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Vitamin Supplements Good Or Bad

MemberMember
1
(@afantastic)

Posted : 04/13/2014 2:59 pm

 

Ive recently read that taking supplements can actually be bad for you in the long term? Opinions and thoughts?

 

A simple Google search brings these websites up.

 

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=vitamins+bad+for+you&rlz=1C5MACD_enGB529GB563&oq=vitamins+ba&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l5.2862j0j4&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=91&ie=UTF-8

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MemberMember
26
(@quetzlcoatl)

Posted : 04/13/2014 5:04 pm

Some vitamins can be. If you massively overdose on vitamin A, for example, you could get some toxic side effects.

But I would caution against taking the conclusion of any epidemiological study as scientific fact. A study that looks at the effect of vitamin D supplementation on an array of diseases, for example, might find no significant effect. However, such a study might only look at, say, 10 different disease. It could be looking at the effect of short term vitamin D supplementation, which we already know is worthless. It could find some positive effect, but determine that the positive effect was not present in enough people for it to be considered significant. There are so many ways an epidemiological or even intervention study can be flawed.

In the case of vitamins, I think it's therefore important to look at both scientific and anecdotal evidence. I tend to value anecdotal evidence more than other scientists because while it can lead people astray, it can also uncover rare benefits of certain behaviors or compounds, or even more importantly, benefits that exist in the presence of other factors. A study that looks at vitamin D supplementation alone might not show any benefit, while someone who takes vitamin D with, say, vitamins A and K might benefit greatly from the combination. So what you get is a bunch of data that covers more specific circumstances than a broad epidemiological study can.

I would generally recommend against constant supplementation without a specific goal in mind. I think it's better to get nutrients through food. But if you were to plan a 4 week course of 750mg Magnesium/day to see its effect on acne, then you have an experiment, and something to collect data from, making it less of a waste even if you don't succeed in your goals.

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MemberMember
2481
(@wishclean)

Posted : 04/13/2014 9:33 pm

You can't go wrong with vitamin C.

Also, it depends on the quality of the supplement. Not all brands are the same.

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MemberMember
1
(@afantastic)

Posted : 04/15/2014 3:48 pm

Thanks so much for your replies. I currently take a few supplements and have decided that Im going to back them down as my diet is giving me a certain amount anyhow. Im going to be testing some others out over the next few months and note differences.

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