Home > Work > Vitamania: Our Obsessive Quest For Nutritional Perfection
1 " The message is simple,” stated a strongly worded 2013 editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine. “Most supplements do not prevent chronic disease or death, their use is not justified, and they should be avoided. . . . Enough is enough. "
― Catherine Price , Vitamania: Our Obsessive Quest For Nutritional Perfection
2 " Thankfully, most supplements are usually not harmful, at least not in the short term. As Tod Cooperman, the president of a supplement testing company called ConsumerLab.com, put it to me, “In the vast majority of cases, people are just throwing their money out the window or hurting themselves over a long period of time.” But as the last part of his comment suggests, there are still reasons for concern over what’s in some of these products—especially given that in the most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 50 percent of American adults reported using some sort of dietary supplement. "
3 " But while it’s true that a healthy diet must include vitamins, vitamins themselves do not define a healthy diet. There are too many other important compounds in food. "
4 " Many people turn to supplements to boycott “big pharma”—but what about “big supplements”? "
5 " BPA has become controversial in recent years in part because of its potential effects on gene expression, "
6 " Schlitz Sunshine Vitamin D Beer was launched in 1936 with the tagline “Beer is good for you . . . but SCHLITZ, with Sunshine Vitamin D, is extra good for you. "
7 " some fungi, like mushrooms, can create vitamin D if they are exposed to ultraviolet light, but that usually only occurs if humans deliberately intervene.) "
8 " This means that most of the vitamin D you consume in capsules, milk, cereals, and other fortified foods comes from the same source as your favorite sweater. It’s "
9 " we pass judgment on how other people should get their vitamins while we insist—especially when it comes to dietary supplements—that no one block access to our own. "