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Most popular vitamin and mineral supplements provide no health benefit, study finds
The most commonly consumed vitamin and mineral supplements provide no consistent health benefit or harm, suggests a new study led by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto.
Published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the systematic review of existing data and single randomized control trials published in English from January 2012 to October 2017 found that multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium and vitamin C -- the most common supplements -- showed no advantage or added risk in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke or premature death. Generally, vitamin and mineral supplements are taken to add to nutrients that are found in food.
"We were surprised to find so few positive effects of the most common supplements that people consume," said Dr. David Jenkins*, the study's lead author. "Our review found that if you want to use multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium or vitamin C, it does no harm -- but there is no apparent advantage either."
The study found folic acid alone and B-vitamins with folic acid may reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke. Meanwhile, niacin and antioxidants showed a very small effect that might signify an increased risk of death from any cause.
What about people who would otherwise eat an incredibly nutrient-deficient diet (e.g. junk food, rice, bread, pasta, french fries, hot dogs, etc.)?
Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals for CVD Prevention and Treatment (DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.04.020) (DX)
(Score: 1) by jjr on Wednesday May 30 2018, @01:04PM (1 child)
I have also vitamin D deficiency (but not sure if it's D3 as yours). In my case it's caused by a benign tumor (adenoma) in one of my parathyroid glands, causing calcium to pile up in my blood instead of attaching to my bones. The tumor causes the gland to go overdrive and leaves me out of vitamin D and a lot of calcium to deal with. All I needed for the diagnose was a blood test (showing the amount of calcium in blood, this raised the alarm), echography (to check thyroids, parathyroids and kidneys) and a radiography with radioactive contrast to determine which of the 4 parathyroid glands were malfunctioning. I also took a densiometry to check the status of my bones.
Aside taking calciferol to compensate, the only solution is surgery to remove the tumor, but right now the numbers from the blood test don't qualify me yet for intervention, since my bones are ok and I have no kidney stones yet. In 6 months I'll undergo another blood test to see if I can get the surgery.
(Score: 2) by rondon on Monday June 04 2018, @03:31AM
Jesus Christ this is fucked. Obvious problem, obvious solution, can't obtain solution because...?
I don't know the answer to the problem that JJR just presented, but I do know one solution that isn't working - private insurance.