{"id":789,"date":"2011-11-02T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2011-11-02T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=789"},"modified":"2012-03-03T12:33:39","modified_gmt":"2012-03-03T17:33:39","slug":"to-take-or-not-to-take-supplements-this-is-the-still-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/11\/to-take-or-not-to-take-supplements-this-is-the-still-the-question.html","title":{"rendered":"To Take or Not to Take Supplements: This is the Still the Question"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been reading a number of articles and recent studies on whether or not multivitamins and dietary supplements help us.\u00a0 I spend money on supplements and believe they have benefit. The supplement industry is certainly booming! But the question is, do all these pills really help us? And is there a placebo effect (we think they help so we feel better!) to taking these supplements?<\/p>\n<p>Two large scale human studies published in October in leading medical journals indicated that the supplements don&#8217;t do much and may even be harming us. The studies point out that if you don&#8217;t have a specific nutrient deficiency or chronic illness, you may be wasting your money and adding a health risk.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/archinte.ama-assn.org\/cgi\/content\/short\/171\/18\/1625\">The first study <\/a>found one supplement that improved mortality in older postmenopausal women &#8211;calcium.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/health.universityofcalifornia.edu\/2011\/10\/11\/increased-prostate-cancer-risk-from-large-doses-of-vitamin\/\">The second study<\/a> looked at vitamin E and selenium supplementation in men. The claim that Vitamin E prevents prostate cancer was not supported and was associated with a higher risk of prostate cancer.<\/p>\n<p>Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition at New York University says, &#8220;It&#8217;s fair to say from the research that supplements don&#8217;t make healthy people healthier.&#8221;However, researchers are still recommending dietary supplements for people with certain nutrient deficiencies, medical conditions and malnutrition. One example given was the use of folic acid supplements for pregnant women in order to reduce birth defect. Micronutrients like antioxidants (e.g., vitamin C, D and metals) can help in small amounts but too much can cause problems.<\/p>\n<p>To the lay person, these studies are confusing. To take or not to take&#8230;this is still the question.<\/p>\n<p>So,\u00a0 if you take supplements, work with a knowledgeable doctor who is up on research. He or she can look at your health and help you weed through all the data. For now,\u00a0 I don&#8217;t have answers as to what is really helpful. And in these economic times, I don&#8217;t want to waste money on unnecessary things. So if you find solid research on this topic, please pass it on. We all need more information to make informed decisions. And when the information keeps changing, it makes decision making even more difficult.<\/p>\n<p>My best advice: Work on eating a balanced diet!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been reading a number of articles and recent studies on whether or not multivitamins and dietary supplements help us.\u00a0 I spend money on supplements and believe they have benefit. The supplement industry is certainly booming! But the question is, do all these pills really help us? And is there a placebo effect (we think&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[918],"tags":[539,83,541,540,538,537],"class_list":["post-789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-relationship-to-food","tag-dietary-needs","tag-health-2","tag-multivitamins","tag-prevention","tag-supplments","tag-vitamins"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>To Take or Not to Take Supplements: This is the Still the Question<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/11\/to-take-or-not-to-take-supplements-this-is-the-still-the-question.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"To Take or Not to Take Supplements: This is the Still the Question\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I&#8217;ve been reading a number of articles and recent studies on whether or not multivitamins and dietary supplements help us.\u00a0 I spend money on supplements and believe they have benefit. The supplement industry is certainly booming! But the question is, do all these pills really help us? And is there a placebo effect (we think&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/11\/to-take-or-not-to-take-supplements-this-is-the-still-the-question.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-11-02T12:00:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-03-03T17:33:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"To Take or Not to Take Supplements: This is the Still the Question","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2011\/11\/to-take-or-not-to-take-supplements-this-is-the-still-the-question.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"To Take or Not to Take Supplements: This is the Still the Question","og_description":"I&#8217;ve been reading a number of articles and recent studies on whether or not multivitamins and dietary supplements help us.\u00a0 I spend money on supplements and believe they have benefit. 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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