Vitamin Supplements: Really Useful?
Nutrition, Dietetics More and more people use vitamin supplements. United States alone, there is a market of 23 billion dollars. We know that multivitamins can compensate for deficiencies due to diet or a special affection, but what it really for people in good health?
The NIH is interested in the issue, and its conclusions are mixed. You should know the United States, dietary supplements are not considered drugs, the law imposes much less control over their production and their use.
Many people believe that taking vitamins and most of their diet will protect them from many diseases like cancer. And it is true in some cases, such as folic acid supplements taken by pregnant women protect their babies against spina bifida. Vitamins C and E, beta carotene, zinc and copper protect against the loss of eyesight in people with macular degeneration.
But in other cases, the results are invalid, even dangerous. For example, beta carotene has been found to increase the risk of lung cancer among smokers, which is surprising because we know that fruit and vegetables, which contain often have the opposite effect .
Another danger in the absence of control is the overdose of vitamins, which can have very adverse effects. The prolonged overdose of vitamin C can cause kidney stones, excessive vitamin A increases fracture risk, a massive dose of vitamin D (more than 100 times the recommended dose) can cause heart and kidney problems.
The NIH recommends that vitamins are considered drugs and their side effects are listed by the FDA. But the industry is obviously not of that opinion …