The Vitamin Myth Link

One of the most common debates in my house is over the efficacy of vitamins. I think they are an unregulated scam perpetrated with the help of a US senator and bolstered by unscientific data.

This Atlantic article fits with my own conclusions. I’ve read a lot about Pauling and his crazy vitamin C “research”. This is a good summary of that insanity with an intro to some real research into supplements.

In 2004, researchers from the University of Copenhagen reviewed fourteen randomized trials involving more than 170,000 people who took vitamins A, C, E, and beta-carotene to see whether antioxidants could prevent intestinal cancers. Again, antioxidants didn’t live up to the hype. The authors concluded, “We could not find evidence that antioxidant supplements can prevent gastrointestinal cancers; on the contrary, they seem to increase overall mortality.” When these same researchers evaluated the seven best studies, they found that death rates were 6 percent higher in those taking vitamins.