The simple answer is no, you do not need a daily “one-a-day” vitamin, despite the billion dollar supplement industry.
While walking through a local discount warehouse store, I was amazed at the “wall of vitamins and supplements” on display. Looking closely at the picture I took, there is a specialized vitamin formula for just about everyone. “Mature Support”, “Daily Support”, “Children’s Support”, “Heart Support”, and “Immune Support”. This is a brilliant marketing ploy, with the manufacturers basically telling you”what you need”.
With three new studies finding that a daily multivitamin won’t help boost the average American’s health, the experts behind the research are urging people to abandon use of the supplements.
The studies found that popping a daily multivitamin didn’t ward off heartproblems or memory loss, and wasn’t tied to a longer life span.
The studies, published in the Dec. 17 issue of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, found that multivitamin and mineral supplementsdid not work any better than placebo pills.
Dietary supplements are a multibillion-dollar industry in the United States, and multivitamins account for nearly half of all vitamin sales, according to the U.S. Office of Dietary Supplements.
But a growing body of evidence suggests that multivitamins offer little or nothing in the way of health benefits, and some studies suggest that high doses of certain vitamins might cause harm.”
For me, the best vitamin you can take is a serving of carrots, broccoli, spinach, and fresh fruits.
Links of interest are posted below.
Consumer Reports Supplement Report
Harvard Health and Vitamin Supplements
