Americans spend over $30 billion each year on dietary supplements, basically vitamins, minerals and herbal products. Yet there has been little evidence of the values of these supplements for normally healthy people. Now there are accumulating studies which show that for normally healthy people, most all of these supplements provide no significant value, and in some cases may even do harm.
Here are two media articles on the most recent of these studies:
There’s even more evidence that taking supplements is a waste of money — and could be harmful to your health
Nutrients from food, not supplements, linked to lower risks of death, cancer
And here is a link to the study itself:
Association Among Dietary Supplement Use, Nutrient Intake, and Mortality Among U.S. Adults: A Cohort Study
Here are posts about supplements from the American Heart Association and Johns Hopkins doctors:
Vitamin Supplements: Hype or Help for Healthy Eating
Is There Really Any Benefit to Multivitamins?
This is a link to the original editorial by the Hopkins doctors:
Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
As discussed in FDA: Stop Making False Claims For Supplements, the FDA recently sent out warning letters to supplement manufacturers telling them to stop claiming anti-Alzheimer’s benefits from their products. Because the FDA has limited ability to regulate the supplements industry, the situation has be come bizarre:
Nearly 800 dietary supplements contained unapproved drug ingredients, study finds
Original study:
Unapproved Pharmaceutical Ingredients Included in Dietary Supplements Associated With US Food and Drug Administration Warnings
All links have been added to Alzheimer’s > Amelioration/Prevention > Vitamins & Select Foods.
