On the back of every cereal box, frozen dinner, condiment bottle, and any other packaged food, you will find the Nutrition Facts label.
Introduced by the Food and Drug Administration over 25 years ago, the purpose of this labeling system is to help consumers make more informed food choices.
Thus it would be natural to think you’re covered for, say, vitamin C, if a product’s Nutrition Facts label says it provides 100% of the Daily Value of vitamin C.
But you’d be wrong.
Are multivitamin supplements useless? Does the science all point to these pills being a complete waste of money and time?
This is simply not true, and you should know why. Continue reading
A recent report from the US Preventive Services Task Force in the Annals of Internal Medicine focused on the use of vitamin, mineral, or multivitamin supplements. Their conclusions are that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the benefits and harms of these supplements with respect to prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, they did issue caution for high doses of vitamin E and beta carotene supplements.
For the most part, experts at the Linus Pauling Institute agree with these findings, as they are supported by an evidence-based review of the scientific literature on vitamin and mineral supplements.
But LPI wants to make this clear: you shouldn’t stop taking your multivitamins.
An article by Paul Offit titled “The Vitamin Myth: Why We Think We Need Supplements” has been part of the media blitz surrounding so-called negative claims of vitamin and mineral supplements.
The Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University has a different point of view – one that is based on the totality of the evidence, rather than selective claims.
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