# Do Vitamins Work? If so, how well? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350 "2010-05-05T00:16:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/21 "2010-05-05T11:31:43Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > Yup. > The crazy Saudi Wahabi’s have a lot to answer for :rolleyes: It wasn’t a dig, Vitamin D deficiency is becoming a real problem. Sometimes it is social factors (poor diet, not getting out, wearing the niqab/burkha), sometimes it is genetic (asians naturally generate less Vitamin D), but it is a public health issue in parts of the world where sunlight is lower. The point is that many people are unaware of the risks. Si ---
**Author:** ![Vorpal\_Blade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9de0a6/32.png) [@Vorpal\_Blade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vorpal_Blade)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/22 "2010-05-05T11:45:11Z")
> [@ToeJam](#): > > For what it’s worth, 200% your daily levels of Vitamin C will cause you mild GI Disturbances according to my pharmacology class. What those “GI disturbances” are, they didn’t really specify… Hersey trots ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/23 "2010-05-05T11:55:32Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > If you eat food that contains fats and fat-soluble vitamins while taking xenical, during the digestion process the vitamins will be absorbed into the fat. This is chemistry. The Xenical then blocks fat absorption, so the fat (containing fat-soluble vitamins and other fat-soluble materials) runs down to the colon and is excreted (leaving a layer or orange fat floating on the toilet). > > Si I’d never thought of that:smack: so if you eat a carrot you need to eat some sort of fat with it to absorb it? ---
**Author:** ![Marmite\_Lover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Marmite\_Lover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marmite_Lover)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/24 "2010-05-05T11:58:11Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > It wasn’t a dig, Vitamin D deficiency is becoming a real problem. Sometimes it is social factors (poor diet, not getting out, wearing the niqab/burkha), sometimes it is genetic (asians naturally generate less Vitamin D), but it is a public health issue in parts of the world where sunlight is lower. The point is that many people are unaware of the risks. > > Si I didn’t see it as a dig at all. I was saying that the Wahabi extremists who have convinced women that burkha is part of religion are actually making women deficient in not only Scotland but in in sunny places like Saudi:( ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/25 "2010-05-05T12:28:56Z")
Just a couple of days ago i heard a reputable doctor on the radio state that taking multivitamins is not a good idea. He said that if you suspect a deficiency of a particular vitamin, then get tested for that specific deficiency. If you are deficient then target that specific deficiency. Broad-spectrum multivitamin uptake is not recommended. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/26 "2010-05-05T12:31:14Z")
> [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > I’d never thought of that:smack: > > so if you eat a carrot you need to eat some sort of fat with it to absorb it? No - if you eat a carrot on it’s own, it will be digested and absorbed by the colon. But if you eat the carrot with fat, the vitamins will end up in the fat, mostly. That’s just chemistry. If you then prevent the body from absorbing the fat (with Xenical), then the fat-soluble vitamins get missed as well. > [@Marmite\_Lover](#): > > I didn’t see it as a dig at all. > > I was saying that the Wahabi extremists who have convinced women that burkha is part of religion are actually making women deficient in not only Scotland but in in sunny places like Saudi:( Sorry - I must have an overly sensitive sarcasm detector today. Si ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/27 "2010-05-05T12:37:24Z")
Surely a specific vitamin pill isn’t going to have the same effect on every person, so how is it decided what dosage is required? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/28 "2010-05-05T12:49:11Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Vitamins are essential. For very specific things. > > For instance, lack vitamin C, and one will have connective tissue problems and develop scurvy. That’s a fact. > > Also, lack niacin (B3) and you get pellagra. Etc. Maybe I’m hangin with a health conscious crowd, but I have no scorbutic friends. I also have never run across anyone complaining of pellagra. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/29 "2010-05-05T13:16:13Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Maybe I’m hangin with a health conscious crowd, but I have no scorbutic friends. I also have never run across anyone complaining of pellagra. You do hear of cases every so often, usually from some college kid on a diet consisting exclusively of ramen, cheetos, and mountain dew. But that’s an extreme case. For some vitamins, you can have a deficiency that will negatively affect your health, but not so much as to cause obvious acute symptoms. For instance, vitamin D deficiency will cause weakening of the bones, and mild B12 deficiency can cause vague symptoms like fatigue, memory loss, and depression. I’m sure that even cases of scurvy and beriberi can occasionally be mild enough to avoid detection. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/30 "2010-05-05T13:23:26Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Maybe I’m hangin with a health conscious crowd, but I have no scorbutic friends. I also have never run across anyone complaining of pellagra. Usually following an overall healthy diet (including different veggies and fruits, not high amounts of fats and sugars, not a lot of heavily processed junk food, etc.) will allow someone to take enough vitamins that they need. Besides, many many products we eat have had vitamins and minerals added to them to increase their nutrition values and make sure people get at least something of value if they have a more restricted diet. For example, vitamins and minerals are added to cereals, milks, oatmeal, juices, yogurts, etc. Not only that, but some people, although in normal situations may not have any noticeable deficit, if by some reason their “normal being” is altered, and they do not change their nutrition with it, may have some deficits. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/31 "2010-05-05T13:30:29Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > You do hear of cases every so often, usually from some college kid on a diet consisting exclusively of ramen, cheetos, and mountain dew. Yup, I remember an article many years ago, when I was an undergrad, about it. College student had to go to health center, diagnosed with scurvy, told to eat something better than junk food. And some vitamins. In the case of vitamin D, it works as a hormone regulating calcium levels and bone homeostasis (other vitamins participate more in enzymatic reactions). If something else in the body that controls these areas is affected, then vitamin D is needed to step in and help. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/32 "2010-05-05T13:58:46Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > You do hear of cases every so often, usually from some college kid on a diet consisting exclusively of ramen, cheetos, and mountain dew. [Here’s a case due to “food neophobia”](http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/178/3/279). The kid refused to eat new foods and existed on a diet that consisted exclusively of Cheerios, bagels, and french fries. Nothing else. The result was B12 deficiency. (This fellow’s bizarre dietary habits are described about one third of the way through the case report in the link.) ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/33 "2010-05-05T21:04:12Z")
> **[Vitamin D - BAVIDA](https://bavida.com/h/vitamin-d/)** > > Our community: Where health becomes a shared journey. True health is about more than just following the latest diet trend or hitting your step count. > [@](#): > > Technically not a “vitamin,” vitamin D is in a class by itself. Its metabolic product, calcitriol, is actually a secosteroid hormone that targets over 2000 genes (about 10% of the human genome) in the human body. Current research has implicated vitamin D deficiency as a major factor in the pathology of at least 17 varieties of cancer as well as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, depression, chronic pain, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, muscle wasting, birth defects, periodontal disease, and more. > Vitamin D’s influence on key biological functions vital to one’s health and well-being mandates that vitamin D no longer be ignored by the health care industry nor by individuals striving to achieve and maintain a greater state of health. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/34 "2010-05-05T21:54:48Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Just a couple of days ago i heard a reputable doctor on the radio state that taking multivitamins is not a good idea. He said that if you suspect a deficiency of a particular vitamin, then get tested for that specific deficiency. If you are deficient then target that specific deficiency. Broad-spectrum multivitamin uptake is not recommended. Was that Dr. Dean Edell? He said once his own family was in the vitamin business, and he says on his radio show all the time that taking vitamins is a waste of time and money. A multivitamin? take it if you want, but it isn’t necessary. Sez he. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/35 "2010-05-05T22:31:06Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Was that Dr. Dean Edell? He said once his own family was in the vitamin business, and he says on his radio show all the time that taking vitamins is a waste of time and money. A multivitamin? take it if you want, but it isn’t necessary. Sez he. THIS is the guy I heard, not Gupta. Thank you! And I apologize for the wrong name. Still would like to know what he means by they’re being a waste: whether it’s that they’re bunk and do no good to anyone, or useless because a normal diet gives you what you need. Interesting thread, and thank you for the responses 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/36 "2010-05-06T05:10:12Z")
Since I have started tracking all the food I eat for weight loss, I have discovered that my diet is severely low in vitamin E (like, at 40% of RDA). I understand there is a danger in over-supplementing a fat-soluble vitamin like E, but I think a small supplement is warranted here. Ideally I would eat more natural sources of E, but they are mostly high-fat foods, and I’m having a problem fitting high-fat foods into a weight loss diet. There was news story here just recently about vitamin D, too, indicating that in spite of our vitamin D fortified milk, we just don’t get enough sun here year round to generate enough vitamin D (and then sunblock reduces that even further). The doctors quoted in the story recommended a vitamin D supplement for all Canadians. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/37 "2010-05-06T06:10:29Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Was that Dr. Dean Edell? He said once his own family was in the vitamin business, and he says on his radio show all the time that taking vitamins is a waste of time and money. A multivitamin? take it if you want, but it isn’t necessary. Sez he. No. It was a local guy named Barry Dworkin. The radio clip can be heard [here.](http://www.drbarrydworkin.com/2010/05/04/do-children-need-to-take-multivitamins/) ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/38 "2010-05-06T06:20:23Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Now, other than Vit C, there is no use, and considerable danger to megadose. Even with Vitamin C, there are many doubts as to the usefulness of megadoses. For example, 2-3 “Airborne” a day = a megadose of Vit C However, at that level it also seems to be harmless. Thus, if you think it works for you, again- why not? Just as a warning: Unless Airborne changed its ingredients, it contains [5,000 IU of Vitamin A](http://www.wellnessletter.com/html/ds/dsZicam.php) per dose. It would be pretty easy to [exceed tolerable daily levels](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervitaminosis_A) if you use this crap. At least one [intrepid explorer died](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Mertz) from Vitamin A poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/39 "2010-05-06T12:52:19Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Now see, it is stuff like this that makes me wonder. There is one camp that says “vitamin pills don’t absorb well and you are wasting your money.” Then sometimes medical people say don’t take too many, you will get vitamin poisoning. > > Well, the way I look at it, you can’t have it both ways. They only way you can ever get “too much” of a vitamin is if it is absorbing. If it is not being absorbed, then it should not be an issue. > > Does this make sense to anybody? Different people might absorb different vitamins with different eficiency. For example, people with [hemochromatosis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemochromatosis#Terminology) are far too efficient at absorbing iron for their own good. In fact, they can die from iron overload if it goes on long enough. On the other hand, a woman without that condition on he exact same diet might be iron _deficient_. [Pernicious anemia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pernicious_anemia) can occur when the body is no longer able to absorb B12 through eating. Those are extreme cases, of course, but there’s no reason to think that “normal” humans don’t vary in ability to absorb this or that nutrient. So… for some people a given mutlivitamin may be useless, and for others the exact same pill may be too much. Rather like some people (the vary pale) have a much easier time using sunlight to make vitamin D than others (the very dark). It’s just that with vitamin D and skin color you can _see_ a marker for that variation, for other vitamins, minerals, and nutrients you can’t see that variation, but they’re still there. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350/40 "2010-05-06T13:42:28Z")
From what I have gathered, people like Dr. Edell say if you eat a “well-balanced diet” full of colorful fruits and veg, (blueberries, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, kale, spinach, oranges) this will provide you with all the vitamins you need. The selling of bottles of various vitamins by outfits like Prevention magazine is a money-making scheme, totally unnecessary and sometimes harmful. Every so often a vitamin like vitamin C (take this and eliminate colds!) is declared a wonder supplement, and now it’s vitamin D that will cure what ails you. Who knows? There are conditions caused by lack of a certain vitamin, but this is best left to medical professionals. I suppose a Flintstones multi-vitamin a day won’t hurt anyone, but the vitamin industry works hard to convince people they need more, much more. It’s easier and cheaper to swallow a vitamin and think, there, now I’m covered, than it is to buy/eat the latest and most nutritious fruits and vegetables. Blueberries, acai, pomegranates - I buy an occasional drink with some of the juice mixed in, and that’s about it. I’m middle class, those fruits are expensive, and poor people who live on fast food, sweets, and starches are even more unlikely to buy them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-vitamins-work-if-so-how-well/538350.md?page=3)