Should I Be Taking Vitamin Supplements?

The History of Vitamins goes back to a Japanese scientist when a vitamin complex was made from rice bran in 1910. In 1912, Dr Kazimierz "Casimir" Funk considered the Father of Vitamins published "Deficiency Disorders" particularly the following: Beri Beri a Vitamin B 1 deficiency, Scurvy a Vit C deficiency, Pellagra a Niacin deficiency and Rickets a Vit D deficiency.

In 1920 Vitamins D, E & K were discovered and soon more vitamins were being isolated and recognized for their role in preventing many deficiency diseases including the four already mentioned and even Infertility and more. It wasn't until around 1935-1940's that vitamins became commercially available. 

There are 13 essential vitamins: A, C, D, E, K and the B vitamins...B1 Thiamine, B2 Riboflavin, B3 Niacin, B5 Pantothenic Acid, B6 Pyridoxine, B7 Biotin, B9 Folate/Folic Acid, B12 Cobalamin. There are 15 essential minerals. Some sources say there are 24 essential minerals. Some say 17. There are also Trace Minerals.  There's a lot of confusion about how many minerals there are or that are needed by the human body. One thing is for sure. There is no confusion that deficiency in vitamins and minerals cause a number of varied health problems some severe and life threatening. It is commonly known that a pregnant woman should take a prenatal vitamin which is high in folate or folic acid to prevent birth defects. Not only should pregnant women take vitamins and minerals but practically everyone nowadays should be taking them on a regular basis. Many of the agricultural soils have been depleted of the natural occurring vitamins and minerals so they add artificial chemical fertilizers that created a topic of debate. Nothing is as good as NATURE. And now that we have GMO genetically modified organisms and the decades of pesticides and herbicides used that too has created more controversy and continues to be debated. I think the science is pretty clear now that the use of those toxic chemicals has caused cancer in humans, contamination of water sources and contributed to the destruction of our planet. But have those hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties and fines taught us anything? So some people died and many are sick but oh well....it's the cost of doing business. You can still buy Round Up at Home Depot, Lowes etc. This is one reason we as the owners of our bodies need to educate ourselves and not trust doctors, the government to tell us what is safe or not. We've been lied to for long enough!! Milk does a Body Good.....not if you're lactose intolerant...Fat Free Sugar Free is better for you.....says who? The companies profiting from you buying their crap! Enough!! 

Back to Vitamins....which are better? Chemical synthetic vitamins or whole food vitamins? That debate would take a few pages at least so I'm not going there. I will say this... I think both are good. But you really need to avoid the synthetic ones that have dyes, artificial colors, flavors, talc, carnuba wax and other unnecessary ingredients. some scientists say they are much less absorbable by the body and I would agree. Nature really knows what it's doing. Many studies that have been done have reported that there are benefits while other studies have shown no benefit. Clearly the studies are inconclusive and I even question how good are the studies? Did they take into account factors such as what type of diet do these people eat? Do they smoke? Drink alcohol? How much and how often? Do they exercise? I have often wondered who comes up with the studies and how are they designed. 

The Vitamin Industry is a $50 Billion a year industry. It is also not very well regulated which lends to much fraud and deception. Online sales have skyrocketed. But are you getting what the label says? Many investigations have found that as much as one third of vitamins sold are fake and those that were real are poor quality.