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Recommended Reading: Supplements

Updated April 11, 2013

Nature’s foods are complete. To make a profit, manufacturers isolate out and concentrate nutrients, like vitamins and minerals, and sell them as expensive pills. The consequence is to create serious imbalances within the workings of your cells, and then diseases follow (including cancer, heart disease, and earlier death). Don’t risk your life and waste your money on these gimmicks. The only supplement I routinely recommend is vitamin B12.

• Related Newsletter Articles

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  • March 2011: Vitamin D: Values for Normal Are Exaggerated
  • May 2010: Just To Be on the Safe Side: Don’t Take Vitamins
  • March 2010: Vitamin D Pills Are of Little or No Benefit and Some Harm. So What to Do Now?
  • November 2007: Vitamin B12 Deficiency—the Meat-eaters’ Last Stand
  • September 2007: Low Vitamin D: One Sign of Sunlight Deficiency
  • April 2007: Vitamin Supplements Kill
  • July 2012: Folic Acid Fails to Prevent Heart Disease
  • October 2005: Folic Acid Supplements are a Health Hazard
  • August 2003: Plants, not Pills, for Vitamins and Minerals
  • November 2004: Vitamins Do Not Prevent Cancer and May Increase Likelihood of Death: How Supplements Can Make You Sicker
  • May 2008: Vitamin Supplements May Increase Breast Cancer
  • Neither Aspirin Nor Vitamin E Will Save Women
  • February 2004: Treating Homocysteine with Vitamins Fails
  • February 2003: Vitamin B12 – Vegan Diet Damages Baby’s Brain – Sensationalism!
  • March 2008: Antacids Reduce Vitamin B12




• Related Independent Research

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  Albert CM, Cook NR, Gaziano JM, Zaharris E, MacFadyen J, Danielson E, Buring JE, Manson JE. Effect of folic acid and B vitamins on risk of cardiovascular events and total mortality among women at high risk for cardiovascular disease: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2008 May 7;299(17):2027-36. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684623/pdf/nihms109018.pdf

  Bjelakovic G, Gluud C. Vitamin and Mineral Supplement Use in Relation to All-Cause Mortality in the Iowa Women’s Health Study. Arch Intern Med. 2011 Oct 10;171(18):1633-4.  http://www.natap.org/2011/HIV/101111_01.htm

  Bolland MJ, Avenell A, Baron JA, et al. Effect of calcium supplements on risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular events: meta-analysis. BMJ. 2010 Jul 29; 341:c3691. http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c3691.long

  Bjelakovic G, Nikolova D, Simonetti RG, Gluud C. Antioxidant supplements for preventing gastrointestinal cancers. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Jul 16;(3):CD004183. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18677777

  Tang BM, Eslick GD, Nowson C, Smith C, Bensoussan A. Use of calcium or calcium in combination with vitamin D supplementation to prevent fractures and bone loss in people aged 50 years and older: a meta-analysis. Lancet. 2007 Aug 25;370(9588):657-66. http://bit.ly/17LBfs4

  Bjelke E. Dietary vitamin A and human lung cancer. Int J Cancer. 1975 Apr 15;15(4):561-5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1140863

  Graat JM, Schouten EG, Kok FJ. Effect of daily vitamin E and multivitamin-mineral supplementation on acute respiratory tract infections in elderly persons: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2002 Aug 14;288(6):715-21. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=195186

  Graat JM, Schouten EG, Kok FJ. Effect of daily vitamin E and multivitamin-mineral supplementation on acute respiratory tract infections in elderly persons: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2002 Aug 14;288(6):715-21. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=195186

  Holick MF. Vitamin D: importance in the prevention of cancers, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Mar;79(3):362-71. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/79/3/362.full.pdf+html

  Kwak SM, Myung SK, Lee YJ, Seo HG; for the Korean Meta-analysis Study Group. Efficacy of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplements (Eicosapentaenoic Acid and Docosahexaenoic Acid) in the Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. Arch Intern Med. 2012 Apr 9. http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1151420

  Mursu J, Robien K, Harnack LJ, Park K, Jacobs DR Jr. Dietary Supplements and Mortality Rate in Older Women: The Iowa Women’s Health Study. Arch Intern Med. 2011 Oct 10;171(18):1625-

  http://junksciencecom.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/aim-multivitamin-older-women-mortality.pdf

  Omenn GS, Goodman GE, Thornquist MD, et al. Effects of a combination of beta carotene and vitamin A on lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. N Engl J Med. 1996 May 2;334(18):1150-5. http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199605023341802

  Peto R, Doll R, Buckley JD, Sporn MB. Can dietary beta-carotene materially reduce human cancer rates? Nature. 1981 Mar 19;290(5803):201-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7010181

  Pietrzik K. Antioxidant vitamins, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. N Engl J Med. 1996 Oct 3;335(14):1065-6. http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199610033351415

  Redberg RF. Vitamin supplements: more cost than value: comment on “dietary supplements and mortality rate in older women.’ Arch Intern Med. 2011 Oct 10;171(18):1634-5. http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1105953

  Reid IR, Bolland MJ, Grey A. Effect of calcium supplementation on hip fractures. Osteoporos Int. 2008 Aug;19(8):1119-23. http://bit.ly/13UlgKQ

  Sanders KM, Stuart AL, Williamson EJ, Simpson JA, Kotowicz MA, Young D, Nicholson GC. Annual high-dose oral Vitamin D and falls and fractures in older women: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2010 May 12;303(18):1815-22. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/data/Journals/JAMA/4511/joc05053_1815_1822.pdf

  The Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta Carotene Cancer Prevention Study Group. The effect of vitamin E and beta carotene on the incidence of lung cancer and other cancers in male smokers. N Engl J Med. 1994 Apr 14;330(15):1029-35. http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199404143301501

  The ORIGIN Trial Investigators. n-3 Fatty Acids and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Patients with Dysglycemia. N Engl J Med. 2012 Jun 11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22686415