Vitamin and mineral supplements

The internet is full of misinformation about vitamin supplements and mineral supplements. Hopefully this page can make things clear.

First and foremost,
Synthetic vitamins are as effective as the vitamins found in food, when it comes to health. Same for minerals.

FAQ

"So you're saying that eating an orange is the same as popping a vitamin C tablet?"

No, of course not. Fruits have other nutrients besides vitamin C.

But it does mean, for example, that if you want to eat a local diet, and your country only grows apples, not oranges, it's perfectly reasonable to eat an apple and take a piece ofa piece, because typically a chewable vitamin C tablet has 500mg, while a large orange has about 100mg. More isn't harmful, but not particularly useful either. See other FAQs below. a vitamin C tablet along with it (apples don't have very much vitamin C compared to oranges).

"So you're saying we don't need food and we can just live off pills?"

No. Not everything you need can fit in a pill.

A typical multivitamin pill has 100% the recommended daily intake of some nutrients - but for other nutrients, that would be impossible:

If you tried to make a pill with 400mg magnesium, 700mg phosphorous, 1000mg calcium, 1500mg sodium and 4700mg potassium, the pill would be the size of your finger and impossible to swallow! And then you still need protein, fiber, essential fatty acids, and it helps to have some miscellaneous antioxidants (usually found in vegetables and other plants).

It would be awfully impractical to get everything from supplements. But it's also quite hard to get everything from food alone. Best to take a hybrid approach (which btw can also save a lot of money).

"But I heard that the body doesn't even absorb synthetic vitamins, and you're just making expensive urine?"

Not true.

The body absorbs as much as it needs, and it gets rid of the rest. This is true for both food and supplements.

For water-soluble vitamins (B vitamins and vitamin C), this can be quite noticeable, as it's common for a pill to have more than the recommended daily intake (which isn't harmful, but also not particularly useful(...)( although it can be somewhat helpful if you're currently deficient in some vitamin and need to "catch up" )). Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) is bright yellow and noticeable in urine.

"But what about the old 'supplementation has no measurable benefits' studies?"

Those were based on trying to supplement specific nutrients beyond the recommended daily intakes, to see if that could help treat specific diseases. And it didn't; true.

The body needs about 30 different vitamins and minerals. Supplementing one or two in larger-than-needed amounts will of course not do much for health.

Still, that doesn't change the fact that a multivitamin can provide a lot the nutrients that are hard to get from food.

"But what about the old 'calcium supplements clog your arteries' studies?"

Those were based on total calcium intakes chronically above 2400mg/day (i.e. above the tolerable upper level) which would be harmful from food as well.

The recommended daily intake of calcium is 1000mg/day (or 1300mg/day for some people). Getting this amount, no matter if it's from food or supplements, has never been found to be harmful.

"Are you really sure about all of this?"

Yes. Vitamins were discovered specifically because they work.

Scientific understanding of a vitamin comes from multiple points of evidence combined:

Some people were suffering from a disease (i.e. scurvy).
Certain foods (i.e. citrus fruits, pine needle tea, etc) were shown to cure & prevent the disease.
A substance was discovered (i.e. vitamin C) which cures & prevents the disease.
The same substance was found in all the foods that cure & prevent the disease.
The same substance was found in all the diets of anyone who doesn't have the disease.
Some biochemical processes discovered in the human body rely on the substance.

"Why are you splitting hairs about this?"

Because there are far more cost-effective ways to eat if you allow a cheap multivitamin fill in some nutritional gaps. Especially with today's food prices, people need to know this.

FAQ