Why Vitamins Are The Secret Ingredient |
Posted: December 11, 2017 |
We're often advised to take our vitamins, beginning at childhood and lasting all of the way through life. Especially in our senior years, we're handed more vitamins to take daily and sometimes even several times a day. We take them and we wonder if they really do us any good. New research suggests that they do in fact benefit us in more ways than we ever before realized. Are Multivitamins The Magic Pill Or Just A Placebo? Research published in Annals of Internal Medicine recently found no special benefit to the heart or brain from taking a daily multivitamin, suggesting that previous theories may have been in error. Even so, Harvard researchers are still recommending that people continue to take the all-inclusive vitamin, because it may have other benefits on the human body. Dr. Howard Sesso, who teaches epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, suggests that there may be benefits to taking a daily multivitamin that have not yet been discovered. In any event, Sesso points out that there's no risk in taking the multivitamin and says he would still recommend it as an essential part of living a healthy lifestyle. The issue remains largely debated with little scientific evidence on either side of the issue. On the one hand, a group of physicians took a multivitamin with 31 or more vitamins over a decade. Their counterparts took a placebo over that same period. Other than a minimal reduction in cataracts, the test group showed no distinctive signs that the multivitamins had a positive effect on heart diseases or degenerative brain functioning. Still, advocates like Dr. Sesso remind us that there are no ill effects from taking a daily multivitamin. As there's no apparent harm in boosting the body's natural vitamin intake, Dr. Sesso urges people to continue taking them. At the very least, he says they can help prevent cancer and degenerative eye disease. That alone may be worth the cost of a bottle of vitamins. Taking The Big Vitamin D They say not all vitamins are created equal and that has just been proven true by some new research on one vitamin in particular. A study published in JAMA Oncology examined the effect low vitamin D levels had in relation to breast cancer prognostics and found that there was definitely a correlation. The research found that insufficient levels of 250HD (25-hydroxyvitamin D) played a part in diminishing the survival rates of breast cancer patients. It was discovered that women with stage II breast cancer had deficient vitamin D levels. Conversely, pre-menopausal women with higher vitamin D levels also had higher survival rates. The study looked at overall breast cancer survival rates, rates of recurrences, and invasive disease-free survival rates and found higher successes among all of the categories. The researchers pointed out that this does not indicate a causal relationship between higher vitamin D levels and breast cancer prognoses. Further, they suggest cancer treatments may affect the levels of vitamin D in the body, which would also explain the correlation. Even considering these alternate theories, the study suggests vitamin D plays an important role in determining the likelihood of survival from a breast cancer diagnosis. A Few Other Ways Vitamins Benefit Our Bodies While research may be spotty on determining just what diseases a multivitamin regimen can prevent, there's no doubt that taking a daily dose does benefit us. Primarily, a multivitamin boosts our energy levels by ensuring we have enough vitamins and minerals to stay active throughout the day. When we lack appropriate levels of some vitamins, that's when we feel fatigued and out of sorts. In addition to higher energy levels, vitamin supplements also boost our brain functioning, which in turn puts us in a better mood. Vitamin B, just one of the additives in most multivitamins, works to relieve stress and anxiety, as well. Whether or not taking a daily multivitamin can prevent disease is still up for debate and, clearly, more research is needed, but that doesn't mean they serve more useful purpose. By ensuring our bodies are getting enough vitamins on a daily basis, we can improve our performance and live happier, more relaxed lives. That, alone, may be enough to keep us taking our vitamins.
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