Did you hear about the recently published studies that indicated supplement use is unhealthy? Both of these studies reveal a serious bias on the part of mainstream media and a general misunderstanding of how supplements work.
There are two interesting articles in the December 2011edition of “Better Nutrition,”a health magazine available at many independent natural food and supplement stores. These articles, by editor Nicole Brechka and author Jack Challem, gave the background to these two flawed studies.
One study concluded that men who took vitamin E still had an increased risk of prostate cancer. First: the vitamin E used in the study was synthetic, not a more effective natural form. Second: The cancer diagnosis was made years after the men in the study quit taking any vitamin E. Can you see any holes in this study?
The other study claimed that older women who took supplements, including multivitamins, had a greater risk of death from disease. First: The women were asked to remember what supplements they had taken on 3 different occasions over the past 20 years. (I can barely remember what I took last month, so the data collected in this study would be questionable, to say the least.) Second: Older people have a higher risk of death from disease simply because of their age, yet this was not factored into the study’s conclusions. Again, can you see the holes?
Those of us who use supplements regularly know how many variables there are in managing our own personal health routines. No study, no matter how well intentioned or controlled, can truly factor in every possible contingency for any single supplement. Using common sense, both in choosing supplements for our personal use and in believing published studies, will help us make better health choices.
Deborah