The New Vitamin Push

About 20 years ago, knowledge about vitamins was just beginning to expand. The role that low levels of folate, or folic acid, play in neural tube defects, for instance was not known, nor was its role as a major risk factor for heart disease.
Yet, many doctors have been telling their patients for years to take vitamins. Nearly 1 out of every 3 Americans take multivitamins and many of them are afraid to tell their doctors for fear he or she would disapprove.
Now, the Journal of the American Medical Association is endorsing the use of multivitamins based on researchers’ understanding of how vitamins benefit health.
Health experts are worried that most American adults do not consume healthy amounts of vitamins in their diet, although they may be getting enough to ward off vitamin deficiency disorders. Almost 80% of Americans do not eat at least five helpings of fruits and vegetables a day, the recommended minimum amount believed to provide sufficient essential nutrients.
“All of us grew up believing that if we ate a reasonable diet, that would take care of our vitamin needs,” said Dr. Robert H. Fletcher of Harvard University. “But the new evidence, much of it in the last couple of years, is that vitamins also prevent the usual diseases we deal with every day – heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, and birth defects.
The results of 150 studies of nine vitamins: B6, B12, D, A, E, and C, point to their important role in maintaining optimal health.
SOURCE: CHICAGO TRIBUNE June 19, 2002, n.p. & Knight-Ridder Newspapers. Distributed by Knight-Ridder / Tribune Information Services