When Supplements Hurt Us

As a health educator, I side with the diet and nutrition experts who declare that the best place to get our essential  vitamins and minerals is in our diets, on our plates.  As a health educator, I compete with the supplement (vitamin) industry which has billions of dollars to use to convince the public otherwise.  In fact, there is little, if any, evidence that vitamins and minerals in pill form do our bodies good and growing evidence that they do us harm.

In a new study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, vitamin E is found to be harmful (again).  This particular finding is especially important as it gets at the heart of why people take vitamin E pills or capsules in the first place.  

People believe that vitamin E slows the physical aging process and the outside appearance of aging.  There is no proof of this.  Considering aging, one of the most devastating illness of late life is osteoporosis - sometimes called brittle bone disease or the silent killer.  This study links vitamin E supplementation with bone thinning, bone loss and in effect, osteoporosis.  

The research abstract is quite scientific and I am sure you can find a popular press overview that is easier to read, but you will not find a different conclusion.  Vitamin E is harmful.

By no means should you despair.  Stop taking the pills, of course, but know this:

There is a way to increase successful aging and keep a youthful appearance.  Don't smoke, don't tan, eat a diet high in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, monounsaturated fats and fish  & exercise daily.  It's a formula for health.

When Supplements are Harmful

This is a subject that is very dear to my heart and one that gets my dander up every time.  I believe one of my blog side panels gives my viewpoint on supplementation and I have openly stated it here, repeatedly, over then past ten years.
What I consistently say is that the vitamins and minerals that we need, including antioxidants that may be helpful in reducing chronic disease, inflammation and damage from aging, are best obtained in their NATURAL forms - in foods, in plant based foods.  These awesome vitamins, minerals and antioxidants should be transported via a fork or spoon - not taken from a pill bottle.
The only convincing evidence I have ever seen for taking supplements involves calcium and Vitamin D.  Calcium is also associated with negative outcomes so even it cannot be considered an absolute.  All research findings are open to falsification - there can be no "truth" just the truth we know today.
And today we know that there is a lot of harm to be found in these pills, shakes and powders. 
I am going to quote a couple of scientists who are responding to this new research and link you to an abstract on the actual published study,
But before I do - let me remind you of something very important - all those vitamins and supplements you see lined up for purchase are NOT FDA regulated.  The people who make them are the ones claiming how great they are - they are not claims from health experts or nutritionists they are claims from companies with a billion dollar industry -  they want  your MONEY.

You do not have to read the article or its abstract but please know that there IS real harm in taking some of these pills and that harm seems to be especially true for older women.  If it were me - or someone I care about - which really is all of you - I would not recommend anything except calcium and D and only if that person's doctor agreed.

Here is an article (or blog post)regarding the just released study - I am linking it because I am pulling a direct quote from the article which I most want to share, it is attributed to Drs. Goran Bjelakovic, M.D., D.M.Sc., of the University of Nis in Nis, Serbia, and Christian Gluud, M.D., D.M.Sc., of Copenhagen University Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark

. . . . add to the growing evidence demonstrating that certain antioxidant supplements, such as vitamin E, vitamin A, and beta-carotene, can be harmful.

 This link will take you to the abstract - or summary- of the actual research which discusses the risks of some supplements to older women.