3 ms·

One reason to take the latter is to make sure you don't get a deficiency disease. And yet, what has started to come out (from what I understand and have read)

One reason to take the latter is to make sure you don't get a deficiency disease. And yet, what has started to come out (from what I understand and have read) is that taking a straight up multivitamin or something isn't that helpful. The general reason people seem to be finding being that the body doesn't absorb the stuff in the pill you just took very well, meaning you really aren't getting much benefit, if any, from taking said pill. Instead you would actually want to eat things that give you the vitamins and minerals that the body needs in order for it to be able to absorb those. Possibly including something such as a healthy fat which would promote absorbing the good things in stuff such as broccoli that much more. (again, from what I have read and understand) This is the possible reasoning behind the article saying taking multivitamins is marketing.

hga 12y ago
You don't need "much benefit" if the purpose is to avoid a deficiency disease, unless you're eating a really exotic diet (or have an absorption disease, but that's not in the remit of once-a-day vitamins), it's just to "top off" your normal diet. Especially since they come with instructions to take them with food to improve absorption. Any specifics on this claimed problem? Like some interacting with others, or with various foods?
TillE 12y ago
I'm not sure what specifically you could be referring to. In fact, for vegans it can be easier to sometimes take supplements that have iron and vitamin C in one package, rather than carefully preparing a meal so that you're eating both plant-derived iron and vitamin C at roughly the same time.
- brianwawok 12y ago
  Maybe the fact that a pill is needed to balance out a given diet, shows that you are using a given diet that the human body is not meant to sustain?
  - hga 12y ago
    If you're an ethical Vegan, e.g. someone who does not believe in exploiting animals for your food, then the diet being "bad" like that could be legitimately remedied by supplements.
  - Zigurd 12y ago
    > shows that you are using a given diet that the human body is not meant to sustain? In an industrialized society, you will have a difficult time finding a way of eating that can be justified as both optimally healthy and "as nature intended." By that measure the choices are bad, or less bad.

hga 12y ago

You don't need "much benefit" if the purpose is to avoid a deficiency disease, unless you're eating a really exotic diet (or have an absorption disease, but that's not in the remit of once-a-day vitamins), it's just to "top off" your normal diet. Especially since they come with instructions to take them with food to improve absorption. Any specifics on this claimed problem? Like some interacting with others, or with various foods?

TillE 12y ago

I'm not sure what specifically you could be referring to. In fact, for vegans it can be easier to sometimes take supplements that have iron and vitamin C in one package, rather than carefully preparing a meal so that you're eating both plant-derived iron and vitamin C at roughly the same time.

brianwawok 12y ago
Maybe the fact that a pill is needed to balance out a given diet, shows that you are using a given diet that the human body is not meant to sustain?
- hga 12y ago
  If you're an ethical Vegan, e.g. someone who does not believe in exploiting animals for your food, then the diet being "bad" like that could be legitimately remedied by supplements.
- Zigurd 12y ago
  > shows that you are using a given diet that the human body is not meant to sustain? In an industrialized society, you will have a difficult time finding a way of eating that can be justified as both optimally healthy and "as nature intended." By that measure the choices are bad, or less bad.