quote: Whereas 3 decades ago only 23 percent of adults augmented their diets with vitamins and other encapsulated nutrients, that total has climbed to 52 percent now
quote: The good news, Radimer's team says, is that a large share of adults now gets at least "adequate" amounts of many important vitamins and minerals. In fact, the data show, supplements may actually be pushing some people toward unhealthy excesses of certain nutrients, especially if they routinely down multivitamins in addition to high-dose single-nutrient pills or antacids.
quote: people with at least some college education are more than twice as likely as high-school dropouts to take supplements.
Weird. I haven't learnt that in any class yet
I don't take it that it's safe to live off a multivitamin, is it?
Posts: 2756 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
People aren't living off of them. They're supplementing their diet with them.
The data is not suprising. I think a majority of adults are now over the age of 50. /OT
In my opinion, this fact actually has far more to do with a lot of shifts in politics than anything else, btw. Certain messages appeal to certain demographics more than others, Zell Miller's screeching to the contrary.
quote:I don't take it that it's safe to live off a multivitamin, is it?
You are not going to get into trouble if you are a generally healthy person who takes a single standard multivitamin (e.g., Centrum) once per day. The levels of supplemental vitamins in these are safe and probably helpful for those who cannot maintain a very well-balanced diet of fresh foods, well-prepared.
Single vitamin or limited combo vitamins (such as B-complex as vs multivitamins) are more likely to give "megadoses" and can be harmful. The greatest risk is with vitamins A, D, E and K, as they are stored in the fat and so are more prone to having levels build up over time. However, even too much water can be harmful, so too much of any vitamin may be harmful. (Note that some persons must take extra levels of ADEK, such as persons with cystic fibrosis who cannot absorb fats from their diets. This is why I have restricted this advice to generally healthy persons.)
So, it is probably useful and not risky to take a single multivitamin a day as supplementation. However, relying on a multivitamin alone is not sufficient, as there are many many things necessary for good health which are not covered by taking a multivitamin (fiber, flavinoids, micronutrients we have yet to discover, etc.). No pill can replace a well-balanced diet of fresh foods well-prepared.
What about persons who wish to restrict themselves to just a multivitamin in a misguided plan to lose weight or save money? Note that in hospitals, we do not just give multivitamins to persons who do not wish to (or cannot) eat. The axiom is "if the gut works, use it." Rather than put someone on IV calories and vitamins, we will put a tube down the throat or nose to use the gut. If you do not use the gut, bad things happen -- liver problems, bacterial problems in the gut itself, etc. Of course, in some cases we cannot use the gut (e.g., just after bowel surgery), but in those cases, we transition back to using the gut ASAP. In fact, even mililiters of food an hour through a nose tube is better than nothing.
If you want to lose weight, cut calories and excercise. Sure, supplement with a multivitamin, but don't stop eating. If you want to save money, you could consider replacing a meal a day with Slimfast or Ensure shakes, but don't stop eating. Bulk grains and beans, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruit can all be found cheaper than their preprocessed cousins and many are healthier, depending on how fresh they actually are (e.g., sometimes canned tomatoes are fresher than "fresh," since they may be canned directly after picking, instead of being shipped chilled for sale weeks later.)
And excercise! But all things in moderation.
Posts: 2919 | Registered: Aug 2004
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PSI My mom used a similar strategy, eating EasyMac and Peppermint Patties and drinking Sprite, and expecting vitamins to make up the slack. She died at 52 from complications of diabetes and heart disease.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:sometimes canned tomatoes are fresher than "fresh," since they may be canned directly after picking, instead of being shipped chilled for sale weeks later.
Really?!?! I can stop feeling guilty about using canned tomatoes in my pasta sauces?
posted
Dag, *I* use canned tomatos, and I use almost no canned goods. (By which I mean, I can many of my own. Applesauce, jams, fresh fruit, ect, and I make things like refried beans from scratch too) They are usually tastier, unless I manage to grow the tomatos myself.
Posts: 2711 | Registered: Mar 2004
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See, e.g., U of IL's (my alma mater) 1997 replication of a 1995 study: "Canned tomatoes, in particular, contain an important carotenoid called lycopene, which other studies have found it appears to help prevent prostate cancer. In fact, some analyses show lycopene is more effective when eaten after heating or canning tomatoes." It's been noted that lycopene decreases in available content the longer the time from picking fresh tomatoes.
Save your prostate: eat canned tomatoes!
Posts: 2919 | Registered: Aug 2004
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