Are multivitamins and other health supplements good for you?

In this podcast, we’re going to talk about vitamins and supplements. Sometimes, health supplements are discredited because they’re not regulated by the FDA the same way as pharmaceuticals, but it's important to understand the relationship between the FDA and pharmaceutical companies.

People often become employees of the FDA to secure a much higher-paying career at a pharmaceutical company. This plays a major role in the approval of drugs.

Many drugs are approved without enough evidence of safety. Overall, supplements are generally recognized as safe.

In 1989, a dozen people allegedly died from taking L-tryptophan. L-tryptophan is an amino acid that helps you sleep, has an anti-depressive factor, and curbs cravings. The problem arose from a contaminated batch of L-tryptophan that was made using genetically modified bacteria. There was a recall, and the FDA banned the supplement for 16 years.

Synthetic vitamins are much cheaper than natural vitamins but do not have the same effects on the body. Around ⅔ of vitamins come from raw materials made in China, all of which are synthetic, industrially-made compounds.

There are several reasons why we need vitamins and supplements and why some people need them more than others. The following factors will increase the need for vitamins and supplements:

• Food is grown in poor soils or hydroponically

• Genetics

• Chronic inflammation

• Frequent exercise

• Seed oil consumption

• Grain consumption

• Veganism

• Fasting

We have a very high need for some vitamins and minerals that require a large consumption of certain foods to achieve adequate intake. For example, you need 4700 mg of potassium each day.

Some deficiencies can be dangerous. Deficiencies in folate can mimic the same damage to your DNA as radiation.

DATA:

https://www.nemsn.org/Articles/truth_...

https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7...

https://www.spglobal.com/commodityins...

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24088...