Vitamin and Supplement Myths
The only people who need vitamins are pregnant women and people who are malnourished.
There is much disagreement over what adults require in terms of vitamin or supplement intake. Today, we understand a little bit more about the role of some vitamins and some supplements in health and disease prevention. Most people do not consume an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Additionally, as we age, we need increased amount of some vitamins, either because we are not able to absorb them from food as well, or because they are believed to support antiaging that we all would like to do
Finally, there is growing evidence that higher doses of some vitamins and supplements are beneficial in the context of preventive care. An excellent example is vitamin D. Recent research has redefined not only the amount of vitamin D required by an individual, but also has shown that vitamin D plays many roles besides what was thought traditionally, that is, that Vitamin D is good for your bones.
All Multivitamins are the same
Not so. If you look at the label of most multivitamins on the market, you find that a dose contains many different vitamins. However, the recommended amounts are usually insufficient. For example, B12 is often listed as anywhere between 30-100 mcg. If you need additional B12 (as many do), you would need to be taking anywhere between 500-2500 mcg daily (consult with your physician for what your amount should be).
Branding and Cost don’t matter
Not everything sold as a vitamin or supplement is manufactured under the FDAs guidelines for manufacturing, known as cGMPs (current Good Manufacturing Practices). Furthermore, dietary supplements are not required to be standardized in the United States. In fact, no legal or regulatory definition exists in the United States for standardization as it applies to dietary supplements. Because of this, the term “standardization” may mean many different things, and not necesarily refer to product quality. This is not a place to scrimp, but you also don’t need to overdo it and spend thousands!
All the vitamins and supplements sold in this website are manufactured under the cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) guidelines.
So, what to take?
Most multivitamin supplements that are sold to take one or two a day contain a lot of different vitamins and minerals, but often not enough of any specific one.
The type and amount of vitamins and supplements you take, however, is something I discuss at every annual physical with my patients. Those of you who have been in my practice for a long time know that I have insisted you tell me what over the counter vitamins, supplements or drugs you take. I often ask you to bring the bottles so I can look over the ingredients and the amount of each. I do this for a variety of reasons:
1. to ensure you are not taking something that interacts in a negative way with one of your prescription medication
2. to ensure you take only that which is necessary
3. to ensure you do not take too large a dose or too small a dose of a vitamin or supplement, so that you may derive the maximum benefit.
