Do You Believe These Vitamin Myths?

by GiGi

taking-vitamins A recent article in Fitness Magazine talks about multi vitamins and other supplements. Having done a lot of online research for my various articles, I tend to take everything I read or see on TV with a grain (or pound) of salt. See this article: My Rant About Research

But I do find it refreshing that after years of reading “You don’t need to take vitamins – you should get everything you need from your food”, the mainstream media is finally starting to admit that it’s impossible to get all the nutrients you need from food sources – at least in this modern world.

Remember that this is Fitness Magazine -geared towards women and usually younger women – so they are assuming you are trying to diet and exercise and lead a somewhat healthy lifestyle.

Here’s some interesting facts they came up with:

Almost half the women under age 40 don’t take a multivitamin (according to the CDC).
More than 90% of women don’t meet their vitamin & mineral requirements through diet alone.
Vigorous workouts raise your vitamin requirements, so you need to supplement even more.
Taking a multivitamin may help cancel out the breast cancer risk incurred by drinking alcohol – really?

And here’s some common myths about vitamins. True or False?

1. That bright yellow in your urine is just “expensive pee” – you’re urinating away the nutrients.

False. It’s a healthy sign that your body is metabolizing the B vitamins in your multivitamin.

2. Athletes should take extra B vitamins.

False. Actually they qualified this by explaining that you should just make sure your multi has at least 100% of the B vitamins and folic acid. But yes, intense exercise DOES increase your need for B vitamins.

3. Working out puts you at special risk for vitamin D deficiency.

True. Over half of women don’t get enough Vitamin D, but athletes also seem to have low levels.

4. Can I overdose on vitamins if I also eat fortified cereal?

True. According to them, you could get too much folic acid.

They then went on to talk about finding the right vitamin and what to look for in your vitamin. I must admit, I really lost interest when I read that “The highest quality products tend to be store brands from major chains – Target, Walmart and RiteAid.”

Here’s another opinion on what you should be looking for in your vitamins: Vitamin Report

I didn’t agree with everything in the article (but then, I’m no expert), but I am glad to see mainstream media is finally agreeing that we aren’t getting enough vitamins.

Here are my recommendations for multivitamins. There are plenty of other really good ones. Which ones do you take?

POPS Whole Food Vitamins

Purity’s Perfect Multi

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Filed Under: Supplements
Tagged: B Vitamins, do you believe these vitamin myths, fitness magazine, multi vitamins, vitamin, Vitamin D, Vitamin D deficiency, vitamin myths, vitamins, whole food vitamins

Comments

8 Responses to “Do You Believe These Vitamin Myths?”

darya on March 18th, 2009 4:08 pm

I think this is a difficult topic. One problem is that too often people think a multivitamin that can substitute for a healthy diet, which is absolutely not true. You would be surprised what a prevalent position this is in medical students I talk to here at UCSF.

Also, I worry about the fact that supplement studies have so often been disappointing in replicating foods that contain similar amounts on nutrients.

That being said, I take a multivitamin and vitamin D myself because I am not convinced the trials so far have been sensitive enough to detect subtle benefits of multivitamins.

Thanks for the interesting discussion
GiGi on March 18th, 2009 4:13 pm

Thanks for the comment, Darya. REALLY? Med students have that opinion?? That’s amazing!

I thought the idea of a supplement was “in addition to” not “instead of” a healthy diet.
residential cleaning on March 30th, 2009 10:57 pm

I am very glad to know that it’s a healthy sign that your body is metabolizing the B vitamins in your multivitamin
Custom Term Paper on April 2nd, 2009 3:42 am

I didn’t agree with everything in the article but I am glad to see mainstream media is finally agreeing that we aren’t getting enough vitamins.
anti aging on April 27th, 2009 10:09 pm

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Drug Rehab on September 16th, 2009 2:51 pm

Very informative post. Some are really interesting to think that I have the wrong notion all along about post number 4. I think I better consult a nutritionist to make changes in her prescriptions as I can’t live without my fave cereal.
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cliftonsmiles on January 8th, 2010 9:11 pm

I am glad to see mainstream media is finally agreeing that we aren’t getting enough

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heath addict on January 25th, 2010 2:17 am

For me it is best to get our vitamins naturally from food but there are times when this isn’t enough and we have to go for supplements to supply the needs of our body. Thanks for sharing about this vitamin myths, especially regarding the vitamin D deficiency when exercising, i should check out more about that.