Talk:Vitamin and mineral supplements/Archive1

Expand
May wish to expand this into a Category:Patent Medicines article. There are lots of great new studies showing lack of efficacy of vitamin supplements--PalMD-yada yada 08:04, 20 June 2007 (CDT)
 * Oh, what the hell...if i have time, i'll do it this evening.--PalMD-yada yada 08:39, 20 June 2007 (CDT)
 * Edgar R. Miller, III, Roberto Pastor-Barriuso, Darshan Dalal, Rudolph A. Riemersma, Lawrence J. Appel, and Eliseo Guallar

Meta-Analysis: High-Dosage Vitamin E Supplementation May Increase All-Cause Mortality Ann Intern Med, Jan 2005; 142: 37 - 46.

Does this include claims regarding Omega-3 fatty acids and brain function? I understood from my friend who works at Department of Fisheries and Oceans back east that the research so far looked really good, at least in terms of high-DHA mixes. --Kels 14:05, 29 June 2007 (CDT)

There's a lot of data on omega 3s. I'm not sure if im going to include it or not, but there is good data on omega 3s and heart disease, enough to get the FDA to approve one particular formulation for high triglycerides, and for it to be standard post, MI care in europe.162.82.215.199 15:20, 29 June 2007 (CDT)

Disclaimer
While it is a Good Thing that there is a disclaimer how this information is not fer children, I'd like to see it a bit tighter...Like "although written by a licensed medical Doctor, the information herein should not be used to self-diagnose...etc". Maybe run it by AmesG over in the law department? CЯacke ® 21:40, 29 June 2007 (CDT)
 * Well, what i wanted to do was make sure people didn't ignore their pediatricians. I don't make any pretensions that this contains medical "advice".  Since im not actually giving advice, i was hoping to avoid that kind of disclaimer.  --PalMD-yada yada 21:42, 29 June 2007 (CDT)
 * As you will. CЯacke ®  21:51, 29 June 2007 (CDT)
 * Well, I don't fucking know...I'll try to come up with something, and when Ames stops working so damn much...--PalMD-yada yada 21:53, 29 June 2007 (CDT)

Fluoride pills aka dietary flouride supplements?
What is your stance? (The reason I ask is I want to know if you concur with me that Flouride pills are unnecessary when children brush, floss, receive topical flouride treatments at the dentist, and use flouridated municiple water and toothpaste while brushing). Heart ♥  Gold tx 22:15, 29 June 2007 (CDT)
 * Data is equivocal. In children, oral fluoride supplementation is safe and effectiveif their water is devoid of fluroide, otherwise, over-ingestion can occur.  In adults, topical fluoride is more effective than ingested fluoride.  It's mostly in dental and pub health literature, as mds dont do much of this.--PalMD-yada yada 22:17, 29 June 2007 (CDT)

Isn't this article a wee bit harsh?
I realize that vitamin manufacturers often make some extravagant claims, but this article doesn't really touch on the fact that for many people, vitamin supplements are the only feasible way to get proper nutrition. I live in the Midwest where we have a small selection of food and not a lot of money. Vitamin supplements are a cheap and effective way to make up the gaps in my diet.

I understand that some are total snake oil, but if you don't expect the things to raise the dead and don't take too many, I don't see what's terribly wrong with a multivitamin supplement, assuming they don't misrepresent their ingredients.


 * Hello, fellow Midwesterner! Very few Americans have any nutritional diseases, other than obesity.  Vitamins already supplement much of our food, which is one of the reasons Midwesterners don't suffer from pellagra.  It just isn't a problem in the developed world.  That being said, there are vitamin deficiency diseases that we do see from time to time, some of which aren't that rare, but taking a multivitamin doesn't really help with those.  If you'll notice, many specific vitamins are reviewed as to their usefulness, role in disease, etc.  Vitamin D deficiency is more and more widely recognized in temperate climes.  Anyway, IMnsHO. --PalMD-If it looks like a donut, eat it 03:18, 23 November 2007 (EST)

What about athletes? I'm a journeyman professional boxer, so my body takes a lot of beating and is expected to continue performing. Wouldn't I need more vitamins than the average man and thus could benefit from some supplementation?

I have serious concerns about the tone of this article. This goes against virtually every medical doctor I've met, not to mention the FDA, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins who all list that a basic daily multi-vitiman (with Iron, for women) is an essential part to good health. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vitamins/ http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/reports/nutrition_weight_control/389-1.html (talks of dangers, but still recomends a basic daily MV.
 * Hmmmm, "essential", really? Both of those links spend more time warning about taking too many supplements.  The Harvard one recommends a basic MV+iron as "insurance" - probably insurance against a crappy, over-processed diet...  ħ uman  14:13, 24 July 2008 (EDT)

Iron
There's no information in the article (yet) about minerals, and I'm especially concerned with iron. The professor of the gen-ed human biology/medicine course I took in college claimed that people of northern European descent have trouble absorbing the iron naturally found in most food products, but that iron supplements contained a different kind of iron that's more easily absorbed by the body. Is this true at all? Metz77 (talk) 03:18, 6 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Follow-up: I asked my doctor at my last physical and he told me it's inadvisable to self-prescribe an iron supplement because, unlike with vitamins, taking too much iron can kill you.

Metz77 (talk) 07:34, 7 November 2011 (UTC)

Excess Vitamin A
... is poisonous (they say) - and it was not carrots that made WWII pilots see better at night. 171.33.197.73 (talk) 18:06, 13 November 2013 (UTC)

Study claiming not worth the money
Internet news report saying they're now worthless: RealClear.com. There's people who still need vitamins in their diets, but as a general case for people wanting a healthy lifestyle, the pills just cause expensive urine. --Sigma 7 (talk) 02:46, 17 December 2013 (UTC)