WEBVTT - Do Supplemental Vitamins Actually Work? 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:03.880 I'm Kristin Conger and I'm Caroline Irvan, and we're hosts 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:06.720 of the podcast Stuff Mom never told you That gets 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:10.200 down to the business of being women from every imaginable angle. 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:14.400 That's right. Kristen and I skillfully decode the biology, psychology, 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:18.000 and sociology of ladies and gents from their evolutionary past 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.880 a millennial present to better understand all of that stuff 0:00:22.000 --> 0:00:25.360 Mom never told you. No offense moms, Now be sure 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:33.400 to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to brain 0:00:33.479 --> 0:00:41.519 Stuff from How Stuff Works. I'm Christian Seger and welcome 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:44.319 to brain Stuff. If you're like me, you grew up 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:47.640 being taught that taking your vitamins was an important part 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:51.120 of a balanced healthy life. The alternative is to eat 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:53.800 exactly the right amount of foods to supply your body 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:57.680 with the recommended daily value of nutrients. And who wants 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:00.520 to do all that work when you can just swallow 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:04.080 a pill, or even better, chew on a block of 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:08.560 sugar shaped like your favorite cartoon character. But our supplemental 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:13.280 vitamins actually helpful? Does a vitamin a day truly keep 0:01:13.480 --> 0:01:16.960 you healthy to play well? First, let's get a simple 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:21.160 understanding of how vitamins work. They're really just small molecules 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.800 that our bodies need to carry out certain reactions. Unfortunately, 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:28.080 our bodies don't make vitamins themselves, so we need to 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:32.199 eat food that contains these important molecules. There's two types 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:36.520 of vitamins. Water soluble vitamins need to be replenished every day, 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.959 and fat soluble vitamins need to dissolve before they enter 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:43.199 our bodies. Our bile acids do this for us, breaking 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:45.880 the vitamins down and storing them in our livers or 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.320 body fat. The downside is that these vitamins can build 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:55.000 up in our systems, surpassing their necessary value. Sixty years ago, 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:58.800 the first multi vitamin became available on the American market. Basically, 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:01.240 this is a pill that contains at least ten vitamins 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.600 and ten minerals to supplement our diet. Now, millions of 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:08.520 adults and children devour these pills every day, spending twelve 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:11.480 billion dollars a year on them. If you don't have 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:14.560 the time to gather fresh fruit, vegetables, and grains every day, 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:18.120 then you're probably taking a multi vitamin. But several recent 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:20.840 studies have shown that there are some negative effects to 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:24.240 be aware of when taking multi vitamins. For instance, less 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:26.600 than half the multi vitamins sold in the US and 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:31.120 Canada actually contain what their labels say. Sometimes they'll have 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.160 too much of a supplement, like a children's vitamin that 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.040 had two hundred and sixteen percent the amount of vitamin 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:39.840 A listed. You think kids just p out all that 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:43.680 extra vitamin A. No, it weakens their bones and potentially 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:48.240 causes abnormalities and their livers. Other multi vitamins can contain 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:52.320 substances that don't even belong in them, like lead, for instance, 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:56.079 and unless you really need to foil Superman's X ray vision, 0:02:56.440 --> 0:03:00.920 you probably shouldn't ingest that much lead. That, my friends, 0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:04.799 are just the multi vitamins that are mislabeled. Some experts 0:03:04.840 --> 0:03:07.919 believe that we don't always gain benefits from vitamins unless 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:10.960 they are absorbed into our body along with the other 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:15.120 compounds found in their natural form. So maybe vitamin C 0:03:15.280 --> 0:03:19.120 doesn't work unless you digest it with an orange. Also, 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:22.800 supplement research is really difficult to gauge because each of 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:26.359 us eats an incredibly broad variety of foods that could 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:29.840 help or hinder the absorption of vitamins. Not to mention 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:33.080 that the Food and Drug Administration doesn't require these supplements 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:36.800 to go through the same scrutiny for safety and efficacy 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:39.880 that it does for say, medicine or drugs. The more 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.760 we look into it, it seems that multi vitamins either 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:47.200 have no substantial health benefits or their benefits are too 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:49.840 small to make much of a difference. Let's look at 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:52.160 a few examples of how this plays out, Starting with 0:03:52.320 --> 0:03:55.600 folic acid. This is one of those supplements originally thought 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.920 to protect the heart and prevent cancer. Based on a 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.520 two thousand eight sty the out of Harvard, it turns 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:05.440 out that too much folic acid may instead promote prostate 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:09.600 and colorectal cancer, and because food companies add it to 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:12.920 grain products, most of us are already getting our daily 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:16.240 values worth What about vitamin C, the one we're supposed 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.720 to take when we get sick. Well, if you eat 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:21.640 foods that are rich in vitamin C, it can lower 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.479 your risk of heart disease and cancer, But if you 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:28.560 simply take it in pillform, it seems to have no benefits. Also, 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:32.279 vitamin C can enhance your iron absorption, so be careful 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:36.720 if you have hemochromatosis or you'll end up with too 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:40.440 much iron in your system. Another vitamin that supposedly prevented 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.640 heart disease and cancer is vitamin E. But again that's 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.600 only in its natural form in nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils, 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:51.360 where it can also strengthen the immune system. As a supplement, 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:55.560 there's no evidence vitamin E provides any of its natural benefits. 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:59.239 In fact, some research shows that doses over four hundred 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:04.600 international units a day can actually increase your mortality. Let 0:05:04.640 --> 0:05:06.720 me spell that out for you. That means you'll die 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:10.320 faster if you have too much vitamin E. Vitamin A 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.279 is very similar in that it doesn't actually prevent lung 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:17.680 cancer as it's advertised. In fact, large doses actually increase 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:21.080 the risk of lung cancer in smokers. Most of us 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:24.560 are already getting plenty of vitamin A anyway, in eggs, 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.960 whole milk, dark leafy veggies, and orange or yellow fruits. 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:31.760 And remember those kids I mentioned who got too much 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:35.680 vitamin A from their multi vitamin Both their bones and 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:40.320 livers were weakened. But if you're pregnant adult, too much 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:44.360 vitamin A can lead to birth defects. B vitamins were 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:47.720 originally thought to help people with Alzheimer's disease or even 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:51.480 raise your energy levels, but the trial results have been disappointing, 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:54.920 with no evidence that it does either. But B twelve 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:58.000 is one of the vitamins that can help supplement an 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:02.039 unbalanced diet. It's good good for strict vegetarians who aren't 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:06.560 getting everything they need from animal derived food, but otherwise 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:10.000 you don't really need it unless you're pregnant or facing 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:14.400 macular degeneration from old age, two things I'm not currently 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:17.760 worried about. Finally, let's look at vitamin D, you know, 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.679 the one we get from the sun. There's still hope 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.159 that it can help with osteoporosis, but the data is 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:27.640 inconclusive since everyone gets different amounts of sun exposure. If 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.440 you're already getting a decent amount of midday sun exposure 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:34.320 and regularly consume foods like fatty fish, eggs, and fortified 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:39.120 dairy products, you probably don't need a d supplement. Perhaps 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:41.400 in the future will be able to just pop a 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.240 pill personally tailored to our nutrition, but as it stands today, 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:48.279 your best bet is to still eat a balanced diet 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:53.120 from good old fashioned hold foods. However, this doesn't mean 0:06:53.240 --> 0:06:55.680 you should run home and pour all your multi vitamins 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:58.159 down the toilet. Just do a little research on what 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.960 your body needs and whether the pill you're taking is 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:08.760 actually necessary. Check out the brainstuff channel on YouTube, and 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.240 for more on this and thousands of other topics, visit 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:26.200 how stuff works dot com.