
Do
we get enough vitamins from the food we eat?
Experts
disagree strongly on this issue. Individual consumers need to
make their own informed decisions regarding this issue.
Do
we need to take supplements to optimize our health?
Many
experts agree that several vitamins have well proven health benefits
when taken in larger doses than is possible to obtain from typical
food servings. However, a few vitamins, particularly the fat-soluble
vitamins A and D, are potentially harmful when taken in large
doses.
An
increasing body of evidence suggests that larger amounts of
some vitamins and other dietary supplements may have major
health benefits and delay the onset of the major debilitating
diseases of aging.
How much evidence is "enough"?
Disagreement
among experts on these questions relates, in part, to scientific
and legal debates about how much evidence is required before something
is really proven.
For
example, in the United States, the FDA requires that in order
for supplements to be considered as drugs for treating
illnesses or disease, they must demonstrate absolute evidence
of both safety and efficacy. The situation for supplements
is much different in many European countries and elsewhere, where
the governing bodies also require absolute evidence of safety,
but only reasonable evidence of efficacy.
What
are the risks?
Our
view on this issue relates to the safety of the substance
being considered. If the substance is clearly and absolutely
safe under the dosages taken, then the only potential harm
is economic loss -- and possibly much potential gain from
using that substance before the evidence for its health related
benefit is ironclad.
Sources:
Paul Wakfer (was Tom Matthews)
& Louis
Scarmoutzos
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