Multivitamin pills 'can do you more harm than good'

Enlarge

'Waste of money': Vitamin pills may be doing more harm than good

Multivitamins taken by millions of 'worried well' are a waste of money and may be doing more harm than good, an expert has said.

Brian Ratcliffe, a former government adviser on nutrition, accused the £600million-a-year vitamin pill industry of preying on the fears and finances of people who are essentially healthy.

The tablets, on sale in every supermarket, chemist and health food shop, do little to boost health in those with no medical problems and in some cases could be dangerous.

For instance, those who take fish oils as well as multivitamins could be raising their odds of brittle bones in later years because they are consuming too much vitamin A.

The health-conscious should not take any supplements without first consulting their GP or another medical expert, said Professor Ratcliffe, of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.

He said: 'A lot of people take supplements because they are the worried well and are concerned with taking a belt-and-braces approach to health.

'So they are not thinking very carefully about why they are taking them, how much they should be taking and whether they should be taking them at all.

'They are simply wasting their money and fuelling an industry that is to some extent exploiting their fears. Then, of course, there is a chance they are dabbling in an area where there is a potential for harm.'

The professor, a former adviser to the Food Standards Agency, is not the first to raise concern about the tablets taken by 40 per cent of women and 30 per cent of men a day.

Enlarge

Last year, a U.S. analysis of 67 studies said vitamins A and E may shorten life, not extend it. Other studies linked the two vitamins to increased risk of cancer. Even relatively small doses of vitamin A can be toxic, said the professor.

The vitamin is found in many fish oil capsules, so those who take these alongside multivitamin pills may be getting more than they should.

Too much vitamin A can cause nausea and headaches in the short term and raise the risk of osteoporosis in later years, the British Science Festival in Guildford heard. On the other hand, high doses of vitamin C are not harmful - but up to three-quarters pass straight through the body.

Even small doses may be of little benefit. A recent study found the vitamin C tablets taken by millions to ward off colds have little effect at preventing the sniffles and only marginally shorten their duration.

Professor Ratcliffe said that on average we get enough vitamin C from our diet - and it is easy to raise the amount by eating healthier food.

However, some may benefit from specific supplements, including the elderly, who can be low in vitamin D, and pregnant women, who are advised to take folic acid.

Manufacturers said Government figures show that three-quarters of adults fail to eat five helpings of fruit and vegetables a day and many lack key vitamins and minerals.

Dr Carrie Ruxton, of the industrybacked Health Supplements Information Service, said: 'Supplements are a useful means of boosting vitamin and mineral intakes while people are gradually improving their diets - this process takes time.'

Ref: mailonline

Frozen vegetables 'more nutritious than fresh produce'

Frozen food can be even more nutritious than supposedly fresh produce in a supermarket, a new study has found.

Most of the fruit and veg found in the freezer, things like peas, are frozen very soon after harvest, so preserving the levels of vitamins and minerals.

However, the long delays in getting fresh food from the field to the store often leads to a reduction in the level of beneficial compounds.

In some cases fruit and vegetables sold as fresh will have been held in warehouses for months on end.

On ice: Contrary to popular belief frozen vegetables can be more nutritious than fresh greens

Scientists at the Centre for Food Innovation at Sheffield Hallam University say it is time to junk the common belief that frozen means inferior.

They highlighted research that shows, for example, that some 77per cent of vitamin C in a green bean is lost during seven days of storage.

At the same time there is evidence that cooked frozen green peas contain higher levels of beta-carotene, which converts into Vitamin A in the body, than cooked fresh peas.

Researcher Charlotte Harden, said her own research among 37 varieties of produce found no nutritional difference between frozen and fresh items.

'We must disregard the mistaken view that ‘fresh’ food is always better for us than frozen food,' she said. 'Frozen food can be nutritionally comparable or in some cases nutritionally superior.

'We are not surprised by these results, as our findings correlate with many other recently published reports.'

Director-General of the British Frozen Food Federation, Brian Young, said: “Fast and organised methods of harvest-to-freeze have evolved which minimise loss of nutrients.

'In contrast, ‘fresh' food can spend up to a month in the chain of producers, wholesalers and retailers before they reach customers.

'During this time we know that product deterioration takes place - to the extent that they can have lower nutritional value than frozen equivalents.'

The research was carried out to help local council caterers to decide on the best choice of food for school dinners.

Chairman of the Local Authority Caterers Association, Beverley Baker, said: 'This new report supports our long held belief that there is no significant difference in nutritional quality between fresh and frozen produce.

'We strongly believe that both have a place in the provision of healthy school meals.

'From a school catering perspective, a combination of both fresh and frozen presents advantages in terms of storage and preparation as well as optimum use of cooking facilities.'

Ref: mailonline