Vitamin Supplements: How Much of a Good Thing is a Bad Thing?
Statistics show that 68% of Americans take vitamin/dietary supplements daily with 84% of U.S. adults expressing overall confidence in the safety, quality and effectivenss of these supplements. The top reasons for taking these supplements are overall health/wellness benefits, energy, to fill in nutrient gaps in their diet, immune health, bone health, heart health, healthy aging, skin, hair and nails, digestive/gastrointestinal health, and joint health.
For those who aren’t familiar with the term ‘vitamin’, the basic definition is compounds that we tend to come across in food — and without which we would die. There are 13 human vitamins: A, C, D, E, K and seven B vitamins (thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyroxidine (B6), biotin (B7), folate (B9) and cobalamin (B12)).
It is a common perception that adults believe vitamins are a “nutritional insurance plan.” If so many people take them, they must being doing something good, and if not doing something good they can’t be harming us right? They are just vitamins after all.
Recent research is catching the eyes of doctors across the country starting to advise against vitamin supplementation. An easy way to look at it is that you wouldn’t take antibiotics everyday just incase but you will take them if you need them for a sickness. This goes the same for vitamin supplements because unless your body is lacking a certain chemical compound such as vitamin A, calcium, or potassium then you shouldn’t be giving your body extra doses. Infact, most viatim supplements are giving you 100% or more of your suggested daily intake which could be doing more harm than good to your body.
