Multivitamin recommendation from iHerb

[xylophone]

This from ConsumerLab.com..........

Fewer heart disease deaths amongst multivitamin users -- Multivitamin-mineral users were 35% less likely to die of heart disease than non-users over a period of about 20 years.

Yet the preceding sentence (which is a pain to access) reads:

There is little evidence from clinical trials showing that a specific multi can reduce the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer, or any other cause.

This is yet another quack site using pseudoscience (or intellectual deceit) to promote the sale of snake oil remedies.

The conclusion from the previous sentence, however, that there is absolutely no point in taking multivitamin tablets, is spot on.

What it also said was: –

"however a US study found that people who had used multivitamin/multimineral supplements for at least three years were 35% less likely to have died of cardiovascular disease over the following 20 years or so compared to those who had not taken a multi. This positive finding was largely driven by results for women in the study, who were 44% less likely to have had a cardiovascular related death. None of the subjects had cardiovascular disease at the start of the study and the results were adjusted to avoid potentially confounding variables including race education aspirin use and BP. Interestingly it did not occur for people who had used multivitamin is which lacked minerals, nor among people who had taken mullties for less than three years at the beginning of the study".

And.........

• SOME PEER REVIEWED RESEARCH ON VITAMIN C.doc 44.5KB
• The use of vitamin supplements.doc

As well as plenty of other research which supports the use of supplements as well as plenty of research which doesn't – – so I choose to err on the side of caution as I do not eat a balanced diet and I drink alcohol, and in addition I don't eat much in the way of fruit or fish, so for me they are a necessity.

[AyG]

• SOME PEER REVIEWED RESEARCH ON VITAMIN C.doc 44.5KB

Some "peer reviewed research", yet not a single reference to any scientific paper. No, not one.

Pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo designed to separate the gullible from their hard earned cash.

The scientific illiteracy of the vast majority of the population of pretty much every country in the world leaves it open to the intellectually dishonest (or ignorant) set on stealing from their wallets.

[Tolley]

This from ConsumerLab.com..........

Fewer heart disease deaths amongst multivitamin users -- Multivitamin-mineral users were 35% less likely to die of heart disease than non-users over a period of about 20 years.

Yet the preceding sentence (which is a pain to access) reads:

There is little evidence from clinical trials showing that a specific multi can reduce the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, cancer, or any other cause.

This is yet another quack site using pseudoscience (or intellectual deceit) to promote the sale of snake oil remedies.

The conclusion from the previous sentence, however, that there is absolutely no point in taking multivitamin tablets, is spot on.

If all vitamins and mineral supplements are a waste of money then why are many food products fortified with vitamins and minerals?

Even allopathic doctors advise supplementing with say iron for instance or calcium or vitamin D depending on the medical condition.

.

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----"American Medical Association Acknowledges the Role of Vitamins for Chronic Disease Prevention in Adults".......

http://www.usana.com/media/File/dotCom/bin/jama.pdf

---- British Medical Journal..........."Effect of four monthly oral vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) supplementation on fracture and mortality in men and women living in the community: randomised double blind controlled trial.......Conclusion: "Four monthly supplementation with 100 000 IU oral vitamin D may prevent fractures without adverse effects in men and women living in the general community".

"What is already known in this topic Vitamin D and calcium supplements are effective in preventing fractures in elderly women".

----"How to use the world's scarce selenium resources efficiently to increase the selenium concentration in food"........ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2556185/ . This lengthy article discusses selenium and especially countries where selenium in the soil is low and amongst other things suggest that selenium supplementation via tablets is an option. Selenium supplementation is also practised in parts of China where the selenium content in the soil is extremely low.

----This from the Harvard School of Public Health.......http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vitamins/

"A daily multivitamin is a great nutrition insurance policy. Some extra vitamin D may add an extra health boost".

"True, a healthy diet should provide nearly all the nutrients you need. But many people don’t eat the healthiest of diets. That’s why a multivitamin can help fill in the gaps, and may have added health benefits.

• The folic acid in most multivitamins helps prevent neural tube defects in newborns, if women take it before they become pregnant; folic acid may also lower the risk of heart disease, colon cancer, and breast cancer.
• Vitamin D from a multivitamin or single supplement can lower the risk of colon and possibly many other cancers, as well as other chronic diseases.

Of course, there can be too much of a good thing. It’s important not to go overboard with vitamins. While a multivitamin and a vitamin D supplement can help fill some of the gaps in a less than optimal diet, too much can be harmful.

• In general, stick close to standard recommended doses in a multivitamin. And since your multivitamin will likely contain all the folic acid you’ll need, stay away from cereals, protein bars, and other foods that are super-fortified with folic acid.

Read enough nutrition news, and you’ll see that not all scientists agree on multivitamins. Some say that there’s not enough proof that multivitamins boost health, so they don’t recommend them. Other scientists point to studies that seem to show a link between multivitamin use andincreased risk of death. But those studies are flawed. Looking at all the evidence, the potential health benefits of taking a standard daily multivitamin seem to outweigh the potential risks for most people".

I'll go along with the above, especially as I don't eat a balanced diet and I drink alcohol, and even if you don't believe in vitamin supplementation, then read the research on the effects of alcohol on leaching certain vitamins out of the body and how these can be replaced by vitamin supplements.

And of course as a previous poster has said, if they are not necessary/useless, why are they added to food products?