After years of being told about the advantages of vitamins, and we should be supplementing our diets with them more and more, (indeed, these vitamins are getting more numerous year by year,) we suddenly wake up one morning to be confronted with the question:-
Do Vitamins Help?
Not according to Scientists at Copenhagen University.
They said, "we found no evidence to support antioxidant supplements for primary or secondary prevention," they went on to say,
"Even more, beta-carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E seem to increase mortality," only three of the 5 supplements were found to be injurious:
- vitamin A - 16% increased risk of dying
- beta-carotene - 7% increased risk of dying
- vitamin E - 4% increased risk of dying
The research carried out, involved selecting 67 from 817 studies, involving more than 230,000 men and women, on vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and selenium. The researchers felt these were the most likely supplements to fairly reflect the impact on reducing mortality.
However, it has been reported by an independent nutritionist that, the report is flawed, "it's a re-analysis of an old trial," and it's results are selective by not ignoring deaths that were caused by accidents.
It would seem that, once again, the food and health industry and health authorities and professionals continue to give conflicting reports and equally, continue to change their minds on what is good and what is bad for us.
The truth of the matter is, as far as supplements go, that most people should be able to get all the nutrients they need, by eating a varied and balanced natural diet. The less processed the foods are, the less vitamins are going to be depleted.
We can't escape it..., all the fad diets, pills, potions, including supplements, will never be better than good naturally nutritious food and healthy exercise!
