Lots of people take supplements to guard their wellbeing against various health concerns, but a US doctor has warned that you may be doing more harm than good to your wellness if you take such supplements. According to Dr Paul Offit, author of Do You Believe In Magic? The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine, there are very few supplements that benefit you in any way, and most could actually risk your health.
Offit noted that while many people believe that supplementing is harmless, this simply isn’t true; super-strength supplements in particular are very damaging to health, but unfortunately these are becoming increasingly popular. Offit explained, ‘When you take large quantities of vitamins – 5-fold, 10-fold – greater than the [recommended daily allowance], I think the data is clear; it increases your chances of heart disease, cancer and can shorten your life.’
Offit detailed a recent television advertisement in which viewers were told that they would need to drink two gallons of orange juice to get as much vitamin C as was in the supplement being promoted. According to the doctor, who is based at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, there’s probably a good reason why you can’t naturally get that much vitamin C in one hit. However, as the UK market for vitamins and supplements was estimated to be worth £385million last year, up 2.7% on the previous year, you can see why the TV ad left that part out.
Although it is not really known whether or not multivitamins actually do any good, Offit did allow that multivitamins would not do any harm. However, when it came to nutritional pills he would recommend, Offit came up with four cases:
1. Pregnant mothers. You should take folic acid to prevent your babies developing spina bifida, a condition in which the spine becomes deformed.
2. Babies. You should give your babies vitamin D, particularly if you are breastfeeding exclusively or your baby does not get much exposure to sunlight.
3. Elderly women. You should take calcium and vitamin D to help prevent you bones thinning.
4. Those at risk of heart disease. Omega-3 fatty acid oils might be beneficial to heart health, but Offit noted that current studies are inconclusive.