I have, off and on during my life, taken vitamins as part of my nutrition program. Sometimes it didn’t seem important (I eat a relatively healthy diet), other times I just forgot to buy or take them. Until recently, I just didn’t care enough to be adamant. However, around July of 2005 I started taking vitamins daily and consistently. Now that I’ve been actively maintaining my regimen for over a year, I recognize a profound effect in my vitality, mental acuity, and health.
So I began to think: do people get enough vitamins in their diet? I had long agreed with conventional doctors who said most people do get enough of most vitamins if they eat well. That assessment has changed in recent years, but not many people are aware of this.
The new recommendation from the American Medical Association is that everyone in the United States should be taking a general multivitamin. This is significant for many reasons, mainly because it recognizes outright that, for whatever reason, eating right is not enough. As an aside, it’s also noteworthy because the AMA does not often reverse decisions like this: they deserve credit for overcoming their own momentum. Their recommendations are, I believe, not strong enough, but they are a very big step in the right direction.
Basically they concede that we need more of certain vitamins that just don’t exist in our diets, such as the B vitamins, D, K, and a few others. They also say that most people get all the vitamin C they can use and that taking mega doses has no effect on getting or staying healthy. The full article from Harvard (link below) is worth a read to see what vitamins you should be thinking more about.
Are all multivitamins the same? I think no: I believe synthetic sources are not as good as natural sources, for instance. If you can take a complete, natural multivitamin, by all means, do! If you cannot for some reason, at least take something.
Resources:
- Dietary Insurance: A Daily Multivitamin
- The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Reverses its Position on Vitamin Supplements
- Journal of The American Medical Association Announces Recommendation that All Adults Should Take Vitamins
- Medical community concedes that multivitamins are important for health, but only after decades of denying benefit from vitamins
Other news
- I think they mis-worded the headline: 5 strands of hair can diagnose eating disorders
- Funny, my doctor didn’t tell me about sharing jewelry either: College Students Unaware of Hepatitis C Risks
- Red light means nap: Turning Back the Clock Creates Drowsy Drivers
Healthy thoughts,
Jeff
