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Are vitamin supplements really necessary?

Vitamin supplements
Posted by Dr Mortons 1 Comment

Written by Dr Michael Ryalls – Consultant paediatrician and advisor to Dr Morton’s – the medical helpline

See Dr Morton’s understand your prescription

Are vitamin supplements really necessary?

A lot of rubbish is written about how important it is for everyone to take this or that vitamin. Many people spend an unnecessary fortune on vitamin supplements from health food shops, pharmacies and on-line. The fact of the matter is that most people with a normal diet in the UK do not need to spend their money on these supplements.

A vitamin is an organic substance that is essential to bodily function, needed in very small amounts and usually can not be synthesized by the body and occurs naturally in certain foods.

It is true that there are a few groups of people for whom vitamin supplements are essential, for example, those women embarking on a pregnancy should take additional folic acid (Vitamin B9) for it’s proven beneficial effects on preventing spina biffida in their babies. While newborn babies are given vitamin K shortly after birth to prevent a condition called haemorrhagic disease which can be fatal. Children under the age of five in UK are advised to take simple ABCD supplements such as in Abidec drops though most good local pharmacies can supply more palatable forms of children’s vitamins which are suitable.

Other people who need supplements include those who have a malabsorption syndrome because of a bowel, liver or pancreatic disorder – such as cystic fibrosis – that prevents them from being able to absorb the necessary nutrients. These will be taken under instruction from their doctor or after consultation with a specialist. Some prescription drugs also necessitate the addition of vitamin supplements but again a  doctor would advise their patient accordingly. The final group consists of anyone on a restrictive diet – such as a Vegan diet – or a very fussy eater should consider taking supplements especially the young as it is difficult to maintain an adequate vitamin intake without special attention to what they eat.

Vitamin D is proving to be an interesting vitamin

 

Vitamin D is proving to be an interesting vitamin which is thought to have many important roles in the body. In addition to maintaining healthy bones and muscle strength, including the heart muscle, it also supports the immune system. In people with enough sun exposure up to 95% of the recommended daily intake is manufactured in the skin. But there’s the rub, we don’t really know how much of the body should be exposed or for how long and in what intensity of sun to achieve this.  Many sources feel that about 20 minutes of sun exposure to hands and face three times a week should be adequate but in the winter it probably needs to be longer and if using sunscreen at SPF 8 level the production is reduced by 95%. It is important not to burn and for those who rarely see the sun such as shift workers or those who conceal themselves beneath layers of clothing supplemental vitamin D should be used. Once again there is disagreement about how much should be taken but probably between 400 to 1000 units (10 – 25 micrograms) of either vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) or D3 (cholecalciferol) every day should be used.

Many claims from so called ‘health food’ manufacturers are unfounded yet people succumb to headline grabbing claims for these supplements to prolong life, stave off dementia etc. A report in The Times newspaper on 17th December highlighted the issue when commenting on a series of studies (published in Annals of Internal Medicine on the same day) involving nearly half a million people which showed that £138.6 million is spent annually on multivitamins in the UK alone. For instance, despite overwhelming evidence that vitamin C does not improve your body’s ability to cope with colds and flu people still clamour for it as a preventative measure spending £35.9 million in doing so each year.

It is true that in the world over many lives are saved by judicious use of vitamins where there is true deficiency. For instance 190 million children aged five or younger are affected by Vitamin A deficiency, this causes night blindness in it’s mildest form but accounts for 670,000 deaths each year whilst two out of every 500,000 become blind each year. These deprived populations are found mainly in the poorest parts of Africa and south east Asia.

For most of us in the developed world who have access to and eat a normal diet there are sufficient vitamins of all types within the food we eat to prevent deficiencies occurring.  Claims for prevention of cancer, dementia, the effects of old age etc by vitamin supplementation  are not proven, so SAVE YOUR MONEY.

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Tags: multivitamins, vitamin supplements

One Response

  • Janet says:
    March 6, 2015 at 2:02 PM

    Information on Vitamin D is particularly useful.

    Reply

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