A great article called The Vita Myth appeared earlier this week in online magazine Slate. Science writer Emily Anthes tears apart the $25B-a-year-and-growing supplement industry.

Half of Americans pop a multivitamin or other supplement regularly. But substantial studies in the past few years have shown that for the most part, these supplements did not provide any health benefits, aside from those of the supplement companies:

1. A study of more than 160,000 post-menopausal women, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that multi-vitamins supplements did not prevent cancer, heart attacks, or strokes and did not reduce overall mortality. [see here]

2. A 2006 National Institutes of Health panel of experts evaluated evidence that vitamin pills could prevent chronic disease. The scientists that there is no “strong evidence for beneficial health-related effects of supplements taken singly, in pairs, or in combinations.”

3. Antioxidant supplements (vitamins A, C, and E, selenium, beta carotene, and folate) fail to protect against heart disease, stroke, and cancer. But, get this, they actually increase the risk of death, according to a 2007 analysis of research on more than 232,000 people, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Wow – this boggles the mind.

What you need to know:

The American Dietetic Association just recently reminded us that people should get their nutrients from real food, not supplements. The science of nutrition is relatively young, and for every known nutrient, there are hundreds that scientists have yet to figure out. Interactions between various nutrients in a certain vegetable or fruit contribute differently to your health than if you just take a pill with one or two vitamins.

Some people argue that we must take a daily multi-vitamin because the produce in this nation has been depleted of it nutritional value over the past few decades. This, due to the depletion of nutrient from soil as a result of industrialized agriculture, pesticide use, and monocultures.

Hogwash, according to Joanne Larsen, RD, of Ask the Dietitian: There is no proof that soil is losing its mineral content.  Minerals in soil are pretty stable and don’t migrate unless there is erosion or flooding that washes minerals away.  Soils are replenished with fertilizers (organic or chemical) periodically.

Individual vitamins are created by fruits and vegetables through the oxidative process determined by each plant’s genetics.  Some plants are naturally high in particular nutrients than others. We are not seeing mutations in plant genetics that affect vitamin content. If soils were becoming depleted of nutrients, we would see widespread nutrient deficiencies in the American population.  We are not.

So if real food has all the vitamins and minerals we need, and supplements could actually be detrimental, how is it that we are paying  twenty five billion dollars a year for what amounts to smoke and mirrors?

Note: There are people that require specific boosts in certain nutrients. We’re not referring to those needs here.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you are a healthy person, get your nutrition from real food. Plenty of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, dairy and meat. The less processed the better. You never know what “benefits” the presence of industrial additives and artificial chemicals will amount to once inside your body.

And foods that are fortified with lots of vitamins and minerals, for example breakfast cereals? A secondary consideration compared to the importance of whole grains and low sugar content.

Says Emily Anthes – we should stop treating supplements like health candy and more like prescription meds, to be used only when there’s a demonstrated need.

(hat tip to Dan Mitchell of The Daily Bread for the story)

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The American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends we get the vitamins and minerals our bodies need directly from the source – food. This, in a position paper published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. The 70,000 dietitian strong organization says:

the best nutrition-based strategy for promoting optimal health and reducing the risk of chronic disease is to wisely choose a wide variety of nutrient-rich foods.

However, to remain politically correct*, the ADA adds:

Additional nutrients from supplements can help some people meet their nutrition needs.

*The ADA is sponsored by food companies such as Coke and Pepsi, but also by Abbot Nutrition and McNeil Nutritionals (maker of VIACTIV Multi-Vitamins Soft Chews).

What you need to know:

The dietary supplement market is 25 Billion Dollars a year and growing 5% annually. Over half of Americans regularly use a multivitamin or supplement of some kind. Almost two thirds said they used a supplement in the past month. This is not surprising given that more than three-quarters of U.S. physicians (79%) and nurses (82%) recommend dietary supplements to their patients (more stats here).

Thank goodness the ADA is reminding us that the best source of nutrients is real food – plenty of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. While people with certain conditions may need to supplement, the truth is that many of us simply eat poorly. Popping a few pills a day seems like an easy enough solution – no slaving away in the kitchen and no battles over broccoli with the kids.

But beyond the nutrients we are familiar with, such as the A-Z vitamins and minerals, real foods provide thousands of  undiscovered and yet to be researched nutrients that help our bodies function and thrive.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you are a healthy person, there’s no reason your body shouldn’t thrive on real food (TV dinners and frozen pizza don’t count, nor do soft drinks). Try to buy a variety of fruits and vegetables. Educate yourself on legumes. Buy them in bulk and learn how to cook them.

If you are unsure of what do regarding your nutrient needs, best bet is to meet with a dietitian and get professional advice.

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A study conducted in Spain has found that men who regularly consume fruits and vegetables have improved semen quality:

The study found that “men with good semen quality ate more vegetables and fruit (more vitamins, folic acid and fiber and less protein and fats) than those men with low seminal quality,” the lead author, Jaime Mendiola, a researcher at the University of Murcia, said in a news release.

Antioxidants, found mainly in fruits and vegetables, lower the level of oxidative stress that can affect semen quality, the researchers explained, and also improve sperm concentration and mobility.

Read more…

What you need to know:

Fertility rates are dropping in many countries. In the UK, men born in the 1970’s had 25% less sperm than men born in the 1950’s. There have been many explanations for this worrying drop, including tight underwear, electromagnetic radiation from electronic devices such as cellphones, and industrial pollution.  A reduction in fresh produce consumption is likely not the main culprit, but it definitely can’t harm one to get more nutrients from natural, unprocessed sources.

What to do at the supermarket:

Spend more time and money in the produce section.

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The New Ice Age

A novel campaign across the pond in the UK is promoting frozen fruit and vegetables. The British Frozen Food Federation has put up a giant ice wall in London with frozen produce suspended midair (actually mid-ice). Read more…

photo credit: TooFarNorth

Small Bites blogger Andy Bellati responds to a claim that ounce for ounce veggies are more nutritious than fruit. Bottom Line:

All fruits and vegetables (yes, that includes potatoes!) are healthy. Shunning particular ones under the guise of “more nutrition” is very silly. There is definitely room for fruit in all diets.

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