Vitamins – Do We Really Need Them?

If lining up your vitamins in the morning at breakfast is part of your normal routine you may be wasting your time, in the case of some supplements, causing your body more harm than good, or at the very least, producing some very expensive wee. We are constantly being bombarded by messages in the media with images of beautiful people advertising the benefits of taking a daily multivitamin. But do we really need it?

What are vitamins?

Our bodies need vitamins to perform a range of functions, known as metabolic processes. Vitamins are organic compounds and found in the food we eat every day. Experts suggest that we should be able to get enough vitamins and minerals from eating a variety of healthy unprocessed foods regularly. Similarly, it is also documented that taking a broad spectrum vitamin and mineral supplement as a precaution poses little risk to an individual’s health, and may even be of benefit to someone who follows a restricted diet. However, it is also stated that supplements are no substitute for a nutritious diet.

When Vitamins really do help

Some of us, will at certain times in our lives, need use supplements to correct deficiencies, with those at most risk being:

• Pregnant women, those planning a pregnancy and women who are breastfeeding
• People who drink more alcohol than the recommended amount of one standard drink a day for women and two for men.
• Cigarette smokers and illegal drug users
• Some vegetarians or vegans
• Crash dieters or people who follow chronic low-calorie diets
• The elderly, including those who are disabled or with chronic diseases
• Women with excessive bleeding during menstruation
• People with food allergies and those with malabsorption problems such as diarrhoea, coeliac disease or pancreatitis

Natural Vs Synthetic

Although vitamin supplements are synthesised to the exact chemical composition of the kind found naturally in our food, research indicates these may not work as well. These supplements apparently work in isolation, whereas food is a composition of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals (plant chemicals) which all work together. Research has also shown that supplements taken in isolation will not have the same effect on the body as a food, perhaps because the vitamins and minerals in foods also work together with other components of the foods, not just the active ingredient. Folate is the exception to this in that the synthetic form often also found in fortified foods such as bread, is actually better absorbed by the body than that sourced from natural foods. Supplements also don’t contain phytochemicals, which are an important part of the food we eat, thought to reduce the incidence of heart disease and some cancers.

Taking too much

It is not unusual for some of us to up our doses of Vitamin C during the cold and flu season or if we feel the sniffles coming on. We may in fact be doing ourselves more harm than good with some vitamin supplements though. Vitamins A,D,E and K are fat soluble, which means they are stored in the body and high doses of these can be toxic. Also, overdosing on some vitamins can mask other deficiencies or hinder the work of other drugs such as is the case with B12 deficiencies being hidden by large intakes of folate. Extreme overdosing can expose an epileptic to unnecessary dangers by neutralising the effects of anticonvulsant drugs. Excessive dosing of Vitamin C for example can cause diarrhoea and too much Vitamin A may increase the risk of birth defects as well as disorders of the central nervous systems, liver, bone and skin.

High doses of supplements should only ever be taken under medical supervision, otherwise stick to the levels recommended as the RDI (Recommended Daily Intake).

If you feel you are experiencing a lack of particular vitamins in your diet, it might be worth giving the diet a makeover and considering some lifestyle changes rather than automatically reaching for supplements. Vitamin supplements are not meant to replace a healthy diet.

Do you regularly take vitamin supplements just because you think you should?

Source: Better Health Channel

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