Food supplements: a big debate

The December 2013 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine published an editorial titled “Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements.” The authors were from Johns Hopkins University and other august institutions. The researchers performed a thorough investigation of  clinical trials that tested the usefulness of supplements. Their conclusion: “We believe that the case is closed— supplementing the diet of well-nourished adults with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might even be harmful.”

On the whole, I agree with this conclusion. If you’re a normal well-fed person, you don’t need supplements. I don’t take any myself. But I have. When I started getting arthritis in my thumb, I tried glucosamine-chondroitin. I did it because a friend of mine had given it to her dogs and they stopped limping! Anyhow, I tried it for many months and noticed no difference. I have since learned that a randomized trial of more than 1,500 people showed no improvement through using this supplement.  I also tried fish oil supplements, but later found out that studies have definitively proved that it has no value. Ditto for calcium and vitamin D: they don’t reduce the risk of fractures. And so on.

But there’s still plenty of debate about this among researchers. Various studies show that some people may be deficient in certain vitamins or minerals. On the other hand, scientists also say we don’t really know the threshold for deficiency. Plus the vast genetic variation among people affects an individual’s requirements for vitamins and minerals. It’s all very complicated.

Here’s my favorite story about mineral deficiency: A man suddenly found that everything smelled and tasted either rotten or very strong. “All I could do was stand in the woods all day.” He could eat only a few things, mostly cold and white. He went to doctor after doctor until finally one figured out his problem: his saliva had no zinc in it. He was cured with a prescription for zinc sulfate. This condition, by the way, is usually triggered by a bout of flu or a stay in the hospital. Go figure.

While I don’t take any supplements, in the past I have found that a mineral supplement containing calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc. prevented muscle cramps, which, for some reason, I don’t get anymore. But my husband and friend Susan take two a day. It has reduced my husband’s cramps considerably; it has eliminated Susan’s cramps entirely. It’s called Skeletal Strength from Nature’s Sunshine.

Next week: Cartoons for the holidays (I)

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