Heart disease and cancer are the main reasons for death in Americans but surprisingly the vitamins that we pop in frequently do not help in prevention of these diseases, confirm the experts.
Vitamin necessary?
We follow this notion that popping the vitamins into our bodies may help us stay and live healthier but this is not so. Details collected from research studies confirm that consuming these may be just a waste of time as there is no prevention taking place.
According to Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a heart disease specialist at the University of California San Francisco, “A healthy balanced diet is critical for good health, and that’s probably the most important way that we get the nutrients that are essential.”
There are certain recommendations given by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), and according to the latest efforts put in by a group at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore, it’s the balanced diet that has it all.
The previous researches
The USPSTF has studied the results obtained from 24 studies done on independent minerals, vitamins and some functional nutrient pairs. There were no evident benefits highlighted on cancer, cardiovascular disorders or mortality. They believe that people need nutrients, but the ideal way is not to pop in a multivitamin tablet.
The researchers were harsh enough to state that, “The USPSTF concludes with moderate certainty that the net benefit of vitamin E supplementation is zero,” and beta carotene has the capability of increasing the chances of lung cancer in the people who smoke.
Pregnancy and vitamins
Vitamins may be beneficial in case of pregnant women and the positive effects of folic acid are well known. The researchers gave the verdict that the manufacturers of the Vitamins have a multibillion dollar industry in their hands and many Americans spend billions on the purchase of vitamin tablets and other mineral supplements.
They laid forth the data they had concluded along with the agreement of the American Heart Association that “fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and seafood may play a role in the prevention of cancer or cardiovascular disease. We recommend that healthy people get adequate nutrients by eating a variety of foods in moderation, rather than by taking supplements.”
It’s basically the manufacturers who make the people believe in the miracle effect of these vitamins. Their job is to market the vitamins effectively and they end up telling the average man that the vitamins are an immune booster, stress buster etc with the help of some favorite celebrities for endorsements. But that is not so if taken in large amounts they can cause damage to the liver as well.
A study done in the past on 40,000 show that the women taking supplements showed a higher chance of dying and another study discovered that chances of prostate cancer increase with Vitamin E.
According to Madelyn Fernstrom, NBC’s Diet and Nutrition Editor and a professor of psychiatry, epidemiology, and surgery at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Medicine, “Many people fool themselves into ‘bartering’ for self-selected lifestyle factors. Smokers who take vitamins to support heart health, or sun-worshippers who take antioxidant vitamins to prevent skin cancer, are only fooling themselves.”
