Getting more vitamins and minerals in your diet through pills or supplements may seem like a great thing, but that's not always the case. While vitamins can definitely help if you suffer from malnutrition or follow a limited diet, they're not necessarily useful or healthy if what you normally eat already meets your nutritional needs.
Vitamin Types
Vitamins come in a wide range of products, and their type of delivery makes a difference. Multivitamins sold in drugstores for daily use typically contain less than 100 percent of recommended daily allowances of a dozen or more vitamins and minerals. There are also pills that contain just one type of vitamin, meant to supplement a diet that lacks it. "Megadose" supplements provide more than 100 percent of RDAs.
Pros
Dr. Walter Willett, chair of Harvard School of Public Health's nutrition department, calls vitamins "a form of nutritional insurance." If you suspect that you don't get enough vitamins and minerals in what you normally eat, taking a multivitamin can be a good way to fill the gaps of your diet and guard against nutrient deficiencies. MayoClinic.com notes that vitamin supplements are particularly useful for people who eat less than 1,600 calories per day, and for pregnant or breastfeeding women, vegans, postmenopausal women or people with medical conditions preventing them from effectively absorbing essential nutrients.
Cons
There are some potential downsides to taking vitamin supplements. In March 2008, the "Harvard Men's Health Watch" published an article telling the public that multivitamin use might link to prostate cancer in men. Additionally, the "Journal of the American Medical Association" published research in 2007 that linked vitamin A and vitamin E supplements with increased mortality rates. Less severely, MayoClinic.com points out that vitamin pills and supplements are not as effective as real foods, since they cannot provide phytochemicals, antioxidants and dietary fiber.
Considerations
The decision of whether to take a multivitamin is an individual one that's best to discuss with your doctor or a registered dietitian. If you plan to take regular supplements, Harvard professionals suggest choosing a store brand or major brand name product and avoiding megadoses, which could lead to toxicity. Finally, keep in mind that the healthiest strategy is to meet your daily nutritional requirements with a balance of lean proteins, vegetables, whole grains, fruits and low-fat or nonfat dairy products.
References
- Harvard Health Publications; Multivitamins -- Should You Buy This Insurance?; September 2006
- MayoClinic.com; Dietary Supplements -- Nutrition in a Pill?; June 5, 2010
- Harvard Men's Health Watch; It's Time to Reassess the Value, Safety of Multivitamin Use; March 2008
- "Journal of the American Medical Association"; Mortality in Randomized Trials of Antioxidant Supplements for Primary and Secondary Prevention; Goran Bjelakovic; 2007
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