Since its last recommendation in 2014, the task force reviewed 84 studies testing vitamins in almost 700,000 people, including 52 new studies on the topic.
Yet the conclusion remained the same as that of 2014: If you are a healthy, nonpregnant adult, there is “insufficient evidence” of any benefits to extending one’s life in taking vitamin E, vitamin D, calcium, vitamin A, beta carotene,vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin C and selenium.
Yet despite the consistent message from the scientific community, “more than half of American adults take dietary supplements,” spending an estimated $50 billion in 2021, according to Linder and his colleagues.
Why would we spend so much money on pills with so little evidence to support their benefits?
That’s easy. Outstanding advertising and marketing.
There is quite a bit of scientific evidence that Vitamin D supplementation is helpful. Personally, I found that I do not get Seasonal Affective Disorder in winter when I supplement Vitamin D.
While some supplements are unnecessary, that’s not the case for all of them.
Vitamin D3 supplements are very necessary for most people. Vitamin D deficiency weakens the immune system and promotes inflammation. If you don’t know what your blood Vitamin D level is, you should get tested. (40 to 80 ng/mL is generally considered to be the normal and healthy range, but most people are far short.) The US RDA of 600 to 800 IUs is just the bare minimum to avoid rickets. Getting Vitamin D from sunlight is not always an option. When it is possible to get plenty of Vitamin D from sunlight, it’s also all too easy to get sunburn or even skin cancer. If you rely on sunlight for Vitamin D in summer, you have to thread the needle between too little and too much.
Selenium is another nutrient essential for optimal immune system function. If you’re not eating one or two Brazil nuts per day, then you should be taking a selenium supplement. (Some multivitamins have it, but not all do.)
Vitamin B12 is another essential nutrient. As is the case with Vitamin D, many people (and not just vegans) are deficient.
That said, I agree with the task force that Vitamin B3 (niacin) supplementation is unnecessary. I’ve used Cronometer on a sporadic basis to track my vitamin and mineral consumption. Even on the hottest, appetite-shrinking days when I consume the least amount of food, I still manage to consume plenty of niacin. So many supplements out there have too much niacin, and it’s all too easy to exceed the Tolerable Upper Intake (which is barely double the US RDA).
"Why would we spend so much money on pills with so little evidence to support their benefits?
That’s easy. Outstanding advertising and marketing."
PT Barnum was right, in America a sucker is born every minute. Supplement companies make
outlandish claims about the greatness of their product, but as far as I know there is no
FDA/scientific investigation into those claims. In the USA, one does well to view any claim
made on a TV or media ad as an outright lie.
If you don’t know what your blood Vitamin D level is, you should get tested. (40 to 80 ng/mL is generally considered to be the normal and healthy range, but most people are far short.)
Some years ago our daughter, after finding she had a low vitamin-d level, suggested we should get tested too. Mine was pretty low. My lady’s was something like “3, with a margin of error of plus or minus 5” - meaning that, theoretically, her level could have been not merely extremely low but actually negative.
So many supplements out there have too much niacin, and it’s all too easy to exceed the Tolerable Upper Intake
Not a big problem with vitamin D, though - after the aforementioned testing, our doctor put us on prescription vitamin-D pills which were just shy of 3 months of the recommended daily allowance. Per pill. Which we were taking 2-3 times a week for several weeks.
My annual blood tests showed substantially increased levels of d in my blood (from ‘high risk’ to ‘normal’) after a year of supplementation combined with food containing fat.
My blood test results are not likely a result of placebo effect.
But I agree that supplementation not based on blood tests and science are often a waste.
If you are a healthy, nonpregnant adult, there is “insufficient evidence” of any benefits to extending one’s life in taking vitamin E, vitamin D, calcium, vitamin A, beta carotene,vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin C and selenium. Yet despite the consistent message from the scientific community, “more than half of American adults take dietary supplements,”
ISTR, then, that more than half of American adults are not healthy. : )
I consider myself to be in fair health in general, yet my epilepsy condition requires medication. That medication apparently makes me use up vitamin D more than normal, so we tested for it, and the result was low enough that a supplement was recommended. It’s not ALL supplements that are unnecessary, it’s supplements that are not medically or demographically indicated. IOW, “it’s the unnecessary supplements that are unnecessary”. Even if necessary supplements are only 1%* of that total, the linked story should be more clear. $50 bn is ALL supplements, even those taken by those who actually DO need them and aren’t just stooges for ‘clever marketing’.
-n8 (would never invest in the snake oil on purpose) * a percentage I made up for this post
If you are a healthy, nonpregnant adult, there is “insufficient evidence” of any benefits to extending one’s life in taking vitamin E, vitamin D, calcium, vitamin A, beta carotene,vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin C and selenium.
Part of the problem is study design, part of the problem is who is going to pay for the gold standard of dual blind studies. These supplements are not protected by law from competition, so why would anyone pay to do an expensive study just for another party to swoop in and benefit for free?
The human body is crazy complicated and we don’t know what we don’t know. Wendy cites a study that shows calcium supplementation does not improve bone density in those with osteoporosis. It’s a pretty old study, but they are correct that Ca supplements alone will probably do more harm than help. Further it was shown that the calcium supplements cased calcification of the arteries and gave some people heart attacks. (Old study, don’t have a link, and could be missing details, so google away.) Subsequently it was shown in a different study that vitamin K-2 was required to take the calcium from the soft tissue and bring it to the bone. This likely happens when one gets all the necessary components from food, assuming it is in there in in great enough volume to do it’s job, but when one does mega supplementation of Ca without back up supplementation of K-2, an imbalance can occur and you do not get what you believe you should as a result. Ca supplements alone can be an issue, in conjunction with K-2 it is heart and bone protective.
We take a significant amount of supplements, although we also eat very well. I could bore you with several anecdotes on how supplements have improved life crippling problems that the Dr had no suggestion other than wait until it gets bad enough to operate on. There have also been some supplements that have had negative impact on me, though large nations swear by it…Turmeric. I simply cannot take it, even in food form.
Until health is put before profits, there will be no “evidence” other than anecdotal evidence. But who is going to pay for that?
Since its last recommendation in 2014, the task force reviewed 84 studies testing vitamins in almost 700,000 people, including 52 new studies on the topic.
Yet the conclusion remained the same as that of 2014: If you are a healthy, nonpregnant adult, there is “insufficient evidence” of any benefits to extending one’s life in taking vitamin E, vitamin D, calcium, vitamin A, beta carotene,vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin C and selenium."
The idea is not always “extending” life - but improving a person’s life.
The concept of “improving” can cover an awful lot of ground - and not merely physical.
People listen to their doctors - and doctors frequently recommend supplements and
vitamins of various types.
People frequently want to “do something” - take some control over their life. Some start
exercise programs, some start diets, some take supplements. None may extend life.
There have also been some supplements that have had negative impact on me, though large nations swear by it…Turmeric. I simply cannot take it, even in food form.
I think it’s likely that pretty much everyone has SOME medication, common food, or spice, that they have a weird (maybe or maybe not dangerous) reaction to… some people will be so fortunate as to never encounter it.
Certainly both my lady and I do. Hers is potentially life-threatening; mine is merely very annoying.
I think it’s likely that pretty much everyone has SOME medication, common food, or spice, that they have a weird (maybe or maybe not dangerous) reaction to…
Heh. With me it’s probable. I have many weird and some potentially dangerous reactions to both supplements and prescription meds. It doesn’t stop me from taking them, but I do a deep dive before starting a new med/supplement to see if there are little known interactions.
Because of the minimal research studies in supplements, I find that I have to do my own research and pay good attention to how I am feeling. One of my most happy discoveries was alpha-lipoic acid, which I started taking for brain health on the recommendation of a neurologist. (Lots of Alzheimer’s in my family.) One of it’s other uses is for neuropathy, which I do not have. After about 2 weeks of taking it, I realized that my carpel tunnel, for which I had for years been wearing a brace on each wrist every night, was no longer bothering me! Realizing the ALA was the only recent change, I googled hard and found that indeed, there were many reports of ALA improving carpel tunnel and sciatica. HUGE. I had carpel tunnel for around 10 years, being one of those diagnosed conditions I was told would need surgery for. It’s been essentially gone now for two, with only VERY occasional and MINOR flareups. Same thing for Mg and toe cramping which has led to arthritic joints. Went to an orthopedic surgeon, who diagnosed the arthritis, which is not yet surgery worthy. Asked if there was anything I could do to keep it from getting worse, to which they said they could prescribe a metal plate for my shoes to minimize movement. Not what an active person wants to hear. In my reading came across the role of Mg in cramping, picked up the Magnesium Miracle. Started taking significant supplements, (gradually to avoid gastro complications,) which stopped the cramping. Still no metal plate and play 2-3 hours of pickleball a day as well as hiking several miles.
Those are the two supplements for me that have made life changing improvements to diagnosed issues, which I had to find for myself after going to medical professionals and asking the right questions but getting cr@p answers. It’s beyond time that the medical profession comes to understand the role of supplements and use them synergistically, rather than viewing them as an attack on their profession. But there is no supplement sales rep to school them on the uses of these supplements. No money to be made, so the supplements are designated as quackery.