Puzzled by Pill Popping: Do You Need Supplements or Not?

Wellness experts are so at war over vitamin and mineral supplements that just listening to the debate can be damaging to your wellbeing. Some argue that popping vitamins is the easy way out to offset your poor diet habits, but others believe that you may not be as deficient in vitamins as you think. So, should you take supplements or not?

According to Dr. A K Gvalani, professor and HOD of general surgery, KEM hospital, ‘Your Recommended Daily Allowance of nutrients, found in regular, well-rounded meals, is enough to take care of your body’s nutritional requirement. Dietary supplement companies have marketed their products in a way that makes you feel compelled to take them. But unless you have undergone tests to figure out what you are deficient in, I’d advise against popping multivitamins.’

However, Dr. Purwa Duggal, head of nutrition at Fortis Hospital in Mulund, does recommend one multivitamin pill a day. She argues, ‘In today’s fast-paced world, taking a multivitamin helps address deficiencies that may arise later due to prolonged consumption of select food items. Also, pregnant and lactating mothers, the elderly, the lactose intolerant are prime candidates for supplements.’ But as more than a third of us here in the UK take supplements, surely these supplementers aren’t all young mums, old or lactose intolerant. Maybe it’s individual vitamins that have us heading for the supplement aisle.

Dr. Gvalani explains, ‘Omega-3 fatty acids help prevent heart disease and up life expectancy among the old, folic acid is a must for pregnant women to help prevent birth defects, and calcium and vitamin D are good for post-menopausal women to prevent bone-thinning and osteoporosis.’ Nutritionist Naini Setalvad adds, ‘B12 plays a crucial role in maintaining nerve tissue health and efficient functioning of the central nervous system. Although it’s found only in non-vegetarian food and dairy products, it’s not as if only vegetarians are B-12 deficient. One in four in the world is.’

The takeaway, then, is that you may need a specific supplement if you’re in a particular group of people, or you have a certain deficiency, but the best way to get your general vitamin needs is from your diet. Consult your doctor or a dietician for more information about your personal requirements.