Studies have touted vitamin supplements as possible protections against cancer, cardiovascular disease and depression; however, more rigorous randomized controlled trials have not provided similar optimistic findings.
Diet is the primary source of vitamins, but dietary supplements may be an additional source. Such products often include various combinations of vitamins, minerals and herbs.
What are Vitamins?
Vitamins are organic compounds essential to human health that we must consume in small quantities for proper functioning and development. Since our bodies cannot produce most vitamins on its own, they must come from food or supplements containing them – for instance multivitamins often include them alongside minerals. Antioxidants are also available as dietary supplements that help the body protect itself against chemical or radiation exposure. Examples include beta-carotene, lycopene and selenium. Some nutrients previously considered vitamins, such as those belonging to the highest-numbered B group (which includes folic acid and five of the B12 vitamins) have since been reclassified or determined not essential, while controversial cancer treatments such as laetrile no longer count as vitamins.
Vitamins play an integral role in human health and illness. For years, people mainly obtained vitamins through food sources like cod liver oil (for vitamin D and iodine in salt to prevent goiter), grain products with added folic acid that help prevent birth defects, fortified milk and cereal products and fortified dairy.
How are Vitamins Made?
As a consumer, you want to know whether the vitamin supplements you purchase are both safe and effective. That knowledge drives most supplement companies’ research and formula development processes – the truly great ones take this responsibility seriously and care about customer health outcomes too!
Supplement companies often start with an ideal wishlist of potency ingredients in specific forms and quantities, then conduct market research and consult formula experts in order to see if their vision for their product can be realized within an affordable budget.
Companies can source their raw ingredients from many different sources, both natural (e.g. fish oil) and synthetic (such as coal tar derivatives or petroleum products). Some manufacturers combine natural with synthetic sources. Others may create their vitamins in laboratories using chemicals which mimic the molecular structure of natural vitamins; vitamin D2, for instance, can be synthesized from ergosterol (a type of plant sterol) combined with ultraviolet light.
Are Vitamins Safe?
As long as multivitamins are taken at recommended dietary levels, taking multivitamins poses no health risks. However, high-dose supplements may cause symptoms of toxicity; to be on the safe side it is wise to consult your doctor or dietitian prior to taking them. Also be sure to report all complementary medicines like vitamins and minerals to them first before beginning them.
Most healthy adults can get all of the vitamins they require from diet alone; for those who do not, nutritional supplements could offer an “might-help-won’t-hurt” solution to fill any nutritional gaps.
However, the old saying, “you are what you eat” still holds true. If you consume poor-quality food, taking vitamin supplements won’t provide any nutrition advantage and may contain harmful additives and fillers (one milligram is equal to one millionth of a gram). Therefore, to optimize health benefits it is best to eat healthily, get sufficient sleep, exercise regularly and establish an anti-stress ritual to improve overall wellness.
Are Vitamins Effective?
Vitamins play a variety of essential roles in metabolic processes and most people can meet their vitamin needs through healthy diet. Unfortunately, some may require vitamin supplements in addition to their food sources to receive all necessary vitamins.
Note that large doses of vitamins can be detrimental to health. For example, high doses of beta-carotene found in vitamin A could potentially increase lung cancer risk among smokers while high amounts of vitamin E have been linked with cardiovascular disease and even death.
Supplemental vitamins may not provide as effective results as getting them from eating a well-rounded diet, and taking any dietary supplements may interfere with certain medical treatments or medications (for instance, folate taken as supplements can mask symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency; anticonvulsant drugs inhibit absorption of folic acid). For these reasons it is recommended that one consults their physician prior to taking any supplemental vitamins.
