294

Please don't play games. It's not helpful.

[trotsky]

20. This needs to be kicked AGAIN because it's still not sinking in to people.

NO ONE is saying that "ZOMG SUPPLEMENTS ARE DEADLY AND YOU SHOULD NOT TAKE THEM AND WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THEM ILLEGAL".

For most people who enjoy a balanced diet, supplements are unnecessary. That is all. It says nothing about taking them to, as the name suggests, supplement a diet that is lacking in certain nutrients! Perfectly fine, so long as you know you're getting what you are paying for! (Another tricky aspect!)

For example, I myself take a calcium/VitD supplement if I feel I haven't drunk enough milk or gotten much sunshine that day. I'm not too worried about other nutrients because I do try to eat well.

[laconicsax]

25. ZOMG SUPPLEMENTS ARE DEADLY AND YOU SHOULD NOT TAKE THEM AND WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THEM ILLEGAL

Sorry, I know I'm not helping.

[astral]

30. "For most people who enjoy a balanced diet,"

"supplements are unnecessary."

That is so wrong. Even if we once could, we no longer can get the nutrients we need from our food alone, because our farmlands are mineral-deficient and so are the produce that grow in mineral-deficient soil. However, a tiny little pill known as a standard multi-vitamin is not going to fix the problem for us, either.

[laconicsax]

31. Link or it isn't true.

Back up your claims.