Vitamin scams?

[Kevin]

I heard a commercial on the radio the other day for an "Acid free" vitamin C supplement. Since Vitamin C is actually ASCORBIC ACID it left me wondering how this could be honest advertising. Alternative medicine is a huge business and I'd say about 90% of it is bogus from what I've seen. Study after study has shown that more times than not any benefit you derive from 'alternative therapies' are mainly psychological.

Now I'm not saying that medicine is 100% the only way to go. It's just with all of the snake oil salesmen out there how do you know what's real and what's not? It seems like any schmuck with a few hundred dollars can get a Doctorate in nutrition from some bogus university that just wants to get them in as part of some multilevel marketing scheme.

What are ya'll's takes on this?

[Dionysus]

Well, since a lot (maybe all) of alternative medicine hasn't been approved by the FDA there's really no sure way to know if it works until you try it yourself. And, like you said, even when you think it is working, it may only be psychological.

I have experimented with several types of supplements and didn't get a lot of benefits, if any, except for one, I'm positive that a certain supplement I take helps my super dry skin.

A consumer just has to research and experiment.

[33girl]

One of my friends is a chemist and she gets LIVID on this topic....

Basically, before you take anything that's a "natural" remedy, look at the ingredients in it and research it on your own. Some things that purport to be great for you can have the opposite effect.

[CarolinaCutie]

In general, certified nutritionists believe in the power of FOOD... you shouldn't NEED to take a vitamin supplement of any kind because you are eating a well-balanced, healthy diet which provides all the vitamins and minerals your body needs. Most supplements offer a concentration of vitamins that is completely unneccessary and could do great harm when taken in excess. People tend to believe, "More is better" and that is NOT the case with vitamin supplements.

Whether or not the Vitamin C supplement is actually acid-free or not... eat an orange

[Lady Pi Phi]

Originally posted by CarolinaCutie
...Whether or not the Vitamin C supplement is actually acid-free or not... eat an orange

She's right. It's better to eat an orange to get your vitamin C because too vitamin C much can kill you. Too much of anything can kill you. Besides, an orange tastes better.

However, I do believe that there are probably some natural remedies that do have healing properties. Afterall, where did original medicine come from? From nature. But since homeopathic remedies and alternative medicince is not regulated by any North American government natural medicines may be diluted to save the manufacturer money. You never know what you're really getting and many products may not have the ingredient that is the healing product.

[Kevin]

Originally posted by CarolinaCutie


Whether or not the Vitamin C supplement is actually acid-free or not... eat an orange

Oh I wasn't considering ordering this stuff. I think it was $59.99 for 100 pills

Just kind of making fun of a pill that claims they have "acid free" ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)

[KSig RC]

It's difficult to draw the line between "snake oil" and actual medicinal benefit - for example, the entire "physical therapy" dept. at your university would have been considered hocus pocus by the allopathic community just a decade or so ago.

Acid-free Vitamin C is definitely something else, though . . . hysterical

[astroAPhi]

Hmmm I take supplements because I don't get enough calcium. Milk kinda makes me queasy so I don't care to drink it alone. Since I'm trying to get back in shape because I made the varsity soccer team, I'm not going to stick chocolate in there or something.

How much is too unhealthy? Like I probably take in no more than 120% of the daily allowance for calcium (without the supplement, I'd get getting about 30%). And in terms of vitamins, I stick to mostly protein, so I'm not sure as to how much vitamins I'm actually getting.

Just curious, because I'd like to make sure that I'm not doing more harm than good to myself.

[Dionysus]

AstroAPhi,

I'll say as a rule of thumb, no more than 100% of the RDA (Recommened Daily Allowance). Toxicity varies from vitamin/mineral to vitamin/mineral. For example, anything above 100% RDA of iron is too much (unless your doctor says otherwise), on the other hand you can take megadoses of Vitamin B12 and it won't harm you that much. So you'll have to do some research.

[astroAPhi]

Well, in general, I probably don't take in a lot of iron so I'm probably safe on that front at least.

Geesh, I wish everything had a little sticker on it like vending machine food. That way I could actually keep track of this stuff instead of guessing.

[CarolinaCutie]

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for calcium in women ages 19-30 is 1,000 milligrams per day. Calcium intake does not become toxic until it reaches 2,500 milligrams a day. Calcium supplements are generally considered by nutritionists as an adequate way to meet your daily dose... However, keep in mind that calcium absorption is inhibited when over 500 milligrams are taken at one time (like in a supplement). It's far better to take small doses of calcium throughout the day.

So milk makes you queasy... OK. Cheeses, yogurt, sardines or fish with the bones still in them (OK yeah that's a little gross), and leafy green vegetables like spinach all have good amounts of calcium. Another really great idea is to drink fortified orange juice... it has 200-300 milligrams of calcium. But if you can't do any of that, calcium supplements in the right amount are not going to hurt you.

LOL sorry for that burst of info... I'm a Nutrition major


Oh, and KTsnake, I never thought that you were actually interested in buying this "miracle product" I just meant people in general should eat oranges... because they are MMM good

[James]

The easiest way to think of vitamins is to think about food.

Vitamins are concentrated food products.

So you get more Vitamin C in a 1000mg capsule than you do in a couple glasses of orange juice or from several oranges.

Different Vitamins and Minerals have different effects in the body. think of them as co-factors. They can often expedite biochemical functions.

The debate ranges between the people that claim that you do/can get all the nutrients you need from a reasonably standard American Cuisine, and the belief that extra supplementation will give an added bonus.

IS more better?

It would make sense that a serious athlete would need much more nutrients than a couch potato.

Or that someone recovering from an illness may have special needs.

And there have been some pretty compelling studies to show that at least at certain times and under certain conditions vitamins can make a big difference.

I take mine on faith .

[astroAPhi]

Thank you CarolinaCutie, that helps! I think I'm only taking in 500 mg with my supplements, but if not, I'll break them in half and spread them throughout the day.

I just never know what is in everything unless it has a nutrional content label on it.