Swallowing those much-touted megadoses of vitamins isn't quite the same as throwing money down the drain. It's more like flushing money down the toilet, because most of what you've spent your money on will be eliminated by your body, which is better at recognizing excess than you are.
And in some cases, too much of certain vitamins or minerals actually can be harmful.
This reality notwithstanding, the popularity of vitamins and megavitamins has soared, hitting a record $5.7 billion in sales in 1997, compared with $3 billion in 1990. Supermarket and drugstore aisles are lined with an astounding and confusing array of vitamin choices. Those who want optimum health -- and who doesn't -- worry whether they're getting enough beta carotene, whether vitamin C will prevent cancer, whether a lack of vitamin E might be affecting their love life.
"You almost need a Ph.D. to go in the vitamin aisle these days," says Vicki Lucas, Ph.D., vice president of women's services for MedStar Health, which includes five Baltimore-area hospitals.
The simple truth is that for most people, a general multivitamin supplement -- and for women, a supplement with iron -- will give you what you need. And yes, Lucas adds, the store brand is fine, too.
Dr. C. Wayne Callaway, associate clinical professor of medicine at George Washington University and an expert in endocrinology and vitamins, worries that vulnerable people get taken in by false ideas about vitamins. "I've seen guys with AIDS spending $200 a month on vitamins," he says.
Or consider the person taking vitamin E to help lower elevated LDL, the bad cholesterol. Since the LDL is a transporter for vitamin E, the LDL with vitamin E on it is less likely to be oxidized, a process that contributes to heart disease. So vitamin E works as an antioxidant. That seems simple enough. But if the person taking it has elevated triglycerides, says Callaway, "You can give them a bucket of vitamin E and it won't help."
For years, Callaway served on government committees that examined the recommended daily allowances and participated in clinical trials to examine the efficacy of vitamins.
A little history is in order. Callaway explains that the recommended daily intakes were a response to the needs of the country to feed military and civilian personnel during and after World War II. The original criteria were developed to prevent deficiencies in the men who would be protecting democracy. A margin of safety was built in, and the idea of recommended daily allowance, or RDA, was born.
