Vitamins in Food Better Than Supplements
Nutritionists have long argued that a well-balanced diet gives most people all the vitamins and minerals they need, that food contains fiber and nutrients that pills do not and that self-diagnosing may lead to taking things that conflict with one another or result in overdosing.
In spite of this, many people are convinced that supplements are good for them and that you can't have too much of a good thing, hoping they will act as boosters, eliminating the free radicals believed to increase the risk of cancer and heart disease.
But recent reports from scientists in the U.K. and U.S. claim that vitamins A and E, believed to reduce the risk of cancer, actually do no such thing. According to The Independent newspaper in Britain, Dr. Howard Sesso's research, in which almost 15,000 American men participated, noted "the lack of an effect that we observe for vitamin E or C on cancer does convince us that these particular doses that we tested really have no role for recommendation for cancer prevention."
In Britain, David Gems of University College London checked the effects of antioxidant levels on ageing in the nematode worm. Like the American study, he told The Guardian, "It really demonstrates finally that trying to boost your antioxidant levels is very unlikely to have any effect on ageing."
A Boston study "discovered that there were no significant effects on rates of heart disease after taking vitamins E and C" while "looking at whether vitamin E and selenium... could lower a man's risk of prostate cancer ended amid worries that such treatments may do more harm than good." And doctors at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre have apparently warned that vitamin C protects cancer cells as well as healthy cells.
Other studies indicate that some supplements benefit some people. B12 is still believed to benefit women of childbearing age and the elderly while calcium and vitamin D in women over 65 appear to protect bones. People living in places with little sunlight for much of the year are often advised to take vitamin D.
All three articles cited below give examples of research on both sides of the argument complete with evidence of side effects and harm. Whether any of them will affect sales must remain up to individual convictions.
Discussion question: How will recent reports that vitamins do not prevent certain health conditions affect supplement sales? Do manufacturers and retailers of nutritional supplements need to take steps to address the recent "negative" press? What does this mean for food suppliers and retailers?