Jeff G:
The NY times posted this today . Its worth a read because so many people assume if you can buy it its safe . I found this particularly troubling .
But a federal law enacted in 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, prevents the Food and Drug Administration from approving or evaluating most supplements before they are sold. Usually the agency must wait until consumers are harmed before officials can remove products from stores. Because the supplement industry operates on the honor system, studies show, the market has been flooded with products that are adulterated, mislabeled or packaged in dosages that have not been studied for safety.
buginme2:
I just read this article and was going to post it also. This really is alarming and a failure of governments to properly regulate the industry.
I used to take supplements for working out. I stopped years ago. You know what, I'm in better shape now. They really don't do much of anything anyway.
Most are unnecessary placebos. I wish the government would have tighter regulations.
Ann:
--- Quote from: buginme2 on December 22, 2013, 10:27:52 am --- Most are unnecessary placebos.
--- End quote ---
And that's pretty much "official" now.
Vitamin pills are a waste of money, usually offer no health benefits and could even be harmful, a group of leading scientists has said.
A study of nearly 500,000 people, carried out by academics from the University of Warwick and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, USA, has delivered a damning verdict on the claims made by the vitamin supplement industry.
Read more here: Vitamin pills are a waste of money, offer no health benefits and could be harmful - study
I've said it before and I'll say it again; supplements are good for one thing - giving you expensive pee.
Bizkits:
Read the aforementioned study correctly and be very clear on what it's saying so that you aren't confused, or confuse others. It first states:
"Dietary supplements account for nearly 20 percent of drug-related liver injuries that turn up in hospitals, up from 7 percent a decade ago, according to an analysis by a national network of liver specialists. " The boy featured in this article had taken some kind of concentrated green tea extract pills for weight loss.
It then also states later on:
"More popular supplements like vitamins, minerals, probiotics and fish oil had not been linked to “patterns of adverse effects,” he said. "
There is a significant difference between vitamins and "[dietary] supplements". Dietary supplements, exercise and weight loss pills are DANGEROUS! They are sweeping through this country like wildfire and there is so little known about them. They are not approved by the FDA, not considered a "medication" so they cannot be regulated either. Their interactions with other medications or even actions in your body are just not known! They stake claims to rejuvination, weight loss, increased energy, better sex life, smooth skin, bla bla bla. And maybe some of the effects they claim to have are true but at what cost.
Again, though these supplements are NOT vitamins.
Ann:
Vitamins can be dangerous too - ever hear of hypervitaminosis?
And taking megadoses of things like vit C just gives you expensive pee, rather than really protecting you against anything.
If folks want to take vitamin supplements even when they probably don't actually need them, that's fine with me. I suppose someone has to line the pockets of the vitamin companies' CEOs and keep their factory minions in jobs. :)