Speaking of NyQuil: Supplements and Multivitams

This NyQuil case was a good step toward closer scrutiny of supplements, and thinking about it again, there's another misconception I'd love to address:

Not all supplements are created equal.

Those cheap, one-tablet-a-day multivitamins? You might just consider them garbage when you're talking about whether you're even absorbing any of it, whether the manufacturer is lying about how much is in them, or worse if they contain poison.

While numbers are hard to come by when you're trying to figure out how much a human body is absorbing (called "bioavailability") from a specific source and the FDA says repeatedly that it's not their responsibility to regulate, you can be sure it's a business that needs regulating, especially when it's a $22.75 billion business from last year alone (Americans spent $7.54 billion) according to Euromonitor International.

ConsumerLabs actually found that taking whatever cheap multivitamin out there can be useless or dangerous: 52 percent of the multivitamins it examined were contaminated with lead, didn't disintegrate properly, or had more or less of certain ingredients than indicated on the label.

Such is the seriousness of this matter that there is a nonprofit organization called U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) devoted to testing multivitamins and certifying ones that are safe and worth taking (this certification is displayed on the packaging).

Then, if you're thinking about taking multis even if they don't prevent the common cold because they might prevent long-term, more serious illnesses, it's no good there either. In 2006 scientists in the State of the Science Conference at the National Institutes of Health found after extensive trials that the "evidence is insufficient to prove the presence or absence of benefits from use of multivitamin or mineral supplements to prevent cancer and chronic disease."Obviously this wasn't such resounding news as year-on-year growth of multivitamin sales was higher from 2006-2007 than the year prior according to Euromonitor International. Or we didn't get the memo until the next year, which had a lower rate of YOY growth.


But if you're really bent on getting your vitamins and can't go the fruit and veggie route, get the USP certified stuff and stop drowning yourself in OJ once you're sick (not that oranges are even in the top five most Vitamin C-packed raw fruit list - Barbados cherries are first, then guavas, currants, kiwis, and longans, then lemons according to nutritiondata.com). Or more effectively, just invest in some all-natural hand-sanitizer. I would consider it more effective and safe than cultivating expensive pee and lead pills.