According to the National Institute of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements, the majority of adults in the United States take one or more vitamins or other type of supplement every day. Supplements are available in a variety of forms including tablets, capsules, powder, beverages and energy bars. If your diet does not include a variety of fresh, nutritious foods, bottled vitamins and supplements can be beneficial.
Considerations
The most nutritious and vitamin-rich foods are grown without chemicals, harvested locally and consumed the same day. Vitamin potency in food diminishes based on several factors including storage temperatures, time to market, shelf life and preparation techniques. According to the Louis Bounduelle Foundation, the more fragile natural vitamins such as B and C lose potency quickly because they are sensitive to heat, light and oxygen exposure A high-quality vitamin supplement is a source of beneficial nutrition that is more stable and provides easy access to important nutrients.
Effectiveness
The Office of Dietary Supplements reminds that certain vitamins have been scientifically proven to be beneficial to your health. Calcium and vitamin D are important in keeping your bones strong, folic acid is necessary to reduce the risk of neural tube birth defects. The Omega-3 fatty acids found in cold-water fish and fish oil supplements support cardiac and vascular health. If you your diet does not include foods rich in these nutrients, vitamin supplements are useful adjuncts to help protect and improve your health. Scientists continue to research other vitamins to determine their effectiveness and importance.
Safety
Vitamins contain active ingredients that can have significant effects in your body. If you are taking medications, some vitamins can potentiate or counteract their effectiveness. For instance, vitamin K can increase the action of blood thinning medications such as Coumadin, while vitamins C and E may reduce the effectiveness of some forms of chemotherapy and St. John's wort reduces the effectiveness of antidepressants and birth-control pills. Certain vitamins are added to foods by manufacturers and getting too much of some are not good for you. Too much vitamin A can cause headache and liver problems while excess dietary iron can result in nausea, vomiting and even damage to some of your internal organs. If you are taking medications, check with your doctor or health-care provider to determine if taking bottled vitamins will be good for you.
Cost
Another metric to determine the value of bottled vitamins is their cost. The FDA does not oversee the vitamin and supplement industry because they are not considered medications. Therefore, vitamins are not reimbursed by your health insurance. In some instances this is unfortunate especially for the vitamins that have been scientifically proven to exhibit health protective properties. To determine whether bottled vitamins are good for you, compare the cost of adding vitamin-rich foods to your diet versus to the cost of purchasing vitamin supplements.
References
- Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health: Vitamin and Mineral Fact Sheets
- World Institute of Natural Health Sciences; "Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine"; The Safety and Efficacy of Vitamins, 2003
- Louis Bonduelle Foundation: Vegetables: Raw or Cooked?
- Louis Bondulle Foundation: Vitamin C
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