Vitamins, Minerals, and Supplements: What's a person to think?

An academic friend of mine said I should read this article: http://www.alternet.org/personal-health/are-vitamins-useless?page=0%2C4

I did.

Here’s my thoughts:

I believe the article to be on target, with the following clarifications or expoundings:

It should be emphasized that there is a difference between the mass produced ag-biz/pharma related ones and the less well known, better produced ones.  Pills made in a lab or factory are not only poorly regulated, but often not designed for easy and ready absorption.  If the pills in the studies were the mass produced crap so prevalent in regular stores, that’s going to shade the studies’ results. I have personally taken some mass produced pills that made me feel sick and that sat hard on my stomach (and probably passed through my system with little nutrient absorption).  And that’s not even considering the other risks of counterfeit or even contaminated pills, so pathetic is our regulation of the “industry.”  In fact, the only time the FDA seems to get its wonk up about it is to intimidate some small (and often truly health dedicated) company into not making claims or branding itself to stand out in the sea of supplements and information and misinformation/disinformation.  But to be fair, and the article largely is, the FDA also got a hamstringing from the mass-produced vitamin industry.

As the article says, “natural” is a near-useless term.  Something the article does not go into but should is that even something labeled “organic” may 1) not be entirely organic, and 2) just because it’s organic doesn’t mean it’s good for you.

A complicating factor about nutrients is that we often have depleted soils, and the fruits and veggies we get do not have the nutritional content they had 100 years ago. As the article says, nature did not intend us to eat vast quantities to get our nutrients, and certainly not take many times the amount one could, even if we ate mass quantities, via a pill.  If we had truly rich soils and sensible food systems (that didn’t, for example, emphasize spoil-resistance and appearance over nutrition), there would certainly be next to no need for food supplements. As it is, there is some need, but just where that need exists on the scale is not only imprecise because of all the variables (including how much, what kind, and what quality a person ingests), but imprecise because of what we don’t know (let alone the imprecision that comes from human behaviors in general).

Another complicating factor is our processed food industry.  It is nutritionally (and glycemic, fiber, etc.) whacked in many cases, and the nature-provided nutrients get processed out.  Sometimes they pack it back with artificial nutrients (how crazy the whole process—no pun intended—is).  And that doesn’t even get into the Frankenfood and Frankendrink type things that change nature’s food—everything from spliced genes to radiation.  The processed food industry can keep people alive, and with technically enough nutrients (or at least calories), but it won’t make or keep you healthy. Look at all the studies about what it’s doing to our bodies and brains, with ramifications for everything from our educations to health costs to economic productivity.

Things are complicated here in America, with our food “system,” and we need to be aware of the above.  But one can certainly overdose on vitamins, minerals and other supplements, and the taking of them may be useless or hazardous anyway.  A consumer that wanted to hedge bets might try getting by with taking something once a week, unless otherwise prescribed by a doctor or dietitian/specialist who has taken all the factors above and in the article in consideration.  No one can give ready blanket advice on this one.  We have to be partners in the decisions ourselves.  A too common choice in this time and place!