Sign up and get the BEST of PandaWhale! Sign Up Login

Health Supplements are a Waste of Money ...

A great update to the which supplements are snake oil conversation.

Read the original article.

Note that the blue bubbles on top do have evidence that they are worth your money.

5:37 PM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
5

1:38 AM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

11:59 AM Aug 21 2012

More like she swears AT that Wild Cherry Tart (TM) drinkie.

2:50 PM Aug 21 2012

I had not heard of Beta Glucan before.

1:53 AM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

I had not heard of Devil's Claw before.

1:55 AM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

I had not heard of Tyrosine before.

1:58 AM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

Vitamins are a replacement for those who don't eat a healthy diet for whatever reason -- access, funds, time -- OR access to a finite resource. In a northeastern PA winter on a typical work or student schedule it might be hard for many people to get enough vitamin D...and so vitamin D supplement is not wasted.

I see it's at the top of the chart. :)

Fish is too expensive for most people to eat on a regular diet, sadly. I can see why Omega 3 and fish oil is on top if the list.

6:35 AM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

Why is fish too expensive? With tilapia joining the pricier salmon and tuna, you can eat fresh. and you can always enjoy a tunafish sandwich or salad. it has the same nutrients more or less. As for vitamin D, a daily lunch walk is good for your sanity as well as your vitamin D. Though as a former Iowan, i totally respect those who would prefer to avoid a stroll through a blizzard. ;)

this controversial study Dietary Supplements and Mortality Rate in Older Women The Iowa Women's Health Study showed a higher risk of mortality associated with vitamin supplements. Knowing Iowans as I do, I suspect they used vitamins instead of dietary changes, which, knowing iowa food as I do (deep fried butter, anyone?), would definitely lead to all kinds of trouble.

food.jpg

7:26 AM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

This photo is disturbing on many levels. :)

I agree; perhaps my personal preference for salmon came out in that sentence. I should say, fresh salmon is too expensive for me to buy it regularly. Since I eat for both health and taste, tilapia is not personally high on my preferred eating options.

As a former Pennsylvanian, I agree about a stroll in the blizzard. Not the ideal way to get vitamin D. That study is fascinating.

7:36 AM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

Almost all supplements are ineffective. Even the famous fish oil that many people take is in rancid form. Most isolated

supplements cannot be absorbed by the human body. We have identified only a few hundred out of the tens of thousands of compounds that the human body needs and market them as supplements. The rest can only be provided by whole foods. If you think you are supplement deficient, eat whole fish, animal liver, , whole eggs, lots of kale and spinach. Most else is over-optimizing a few visible things at the expense of most invisible things.

7:49 AM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
2

When you say "whole fish" and "whole eggs" you mean what?

Kale and spinach make a lot of sense though don't overdo it. :)

8:27 AM Aug 21 2012

By "whole fish" I mean eat the fish instead of drinking the oil. By "whole eggs" I mean, "including yolk" which is where all of the nutrition is.

9:28 AM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

Got it, thanks.

I always wondered what the "whites only" egg eaters are thinking.

2:51 PM Aug 21 2012

Btw CHARD! Tastier than spinach and kale (especially when cooked with recently redeemed bacon) and full of all th e lovely vitamins in a form we can easily absorb. Plus my daughter likes it for the pink stems.

6:51 PM Aug 21 2012

I've been looking for this chart again!! Thanks!!

11:09 AM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

Me too! It's fascinating and a tad mesmerizing.

2:51 PM Aug 21 2012

GREAT timing. I JUST placed a HUGE order with VitaCost for alpha-lipoic acid, SAM-e, tumeric, biotin ....

12:26 PM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

I'm not quite sure what any of those are, Regina. :)

2:51 PM Aug 21 2012

Props Given:
1

Adam. Look at me. This doesn't just HAPPEN.

4:08 PM Aug 21 2012

You work out!

5:31 PM Aug 21 2012

I was making fun of my PandaWhaleprofile pic, in which my face is A non-standard color. :-).

6:17 PM Aug 21 2012

I figured you were getting a facial.

10:25 PM Aug 21 2012

You May Also Like:

STASHES