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The browser doesn't support IFrames. RW Daily Wait… Now Vitamins Are Bad for You? -----------------------------------
Mark Remy Warning tape OK, that's it. I give up.
I've been very patient for a very long time, when it comes to health researchers and their knack for contradicting one another, flip-flopping, and generally confusing the hell out of the general population. You know what I'm talking about: "This pill is good for you; wait, no it isn't"… "High fructose corn syrup is the devil; oh, sorry, actually it's fine"… "Eat more kumquats; whoops, kumquats cause brain cancer"…
Most folks read this sort of stuff and develop mental whiplash. Before
long, they just tune it all out. Not me. I'd always paid attention to
health and fitness research, even if I took it with a grain of salt
("Avoid salt; oh, wait, only if you have hypertension"…), and tried to
use the results of new studies to lead a smarter, healthier life.
Until yesterday. That's when I saw this actual, non-Onion headline:Vitamins 'Undo Exercise Efforts' Oh, COME. ON. Seriously? The men's multi I've been taking each night is going to "undo" whatever run I did that day?
The explanation, from BBC.co.uk: Some advocate taking antioxidants like vitamin C and E to help protect the body from harmful chemical by-products it creates in breaking into a sweat.
But German scientists now believe these "free radicals" may actually be good for us and even buffer against diabetes… . And mopping them up with antioxidants may do more harm than good.
Aaaaand… I'm done. Sorry, health researchers, but I am now officially dusting off my hands and walking away from health research. Good luck, and take care. At the rate you're going, I'm afraid I'll wake up one morning and see a headline like this: Study Links Smiling, Oral Cancer
And I'm afraid that really would push me over the edge. So, that's that. I'll keep running, of course. I'll eat a reasonably healthy diet, including some grilled meat (carcinogen! probably!) here and there. I'll enjoy a few beers, laugh whenever possible, and — yes — pop my daily multivitamin.
Wish me luck. 1. Matt says: 2009/05/ at 8:49 am
Sorry Mark, but in a recent study ‘wishing luck’ was linked to a direct decrease in overall physical exertion limits. I think it was a German study. I could wish you luck but I don’t want to take away from your running… :-) 2. jenella says: 2009/05/ at 8:59 am
Eat right. Exercise. Laugh as much as you can. Laugh even louder at all the research that gives you the whip lash… 3. Jenny says: 2009/05/ at 9:04 am
I’ve heard that life can result in death. Better watch out for that one. :p 4. Noreen says: 2009/05/ at 9:28 am
bwahahahaha . . . ’nuff said, the best advice is live, laugh, love . . and of course, run! 5. Shannon says: 2009/05/ at 9:40 am
I too get confused by all the heath research contradictions so I have decided to adopt the following mantra…” Everything in moderation” 6. Colin says: 2009/05/ at 10:24 am
Has anyone found the actual study that the BBC references? From what I can tell they don’t give a citation. 7. Running Doc says: 2009/05/ at 10:24 am
A major part of Medical School is learning HOW to read research. What to take away from an individual study. The waffling comes from those who mis-read the significance of the reseach. The anti-oxidants in daily vitamins are enough to do good and not enough to do the harm megadoses could (emphasis on could) do. So take your vitamins and know the anti-oxidants in normal doses are truly helping you! 8. Karl says: 2009/05/ at 10:37 am
I believe I’ve seen studies in New England Journal that indicate vitamin E by itself doesn’t do the same effect as vitamin E from the food source. Science still has a ways to go. 9. Nehal Kazim says: 2009/05/ at 10:48 am
hahaa. I like this one by Jenella, “I’ve heard that life can result in death. Better watch out for that one” I would have to completely agree with you as scientists and researches reveal information to the public that contradicts findings in the past and that’s ok as we “might be moving forward”. But, two weeks later there’s another one contradicting it. This is not good for the health industry including its consumers. 10. Adam Man says: 2009/05/ at 11:05 am
One of the problems with a statement like “Vitamin C is good for you” is that it’s too much of a blanket statement… The issue of whether something is “good” or “bad” is far from black and white. There are about 10^23 or so shades of gray. The best example of this is water – not enough and you’re in trouble, too much and you’re in trouble. And even having the right amount makes you go to the bathroom a lot… Like you said, it’s best to take these kinds of studies with a grain of salt (and a multivitamin). Our bodies are so much more complex than we really acknowledge and it’s going to be a long, long time before we fully understand every single interaction and process going on in them. 11. Mike says: 2009/05/ at 11:13 am
This is a great example of the danger of combining ignorance with journalistic laziness. Generally speaking, different medical research DOESN’T contradict. Instead, reporters are ignorant of the basic biomedical concepts and too lazy to do the research necessary to even find the original research articles, let alone read and understand them. It’s one reason the MSM is dying. 12. Zach says: 2009/05/ at 11:52 am
I think you are right Mark, these report really do get old after a while. I feel as long as I am eating healthy, running, and just as many runners do, taking my daily multi, I will be just fine! 13. Joe says: 2009/05/ at 11:55 am
I regularly consult with a nutritionist who simply tells me that a multivitamin is fine but not entirely effective. Obtaining vitamins from natural sources (i.e. foods that are high in that particular kind of vitamin – oranges and vitamin C, for example) increases the benefit you receive from that vitamin (versus getting it from a multivitamin). Clearly, there is a missing link in our understanding of the relationship between foods we eat, the nutrients they contain, and the way our body processes them. Even if that isn’t so, we certainly have some difficulty in replicating that process through multivitamins. Might as well save your money and just eat more fruits and vegetables. 14. tm13 says: 2009/05/ at 12:38 pm
This is too funny. I have long been against taking vitamins because I felt they were an unecessary expense because I apparently was getting all my nutrients from eating healthy. I’d been reconsidering it lately because I increased my running and I just bought my first bottle of vitamins this very morning…and now this. I’m done too! I’m just doing everything in moderation! 15. Kay says: 2009/05/ at 1:03 pm
I agree! Sick of all the back and forth too. Time to just do what feels right…at my pace…for my own reasons! 16. Sue says: 2009/05/ at 3:53 pm
Yesterday, I read an article in the phila inquirer that said most medical research that is reported is grossly exagerated and the research is usually based on poor data or sampling techniques. The article went on to say that this conclsuion was not actually based on any news releases, merely the front page of research reports. hmmm…… 17. matt says: 2009/05/ at 4:23 pm
I’m waiting for the day they tell us drinking purified water is bad for us. I’m sure that day is in the not too distant future. 18. MelKel says: 2009/05/ at 4:55 pm
As mentioned before…living causes death – it’s inevitable, may as well enjoy life as it comes. And haven’t you heard?!?!?! Purified water is now bad for us – it originates from tap water – probably some California thing…blah blah blah :-) 19. tite says: 2009/05/ at 5:18 pm
aren’t you happy for the money you save, along with your health and time (to get pills)?! In Italy we knew…!! 20. amanda says: 2009/05/ at 6:38 pm
They’ve already shown purified water to be bad for us. Kids have worse teeth now because they aren’t getting the flouride that is in unpurified water. 21. mike says: 2009/05/ at 10:57 pm
Not an informative article. I would have preferred a summary of the research rather than this commentary. the human body is complex. just because we don’t have the answers doesn’t mean we should stop asking questions. Ignorance leads to religion. We don’t need more of that crap. Stick to the fact next time. Please. 22. Ignorant Relgious Runner says: 2009/05/ at 4:50 am
Mike, Lack of religion leads to pompous “educated” fools who think they know everything and aren’t afraid to let everyone else know it. 23. Alan Bryant says: 2009/05/ at 4:03 pm
I wish these people that research all this material would spend more time doing work on the worlds most deadly plagues. When these companies start curing diseases then Ill be impressed. Take your vitamines!!!!! 24. J says: 2009/05/ at 6:52 pm
That’s why nutritional guidelines are published every few years that review ALL the literature and rank the evidence. You can’t change your behavior every time a new study comes out (and some of them are not good studies). I think ‘everything in moderation’ and ‘eat fruits and vegetables’ will pretty much keep you healthy, though. 25. Rebekah says: 2009/05/ at 7:28 pm
When humans start messing around with nature, we have problems. Always. Don’t give up on research, just take it with a grain of salt. Your body knows what it needs, so don’t stress too much. Eat a healthy, balanced diet of minimally processed foods and you’ll be quite fine. P.s. You can skip the vitamin, too :) 26. Jacob says: 2009/05/ at 10:14 pm
Not so fast . . . “Vitamin” is a twentieth century concept. Nutrients identified in food stuffs a being essential — what is the importance of blindness, scury, ostoperosis, ect. Certian vitamins (and other chemical substances) are identified as being “anti-oxidants”. Ever wonder why they would sell iron free formulations? Because iron is an “oxidant” (not the only one — it usually goes one way or the other — but it carries the oxigen anyways). SO I would ask myself who is selling who. Vitamin manufactures have little profit margin. And few lawyers. And eat those whole foods. Chances are they are fortified with “vitamins” already. 27. Jacob says: 2009/05/ at 10:14 pm
Not so fast . . . “Vitamin” is a twentieth century concept. Nutrients identified in food stuffs a being essential — what is the importance of blindness, scury, ostoperosis, ect. Certian vitamins (and other chemical substances) are identified as being “anti-oxidants”. Ever wonder why they would sell iron free formulations? Because iron is an “oxidant” (not the only one — it usually goes one way or the other — but it carries the oxigen anyways). SO I would ask myself who is selling who. Vitamin manufactures have little profit margin. And few lawyers. And eat those whole foods. Chances are they are fortified with “vitamins” already. 28. Cat says: 2009/05/ at 1:34 am
While I do think it is important to keep myself informed, I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve always been doing…I will listen to what is being said, but ultimately, if something makes me feel noticably better, I will keep doing it. I feel noticably better when I take certain vitamins. The end. 29. Christina says: 2009/05/ at 10:09 pm
So this is a really old post, but I saw this web comic today and had to laugh, thinking back to this post on recent vitamin studies. Take your news with a grain of salt, kids! http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1174 30. willieg says: 2009/06/ at 1:23 pm
I’ve been leary of the anti-oxidant/free radical hysteria from the get-go. I mean, every single oxygen-metabolising lifeform that has every existed on this planet, from day 1, has produced and lived in harmony with “free radicals”. The idea that they might actually have a POSITIVE effect, and perhaps even be a necessary feature of life in our atmosphere is no surprise to me. Just look at what the experts were telling us about lactic acid circa 1977. I remember my track coach back then telling us that lactic acid molecules were hook-shaped and latched into muscle tissue, causing micro-tears that then were the basis of pretty much every injury we could manage to inflict upon ourselves. Finally, I trust German, and European research in general more when it comes to something like this. They seem more objective and lees apt to work harder to find ways of confirming that, yes, popping those pills is the best answer to everything. A “suplement” is only necesary if you have a doc--entable deficit which can not be balanced out through a good diet. And those cases are RARE, they should be the exception and not the rule as it stands in the US. Leave a Comment
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