Nutraceuticals and nootropics for anti-aging

Multivitamins encouraged and discouraged

A clinical study conducted at the University of North Carolina has shown that for people with type 2 diabetes the daily use of a daily multivitamin-mineral supplement decreases the incidence of minor infections by more than a factor of 5.

Link to the news article:

Supplements help diabetics

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On the other hand, certain anti-supplement crusaders have made the news recently by claiming that multivitamins are dangerous and serve no useful purpose. Of course it has been known for decades that one can overdose on certain vitamins — the fat-soluble ones, in particular. But why this should now be news is hard to fathom. The reporter who gave these crusaders a forum was Gina Kolata of the New York Times.

Among the generally silly attitudes expressed in the article is a particularly idiotic claim attributed to Dr. Benjamin Caballero, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Caballero was quoted as saying: “There is no disease I know of that is prevented by multivitamins.” Surely Dr. Caballero was misquoted, since he would undoubtedly know that the vitamins contained in multivitamin supplements are able to prevent (and cure) all of the vitamin-deficiency diseases: rickets, scurvy, beriberi, pellagra, night blindness, hemorrhagic syndrome, cheilosis, and many others.

When a respected science writer produces such an article, it sets one to wondering what is really going on.

Link to the news article:

Vitamins: More May Be Too Many