Multivitamins have been on the market since the early 1900’s. The companies who introduced these tablets went on a vigorous marketing campaign showing how people lack the intake of the full range of multivitamins. At the time, these studies were accurate since most of the population did not have access to a rich variety of food in their diet. Recent studies however, show a few disturbing facts concerning the intake of multivitamin supplements.
The first problem comes from digestion. Surveys of sewage plants revealed an alarming number of undigested multivitamin tablets. Bless the man’s soul who needed to go through all the muck to get his point across. The point is, vitamins are microscopic, and in order for us to take them as a tablet, pharmaceutical companies use “fillers” to give them substance. The filler material digests differently in different people. The vinegar test is a good way to show this problem, tablets taking longer than fifteen minutes to dissolve in a glass of vinegar, will probably not digest properly in the stomach. Consequently, there are half digested pills, half-absorbed vitamins and a waste of money.
Wasted money is one thing, but when vitamins cause harm, people should rethink the value of taking them. In the “Journal of the American Medical Association,” they warn that antioxidant vitamins increases death by sixteen percent. The National cancer Institute warns against taking two multivitamins a day as this increases the risk of prostate cancer. Further studies showed the sad truth about increased vitamin C intake. This anti-oxidant does nothing to speed up recovery from colds and flu, and has no real value as a cold preventative. Excess vitamin B complex can cause heart disease and heart attacks. Excess Vitamin E can lead to bleeding.
Surely, there are laws in place to protect the consumer against taking too much vitamins – there is, “Recommended Daily Allowance or RDA. However, these laws and guides do not take into account the vitamin-enriched foods available on supermarket shelves. Read the label of a vitamin supplement bottle, and then read the labels of the food consumed for the day. The results are shocking. Most processed foods are vitamin enriched to make them seem healthier. Adding all these additional multivitamin sources plus the supplement, plus the vitamins gained from natural food together, quickly shows the problem - excessive vitamin intake.
Excess vitamin intake conversely does not pass harmlessly through the body in the form of dark yellow urine. The body absorbs these excesses as well and these overload the natural systems and causes damages instead of repairs. When results show excess can cause death, cancers, and diseases, the time has come to take these warning seriously.
Is there another avenue to supplement the body without running the risk of excess vitamin intake? On the other hand, the body should not suffer from vitamin deficiency either - which also has its dangers? Will there ever be a point where we will get straight answers? Vitamins and minerals are essential for life and health. If they are for life then the obvious conclusion is for them to come from life.
The Harvard Medical school’s health publications bring a hopeful answer. Following a varied, balanced diet will supply all our vitamin and mineral needs, without the need for supplements. Only one vitamin does not come from food - Vitamin D. This comes from the sun on the skin. Office workers who do not get into the sun should take a vitamin D supplement. All other vitamins come from the natural foods consumed. The Harvard paper states there are nutrient-dense foods, which contain all and enough vitamins and minerals.
The following list of foods has to be in your diet for their vitamin and mineral density. (They are not the only foods to eat though)
- Avocados
- Chard, collard greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach
- Bell peppers
- Brussels sprouts
- Mushrooms (crimini and shiitake)
- Baked potatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Cantaloupe, papaya, raspberries, strawberries
- Low-fat yogurt
- Eggs
- Seeds (flax, pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower)
- Dried beans (garbanzo, kidney, navy, pinto)
- Lentils, peas
- Almonds, cashews, peanuts
- Barley, oats, quinoa, brown rice
- Salmon, halibut, cod, scallops, shrimp, tuna
- Lean beef, lamb, venison
- Chicken, turkey
(from: http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/HB_web/can-you-get-all-your-nutrients-from-food-alone.htm)
Consider this, our ancestors never had mineral tablets, but they ate natural food, and they lived long and happy lives. Our fast-food lifestyle is the cause of vitamin deficiency. Yet, the world’s answer to this deficiency (multivitamins) forced us into a state of vitamin excess. The answer to the vitamin dilemma for this modern age is eating real food. Variety of food however, is the essential ingredient to full vitamin intake.
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