You don't need vitamin supplements if you have a good diet, study states
| Aug 6, 2019, 11:04 IST
It's no secret that in order to lead a healthy lifestyle one must also follow the right diet. Consuming the right foods can pretty much help solve any health issue. But if there's one thing that everyone these days seems to be completely dependent on, it has to be vitamin supplements. Feeling weak? Take a vitamin. Feeling drowsy? Take a vitamin. And while people think that vitamin supplements can work wonders for them, a recent study contradicts this statement.
The study found that vitamins had very less impact on heart conditions like heart diseases and didn't do much for the lifespan either. Dr Erin Michos, associate professor of medicine in cardiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and one of the paper’s co-authors stated that the study was conducted since vitamin supplement popularity was increasingly growing.
“An estimated one out of two Americans are taking some kind of supplement or vitamin,” Michos says. “For the vast majority of vitamins, we did not find any benefit, either in reduction in death or cardiovascular health.” And while all you vitamin enthusiasts might not be able to believe this, the study was conducted after combining data from separate randomised clinical trials to figure out whether vitamin supplements had any benefits for your diet and heart condition.
“This new study confirms what we’ve been thinking all along: that there are very few, if any, supplements or vitamins that people should take as long as you’re eating a healthy diet,” said Dr Jeffrey Linder who wasn't really surprised by the results. “Every time scientists have compared taking a supplement of something versus getting it through food, getting it through food wins every time.”
Dr Michos also added that while most vitamins are considered benign, that isn't always the case and people should ideally always consult a doctor before taking vitamin supplements. “People take these things without discussing them with doctors because they think they’re benign, and they can have real side effects,” Michos says.
Dr Linder, on the other hand, was also concerned about how much money people will waste unnecessarily on these supplements. “It can be hard to convince people if they feel pretty good and feel like what they’ve been doing is healthy,” Linder says. “I get their resistance, and the idea that this new study is going to make everybody drop their supplements is unrealistic, too.”
The study found that vitamins had very less impact on heart conditions like heart diseases and didn't do much for the lifespan either. Dr Erin Michos, associate professor of medicine in cardiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and one of the paper’s co-authors stated that the study was conducted since vitamin supplement popularity was increasingly growing.
“An estimated one out of two Americans are taking some kind of supplement or vitamin,” Michos says. “For the vast majority of vitamins, we did not find any benefit, either in reduction in death or cardiovascular health.” And while all you vitamin enthusiasts might not be able to believe this, the study was conducted after combining data from separate randomised clinical trials to figure out whether vitamin supplements had any benefits for your diet and heart condition.
“This new study confirms what we’ve been thinking all along: that there are very few, if any, supplements or vitamins that people should take as long as you’re eating a healthy diet,” said Dr Jeffrey Linder who wasn't really surprised by the results. “Every time scientists have compared taking a supplement of something versus getting it through food, getting it through food wins every time.”
Dr Michos also added that while most vitamins are considered benign, that isn't always the case and people should ideally always consult a doctor before taking vitamin supplements. “People take these things without discussing them with doctors because they think they’re benign, and they can have real side effects,” Michos says.
Dr Linder, on the other hand, was also concerned about how much money people will waste unnecessarily on these supplements. “It can be hard to convince people if they feel pretty good and feel like what they’ve been doing is healthy,” Linder says. “I get their resistance, and the idea that this new study is going to make everybody drop their supplements is unrealistic, too.”