Why Nutritional Supplements May Not Be a Good Idea
Recently there was an article on the Economist about nutritional supplements potentially not being a good idea after all, for the simple fact that they are not strictly regulated and may cause more harm than anticipated. This particular story reminded me of a news segment on CBS, a couple years back, noting the possibility that vitamins and supplements may not “have any health benefits.” The news story had such great effect on the average consumer that supplement sales plummeted for retailers such as drugstores, specialty vitamin shops, and health stores.
It did not last long though. Americans love their supplements. Millions take them regularly. Americans are not alone. As the same article pointed out, sales of supplements reached "nearly $90 billion" in 2014.
Two issues are raised in the above article. The first one is the debate of whether supplements are an important dietary choice in a first world country such as America, where populations have better access to nutrition rich foods. In this case, I believe culture and lifestyle are big determining factors of the choices that Americans make. On average, people in many first world societies, including Americans, are living in fast pace environments where time is a luxury. Every meal can be take-out but not a necessarily a healthy choice when trying to balance and juggle everyday routines. As a result, many resort to the supplementing of ones diet to help get what is “missing." But the most important questions is whether these laboratory-manufactured pills are made with high standards for the purpose of nutritional benefits.
The second, and more important, debate is whether these supplements are regulated and how much. As it turns out the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) "does not review supplements' safety or efficacy before they go to market."As a result,scandals have been common. Another article in the Economist outlines how a combination of he industry lobbying and the "lax" regulations may be lowering the quality of supplements significantly to a point where they could be and have been harmful to peoples health.
But before explaining why deregulation of the vitamin industry is a bad idea, we need to understand that vitamins, and minerals “are chemicals that act as aides in the body, supporting reactions that help us live.” However, there are no industry standards of how much of a certain vitamin or mineral our bodies need. In addition to that there is no official or formal auditing of the product being produced. The pharmaceutical companies know that and have been caught lying on products labels. The vitamins and minerals sold in the market should have the amount recorded on the label and rest should be “fillers” in order to make the capsule or tablet form. “When ConsumerLab.com…tested 42 multivitamins, 16 failed, mainly for having too much or too little of a nutrient.”
Sometimes the amounts of the nutrient are not what is so controversial but what is in the “filler.” “In 2013 women taking vitamin B sprouted facial hair—it turned out the pill contained steroids. That year consumers on a diet pill developed acute hepatitis. One died and three at least had liver transplants."
The best thing, in my opinion, is to monitor our nutritional intake every day rather than depending on “supplements.”
[Photos: Flickr]
