Vitamin Supplements What Do Most Americans Need

Vitamin Supplements: What Do Most Americans Need. Essay, Research Paper

Vitamin supplements: What do most Americans need.

Vitamin supplements: What do most Americans need. That is the question I will be attempting to answer in the following few pages. To start, I will talk about their beginning as well as their recent growth in popularity in the past decade. I will discuss the medical views that are for and against the use of supplements, what types are most important, and what types people need. To conclude, I will tell about the supplements that I take and whether I will continue to do so.

Many years ago, there existed diseases such as scurvy, rickets, and everyday colds. These illnesses were the cause of a lot of sickness and sometimes led to other illness and death. Chemists looked everywhere for a cure. Then came the first supplement to become popularized in its uses this was vitamin C. This wonder pill was said to help the body fight colds and other sickness. With the discovery and use of these new vitamins the Food and Nutrition Board convened in 1941 to determine adequate dietary intakes of essential nutrients. At this time deficiency diseases were a common public-health problem. Since that meeting, with the process of food fortification and improved diets, these diseases have been relatively uncommon except in the poor and elderly. In 1943, the first Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) were published. (Skerrett, 25) These amounts were stated in what amounts were just enough to maintain good health, as that any more would just be excreted by the body or build up in the tissues.

Vitamin supplements have grown in popularity at a pretty constant rate since their development, but have become especially popular in recent years. The baby boomer generation that grew up on healthy diets is finding it hard to maintain that healthy lifestyle, and would rather now just pop a pill. Some experts fear that we will become dependent on these supplements and find everyone taking 50-60 different pills each day. Today, vitamin supplements are a $2 billion a year business in the United States. Even with all these wonder pills available in the market, experts still agree that foods should be the first and most appropriate source of nutrients. (Ross, 354-55)

In the past few years, the most popular supplement group has been the antioxidants-beta-carotene associated with vitamin A as well as the antioxidants in vitamin E. Antioxidants in general help clean up toxic products created by normal functions of the body’s cells. Cells use oxygen to burn their fuel and the byproducts of this process include free radicals. These are chemical compounds that combine easily with fats, proteins, and other substances in the body. (H.H.L, 1)

As far as beta-carotene’s abilities and uses go, there have been mixed reports. On one hand, these are being praised as a modern day “Fountain of Youth” saying that research was showing that it may reduce the risks of some forms of cancer, heart disease, strokes, as well as slow the aging process. The findings showed that supplement takers over the age of 65 scored better on tests of cognitive abilities such as reading and remembering maps. (Godbey, 20) In a test published by the National Cancer Institute persons who received supplements including beta-carotene had a reduced cancer rate of 13 percent below previous levels. (Antioxidants, 2) In another report by the American Heart Association, women who consumed high amounts of antioxidant containing foods had a 33 percent lower risk of heart attack and 71 percent lower risk of stroke than women who did not consume high amounts of beta-carotene. In other studies, low beta -carotene levels in smokers is highly correlated with increased risk of lung cancer and death from all cancers. Along with these helpful effects, beta-carotene is now being linked with a significantly stronger immune system that reduces infection-related illness by 50 percent. (Skerrett, 27)

The other side of the beta-carotene argument is associated to health problems in people who smoke. In a study of 18,000 smokers over a six-year period supplementing with vitamin A and beta-carotene, the cancer rate increased by 17 percent over previous levels. The main focus of the experiment, lung cancer, found an increased amount of 46 percent above previous levels. This study was halted 21 months ahead of schedule for the benefit of the subjects. One of the scientists on this study, Dr. Gary E. Goodman, had this to say: “I started taking vitamin A supplements around 1980. Later I added beta-carotene, vitamin C and vitamin E. I gave them all up when our study results came out.” In 1997, a Harvard Medical School study showed results that supplements of beta-carotene did not help prevent heart problems

After the beta-carotene problems, vitamin E is now the most popular supplement as far as looking into its possibilities. So far vitamin E has been proven to have all the same positive effects that the beta-carotene in vitamin A has, and what is more, as yet, no negative effects have been found. Dr Meir Stampfer, associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, reported to the American Heart Association that E supplements of 100 international units (IU) or more per day cut the risk of heart disease in a large group of nurses by 46 percent. One can get vitamin E in several fruits,