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Supplements and Natural Nutrients
An important study which confirms it's probably better to
get the nutrients needed for good health from food rather than
supplements and pills.
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Vital Vitamin News
By WLR Dietitian
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Popping pills to boost our intakes of
vitamins and minerals
might seem like a healthy habit to get into. But according to
new research, we could actually be doing more harm to ourselves
than good.
Scientists from Denmark recently analysed a large number of
trials that looked at the role antioxidant nutrients play in
health and wellbeing.
The scientists discovered that in 47 trials, including more
than 180,000 people, those who took vitamins A and E and
beta-carotene had a five percent greater risk of dying than
those people who didn’t take supplements. Two other antioxidant
nutrients – vitamin C and selenium – didn’t appear to increase
the risk of death. But only selenium was found to have some
benefit, although the researchers believe further studies are
needed before any definite conclusions can be made.
Goran Bjelakovic who led the study, says, “Our systemic
review contains a number of findings. Beta-carotene, vitamin A
and vitamin E, given singly or combined with other antioxidant
supplements, significantly increase mortality. There is no
evidence that vitamin C may increase longevity. Selenium tended
to reduce mortality, but we need more research on this question.”
WLR says:
This is an important study and confirms that it’s probably
better to get the nutrients we need for good health from food
rather than supplements.
It’s clear that more research is needed to confirm or refute
these findings. Some scientists have said this analysis is
flawed because more than two thirds of the studies included
people with heart disease, cancer or other health problems and
it’s generally well established that antioxidants don’t actually
help to treat diseases once they already exist.
Antioxidants are natural substances found in some foods that
help to combat the effects of potentially harmful molecules
called free radicals. These free radicals are created naturally
as a side effect of metabolism but levels can increase
dramatically when we are exposed to health baddies such as
cigarette smoke or pollution.
This is bad news because free radicals have the potential to
damage cells increasing the risk of health problems, including
heart disease, cancer, cataracts, Alzheimer’s disease and even
premature ageing. That’s why experts say it’s so important to
eat plenty of foods that contain antioxidants – quite simply,
the more antioxidants we have in our diet, the more potential we
have to fight harmful free radicals.
Research shows that individual nutrients given in supplement
form are less likely to promote health when compared to the
combination of nutrients supplied by Mother Nature in whole
foods – and some studies have even shown that antioxidant
nutrients given in supplement form can actually increase the
risk of disease.
A panel of experts from the American Heart Association back
this up by concluding that to reduce the risk of heart disease
it’s better to get antioxidants from foods such as fruits and
vegetables, than from taking supplements.
There’s really no need to pop a pill when you can get all the
nutrients you need from delicious meals made with fresh,
flavoursome ingredients.
Sources of antioxidant vitamins in food:
Nutrient |
Where to find it |
Selenium
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Meat, fish, poultry, nuts and seeds
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Vitamin A
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Whole milk, cheese, butter, egg yolk, liver, oily fish
and margarine
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Beta-carotene
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Dark green vegetables like spinach and watercress, and
yellow, orange and red fruits like carrots, tomatoes, dried
apricots, sweet potatoes and mangoes
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Vitamin C
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Blackcurrants, berries, green leafy vegetables like
Brussels sprouts, cabbage, spinach and broccoli, tomatoes,
peppers, kiwi fruit, citrus fruits and their juices
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Vitamin E
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Vegetable oils, margarine, avocado, nuts, seeds, green
leafy vegetables, eggs and wholegrains
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