Recently, a number of studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine underscored a fact that scientists have become increasingly sure of: The vast majority of vitamins and mineral supplements are simply not worth taking. Enough is enough: stop wasting money on vitamin and mineral supplements, declared an editorial that was published in the issue. This goes for a tremendous range of supplements that you might imagine to be beneficial. Multivitamins dont reduce the chance of cancer or cardiovascular disease. Controlled, randomized studies—where one group of people take supplements and another takes placebos, and the groups are compared—have produced little evidence that antioxidants protect against cancer. Study after study has shown that vitamin C does nothing to prevent common cold, a misbelief that dates to a theoretical suggestion made by a scientist in the 1970s. Of course, our bodies do need these vitamins to live—its just that the diet of most people who live in developed countries in the 21st century already includes them in abundance. In many cases, taking high amounts of them in a refined form (especially vitamins A, C and E and beta carotene) can actually be harmful, increasing the risk of cancer and other diseases by excessively inflating the concentration of antioxidants in the body. Nevertheless, there are a handful of vitamins and supplements that, studies suggest, are actually worth taking for people with specific conditions. Information is Beautiful, a data visualization website, has a thought-provoking interactive that shows supplements charted by the strength of evidence that indicates theyre beneficial. Heres our rundown of some of the most promising. Read more: smithsonianmag/science-nature/five-vitamins-and-supplements-are-actually-worth-taking-180949735/#ixzz2tQxvDWQB Give the gift of Smithsonian magazine for only $12!: bit.ly/1cGUiGv Follow us: @SmithsonianMag on Twitter
Posted on: Sat, 15 Feb 2014 22:51:03 +0000
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