(Atlanta) - Americans spend almost $ 2 billion in vitamin and mineral supplements each year, in the belief that good health will be the end result. And but it is, but there are still some pitfalls and bad information out there that doctors can help prevent, according to government researchers.
Based on the latest results from a national survey, the CDC is recommending doctors Ask your patients, and patients ask doctors, more questions about using vitamins and mineral supplements ... Both to see What is good and what is bad.
The CDC has published its latest research on this month family medicine files. Includes vitamin and minerals supplement between about 40,000 people in the US
between this group, about 11,000 - about 40% - people reported taking at least one vitamin or mineral supplement in the last month, says lead author Lina S. Balluz, SCD, MPH. Balluz is with the environmental risk division and health effects on CDC in Atlanta.
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The survey found that white women's highest income and higher levels of education were the largest users of food supplements. About 43% of the study population was non-Hispanic, but only one of three black or Hispanic people took supplements. In contrast, about one of three people in a low-income stand used supplements, while at high income levels that climbed to about one in two people.
Overall, more women have taken dietary supplements than men, but authors point out that only about one in three reproductive age reported taking at least one product last month that contained folic acid, "An important vitamin for women of reproductive age," writes Balluz. Folic acid has been shown to help avoid some congenital defects, which differentiates it from many supplements that do not have these ClearCut benefits.
In addition, among women who took folic acid, only 72% fulfilled the 400 mg / d recommendation defined by the US Public Health Service. Balluz and colleagues are concerned about more than 65% of adolescent girls and young women of reproductive age are not taking products with folic acid. However, they agree that the amount of folic acid in most multivitamins is better than nothing.
Balluz says: "The relationship between health status and the use of supplements remains clear to most dietary supplements". Vitamin C, the most popular vitamin according to use, has many known benefits, while large doses of vitamins, such as beta-carotene (vitamin A) that cause congenital defects, writes Balluz.
In addition to the doctor's advice, Erica Frank, MD, MPH, says "If you make a multi-camera multivitamine every day you buy in a grocery store, you will not have problems with overdraft. Most of the Vitamins is soluble in water ", and therefore do not accumulate in the body. Frank Caues: "It is only the fat soluble, [vitamins] a, d, and and k, which are potentially problematic." They can be stored in fat and over time can accumulate for toxic levels. Frank is with the family department and preventive medicine at Emory University in Atlanta.
Balluz writes: "Food practices in the United States have changed in ways that reduced the delivery of vitamin Da diet." Which, together with the information acquired in this study, led the recommendation of the authors "that doctors and health professionals include issues about using dietary supplements while obtaining a medical history ... and all those planning to use supplements first have their practices food and lifestyle evaluated by a health professional. "
Frank says the diet should remain the main source of vitamins, and doctors should encourage patients to eat better, such as adding more fruits and vegetables to their diet. "This will be important for practically all patients entering a medical office," said Frank Webmd. "There is virtually no patient whose diet could not use any improvement."
Especially for high-risk patients, such as people with heart disease, Frank says, "doctors should be encouraging patients to take multivitamins and multi-engineers., [For example] if they are at high risk of disease Cardiac. "Certain vitamins and minerals have shown to help reduce the risk of heart disease.
For most people, vitamins are simply a "band aid," Frank told WebMD. "For many people, it can be a reasonable, convenient and appropriate stop measure, but it is not a substitute to eat properly."
- About 40% of Americans take some type of vitamin or mineral supplements, spending nearly $ 2 billion per year.
- White women with higher income and higher levels of education are the most likely to use dietary supplements.
- Doctors and patients should communicate with each other about taking vitamins, although there is no substitute for a healthy diet, experts say.
