Study: Taking Vitamins Is Dangerous And Can Harm You
Readers should be aware of a potential issue with studies like those cited here. There are hundreds of carotenoids, for example, in natural foods, at least several of which are known to provide some health benefit to the human body. Taking concentrated beta carotene alone could well be giving rise to a competitive inhibition phenomenon that actually creates a functional deficiency of other important carotenoids, leading to the observed increase risk of certain cancers. Similarly, alpha tocopherol is only one of several compounds in the vitamin E family, and taking it alone in concentration could be doing a similar thing.
If these studies tell us anything about the value of nutritional supplements, it is that eating a poor diet and taking one or two or few narrowly targeted high-potency supplements is not a good idea. Far better to eat a good diet to begin with, and emphasize breadth over potency in your supplements. Get at least several members of the carotenoid family, the tocopherols and tocotrienols, the flavonoids as well as ascorbic acid (C), multiple minerals, etcteras. There are a number of fine multiples on the market to choose from.
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