A recent study published in Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that spending money on multi-vitamins and mineral supplements may be a waste of money:
Have you ever wondered how scientific papers can no longer be non-biased since many of them are sponsored by giant pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical and oil companies. Earlier this year, an article was published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute regarding how Omega 3 fish oils are linked to prostate cancer!
As ridiculous as it sounds, saying that omega 3 from fish oil could cause prostate cancer is like saying breathing any air can give you lung cancer. Half truth isn’t the whole truth. It is fish oil supplements made from farmed fish, NOT consuming wild salmon that can cause cancer. In fact, for many years, countless numbers of research and studies have shown that fish oil (from wild salmon) can prevent prostate cancer. In conclusion, consuming wild fish is good for you but fish oil supplements (in form of pills from farmed fish fed on chemical fishmeal) are not: http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/fish-oil-supplements.php
In addition, in order to maintain a healthy diet, the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 should be close to 3 to 1, but in Western diet that ratio is more like 1 to 16: http://seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/do-omega3-fatty-acids-increase-risk-of-prostate-cancer.php
The title of the study which is “Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements” is taken out of context, here is why:
1. Our bodies don’t only need few vitamins or minerals, but a wide range of micronutrients that are most often found in large variety of fruits and vegetables:
No one disagrees that eating a balanced diet is the ONLY WAY to receive all the essential nutrients including minerals and vitamins. In fact, the vitamin industry became a billion dollar industry by 1935, although the rates of many chronic diseases including heart disease or cancer didn’t drop.
With the increase in rate of chronic diseases, many scientists found out that vitamins and minerals aren’t the MAJOR SOURCE of micronutrients. They discovered that major source of micronutrients are phytochemicals that many of them aren’t even yet discovered. For example, a piece of broccoli has 1000 of micronutrients or berries have more than 700 micronutrients where as supplements have only few minerals and vitamins: http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-foods/micronutrients-health-weight-loss/
2. Not all multivitamins are the same and in fact many are lacking the right balance of minerals and vitamins to keep your body optimized and healthy:
Most supplements have too much or too little of a certain mineral or Vitamin and therefore they can cause many health problems and complications. In fact, most multivitamins have about 100mcg of Vitamin B12. However our body needs at least 300mcg to reduce dramatically the problem associated to Pernicious anemia. Other examples that you would never see in a scientific study like this one are the fact that Vitamin C is an incomplete vitamin without bioflavonoids, excessive calcium intake can cause malabsorption of magnesium, Zinc and copper must be carefully balanced since too much or too little of either can cause problems and Iron buildup is a serious epidemic in the diet of most Americans and leads to many chronic diseases: http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/facts-healthy-strong-body.php
3. Commercial supplements (made from synthetic and pharmaceutical drugs) are different than supplements made from real nutrients:
Even if you find a supplement that’s well-balanced, you got to make sure all the ingredients are made from real food sources and not pharmaceutical or synthetic drugs. The fact is that many so called ‘natural’ vitamins and supplements could be harming your health since they can have chemicals, preservatives and additives that are toxic to your health. In fact, Bayer’s top selling children’s multivitamin known as 'Flintstones Vitamin' is filled with toxic ingredients like aspartame, GMOs and chemicals.
Most supplements contain sodium benzoate and BHT in order to stay fresh. Both Sodium benzoate and BHT can damage human DNA and cause gastric and bladder cancer. Other toxic ingredients in supplements are natural sweeteners like maltodextrin, stearic acid, GMO corn (or corn starch), hydrogenated oils and potassium chloride (that can cause low circulation and digestive problems). http://www.seattleorganicrestaurants.com/vegan-whole-food/toxic-chemicals-gmo-ingredients-in-nutritional-supplements.php
4. Real Multivitamins are not a waste of money for elderly and people who have mineral or vitamin deficiency and people who cannot absorb certain minerals or vitamins because of a medical condition.
There are more than 900 million people worldwide that suffer from nutritional deficiencies or malnutrition. Even in advanced countries like US many kids and adults suffer from lack of essential nutrients, so spending money on a nutritional diet and right dietary supplements is not necessarily a waste of money.
As we age, it becomes even more important to receive correct form of nutrients to support and repair regeneration of cells in our body. For example, as people get old, they become deficient in certain vitamins like Vitamin B12 and cannot produce enough stomach acid to digest their food properly. This environment in the body is perfect for a certain bacteria that steal whatever vitamin B12 is extracted from protein in digestive tract. In fact, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who are over the age of 65, are not able to absorb vitamin B12 and folic acid, simply because they cannot produce enough acids to digest their foods properly. These people often times suffer from growth of bad bacteria in the intestinal tract.
Also, a diet that lacks essential nutrients can promote accumulation of free radicals and slows down regeneration of new cells and cause many health problems. For example, vitamin D helps with calcium absorption, and if people live in places that they do not get enough sunlight, consuming Real vitamin D supplements ARE NOT WASTE OF MONEY and in fact, are necessary.
As mentioned above, lack of vitamin D can cause many chronic diseases and vitamin D deficiency can lead to calcium deficiency. Insomnia, joint problems and muscle pain could be the beginning of many chronic diseases when bones cannot absorb enough calcium at nights.
Are we that naive to think that billions of dollars of contributions from giant pharmaceutical, chemical and biotech companies won’t tilt or at least steer the findings of these so called ‘scientific studies?
The majority of big donators to our schools and universities are giant Pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical and oil companies. You would think that at least the academic research are non-biased and natural, considering that our government is deeply in bed with giant oil, drug, biotech, chemical and pharmaceutical companies.
But the fact is that every year, hundreds of millions of dollars from giant biotech, chemical and oil companies are invested in our schools. Funny enough, millions of dollars are funded by oil companies to explore other renewable sources of energy which usually means more oil field exploration for giant oil companies.
Also, every pharmaceutical drug that has been recalled by FDA was first proven to be safe and effective by FDA. But the giant pharmaceutical companies systemically hide information about their drugs side effects from the public and spend more money on selling and promoting their drugs than independent scientific studies and research.
Resources:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/269646.php
http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1789253
