Suppliments bad for you? We getting bad info? - Vitamins & Supplements Message Board

mehappy2 · 04-23-2006, 03:34 PM

I have been taking vitamins/suppliments for years now. I am now 46 years old (male)

I have started wondering if some suppliments may be unhealthy in the long run. Sure, I know firsthand the good things that they do. I have gotten more energy, don't get colds much...etc.

But I have been wondering about long term use and maybe nerve damage for example. ... ending up in alzheimers, or parkinsions...

Or, what about constantly sending all of this human fertilizer down the digestive tract? Maybe you could increase chances for colon cancers or something? Creating conditions for bacteria or something bad to bloom in the colon...

Am I dreaming too much?

The other concept I am thinking about is just the basic information we get about suppliments.

I imagine that there is lots of reasearch money to find out all of the good things about suppliments, because it is a business. The industry needs to sell these things, and needs to provide research results that show why it is good to take suppliments.

But who can make a buck from research that shows anything bad comming from a particular suppliment? Not much funding there...

Thanks,
gh

cookiepls · 04-23-2006, 04:11 PM

GH,
Yeah, don't waste your time on research material or testimonials from any commercial industry. They can (and do) make all kinds of ridiculous claims as long as they don't violate FDA rules. Some of them violate FDA rules anyway. Limit your vitamin research to .edu and .gov sites. Colleges, universities and some independent research labs have much more reliable and accurate information than the commercial sites.

You won't get cancer or any other disease from taking a vitamin supplement. Vitamin supplements are just the extracted nutrients from food and other nutrient sources. Your body only absorbs a small amount anyway. I'm 48 and I've been taking supplements since I was in my late teens.
Good health to you!