7 replies to this topic

[Pord]

Hey,

This is something that I came across the other day:

http://video.foxnews...tamins-useless/

What do you guys think?

edit: I am not saying that it is not important to get your vitamins. I just figured that it would be intersting to post this.

Edited by Pord, 13 January 2012 - 01:40 PM.

[Tunnelvisionary]

Part of me kind of believes this, and part of me reads "Fox News" and stops paying attention.

I guess this just means people will have to start eating less garbage, and more food. I wonder if food based supplements are more effective though.

[dejaclairevoyant]

Yeah, I don't trust anything from faux news, but at the same time, I don't like/believe in multivitamins either really.

[alternativista]

I can't watch it because my sound card has died, but I'll bet the report is useless. Not just because it's Faux news. All our major network news programs are useless.

What multi vitamins are they testing? The biggest problems with multis are things like the tablets don't dissolve before they pass through you, it's pointless to take many nutrients once per day, and synthetic nutrients.

So, did they just test one pill a day tablets such as One a day, centrum and store brand equivalents or are they including whole food supplements like Nature's way alive, supplements in capsule form, supplements meant to be taken throughout the day?

[AutonomousOne1980]

a study like this isnt really hardcore conclusive evidence, this is a very general way to gather information about somethings, most multivitamins do not have calcium or magnesium or potassium, so we cant really come to major conclusions from this study alone abou tthe importance of vitamins themselves, but maybe this says something about multivitamins im not totally sure.there are many other studys that find strong relationships between certain vitamins, you must make conclusions based on the results of multiple studys, not just one single general one like this. you should also probably read the study itself to see if was well done without any biases, before you come to any real conclusions.

just dont let this one news report change your entire view of getting your vitamins as pointless.

[alternativista]

^Yes, there's rarely calcium and little magnesium and potassium because to include the RDAs of these things, the pills would be huge. Even in supplements intended to be taken in several pills or capsules throughout the day.

[alternativista]

I don't know what study they were talking about. I found this in a recent article in the British Daily Mail so they may be talking about the same study:

Researchers spent more than six years following 8,000 people and found that those taking supplements were just as likely to have developed cancer or heart disease as those who took an identical-looking dummy pill.

And when they were questioned on how healthy they felt, there was hardly any difference between the two groups.

.....

A team of French researchers, led by experts at Nancy University, tracked 8,112 volunteers who took either a placebo capsule, or one containing vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, selenium and zinc, every day for just over six years.

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1jMgMQFg5

So it was just an observation with no info on the lifestyle of the participants, no measure of the nutrient levels in their body, etc. I found several other studies done the same way, including this response by the Linus Pauling Institute on an even larger study done in 2009 - http://lpi.oregonsta...tivitamins.html Also an observational study with little controls. The response is about the many problems with the study. And that they just might have prevented/reduced other health conditions.


Since the RDAs of many nutrients are way to low to prevent these diseases, and the quality of the average supplement is poor, it's probably no wonder there was little difference between the multi takers and those on the placebo. Also, 6 years of a few extra nutrients might not be enough to prevent the cancer and heart disease those people were already headed for.

Edited by alternativista, 13 January 2012 - 12:56 PM.

[Pord]

I don't know what study they were talking about. I found this in a recent article in the British Daily Mail so they may be talking about the same study:

Researchers spent more than six years following 8,000 people and found that those taking supplements were just as likely to have developed cancer or heart disease as those who took an identical-looking dummy pill.

And when they were questioned on how healthy they felt, there was hardly any difference between the two groups.

.....

A team of French researchers, led by experts at Nancy University, tracked 8,112 volunteers who took either a placebo capsule, or one containing vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, selenium and zinc, every day for just over six years.

Read more: http://www.dailymail...l#ixzz1jMgMQFg5

So it was just an observation with no info on the lifestyle of the participants, no measure of the nutrient levels in their body, etc. I found several other studies done the same way, including this response by the Linus Pauling Institute on an even larger study done in 2009 - http://lpi.oregonsta...tivitamins.html Also an observational study with little controls. The response is about the many problems with the study. And that they just might have prevented/reduced other health conditions.


Since the RDAs of many nutrients are way to low to prevent these diseases, and the quality of the average supplement is poor, it's probably no wonder there was little difference between the multi takers and those on the placebo. Also, 6 years of a few extra nutrients might not be enough to prevent the cancer and heart disease those people were already headed for.

This appears to be the same study.