Spin-off thread from here.
Any reason to take magnesium (in bisglycinate form) and/or Vitamin D3 as supplements, even for healthy adults who otherwise follow a pretty healthy diet?
Any real benefits from that, healthwise or otherwise?
The CDC’s Second Nutrition Report, an assessment of diet and nutrition in the U.S. population, concludes that there are a number of specific nutrients lacking in the American diet. Not only can nutrient deficiencies have long-lasting health effects, they can make you feel rotten. Here are some of the more common vitamins and minerals lacking in our diets, deficiencies that can cause an array of symptoms, from poor memory and bleeding gums to impaired work productivity and depression.
B12 (especially among vegetarians)
Vit C for “narrowly chosen diets and bulimia among teens, … alcoholics or older people whose ability to absorb vitamin C has diminished from excessive medications or poor eating habits.”
Vit D
Iron for females
Magnesium. “Most Americans do not get the recommended amounts of magnesium, according to the experts.”
Zinc
Yes, I know- other studies have shown you dont need a multi-vit, if you eat properly and are otherwise healthy. But most of use dont eat right.
Vitamin D in particular had been touted as the Great Hope for a supplement actually doing some good for the general population … lots of studies that had showed correlations of lower levels with a variety of adverse outcomes … but the studies showing that supplementing Vitamin D, even in those identified as insufficient, made positive impact, have been relatively lacking and at best “mixed” to “maybe.” It is increasingly looking like another case in which correlation was not causation. Maybe the same factors that cause low vitamin D also contribute to the adverse outcomes measured, maybe the outcomes result in low vitamin D, but it increasingly does not look like that for most that the causality direction goes low vitamin D to disease state and more clearly so not convincing evidence that supplementation leads to better outcomes. Still best off getting a modest amount of sunlight and exercising regularly. (Not all that automatic with diet alone although salmon will do ya, some other fish, eggs and some mushrooms pretty decent.)
Magnesium - not much out there to support its supplementation as doing much. Again, those looking for “shortcuts” are usually going to be disappointed. A diet that includes some dark leafy vegetables, some nuts and legumes, and some fish, will give people all the magnesium they need, in the best possible packaging, and along with meeting a wide variety of other nutritional goals. If you can’t be arsed to bother to eat a reasonably healthy diet then taking the pill simply does not do the same thing. And while for most not very likely to cause harm a multi anyway is more likely to cause harm than good.