Do We Really Need to Take Dietary Supplements?

by Natalie Shoemaker

We are a nation obsessed with vitamins, says Catherine Price, author of Vitamania: Our Obsessive Quest for Nutritional Perfection. The reality is, she explains, that there is no magic pill (despite what Dr. Oz may tell you) vitamins are not the answer to our problems.

“Most of the things we take vitamins for don’t have much evidence behind them,” she said in an interview with PRI. “There isn’t convincing [research] showing that multivitamins will do much beyond healing serious deficiency diseases.”

Aside from warding off scurvy and other nutrition-based ailments, research has found that vitamins do little beyond that. Vitamin B12 is often touted as a supplement to boost cognition, when the research shows that promise is nothing more than snake-oil salesmanship. Even in preventative cases vitamins aren't really needed in most developed countries, as most foods (even unhealthy ones) are enriched with nutrients. In some cases, the dietary supplements you buy off the grocery shelf may do you more harm than good, which is what the New York attorney general's office found out earlier this year.

After putting the herbal supplements sold by GNC, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart under scientific review, the New York Times reported that a team of researchers said that what was actually in these little capsules was far from what the label on the bottle claimed. Some even contained traces of peanuts and soybeans, which could cause harmful allergic reactions.

So, how can people pushing vitamins get away with this false labeling? Well, according to the FDA's website, it has little control over the issue. It notes that “unlike drug products that must be proven safe and effective for their intended use before marketing, there are no provisions in the law for FDA to ‘approve’ dietary supplements … before they reach the consumer.”

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver did a great deep dive into the topic. Skip forward to 5:20 to get to the meatier part of the story. (Warning: there is use of language that some may find objectionable.)

Some supplements may very well contain what they advertise, but are they really necessary? Price says we may be over-thinking our nutritional needs.

She explains:

“If you’re worried about getting adequate nutrients, look at your diet. Just make sure you get some orange juice once in a while.”

Read more about Price's assessment of our vitamin-crazed culture at PRI.

Photo Credit: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN / Stringer/ Getty