Vitamin Supplements are Not a Substitute for a Healthy Diet

This morning I caught a clip on the news about a study that found vitamin supplements might not be as great as they’re hyped up to be.

The doctor presenting the findings suggested that the vitamin supplements may only have benefits if you are severely malnourished. 

I remember reading about vitamin supplements in Dr. Walter Willett’s book Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy so I looked it up and here’s what he had to say:

“There is no way that taking a pill can replace eating fruits and vegetables.  So far, no one has found a magic bullet that works against heart disease, cancer, and a host of other chronic diseases as well as fruits and vegetables seem to do.

This isn’t to say that vitamin and mineral supplements are worthless.  Vitamin supplements are excellent insurance.  But they aren’t a substitute for a healthy diet.” ¹

Here’s my take.  If you want to take a vitamin supplement, take it.  The fact of whether or not you take a supplement should not change your eating of fruits and veggies. 

Fruits and vegetables taste good and are good for us.  Eat a lot of them. 

1. Walter C. Willett, Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating (New York: Simon and Schuster Source, 2001), 116.