Americans have an odd relationship with nutritional supplements. On the one hand, millions of Americans use various types of nutritional supplements every day. On the other hand, the nutritional establishment tends to frown on supplements use as unnecessary, and the supplements industry has a negative reputation for making unsubstantiated benefit claims.
In a new study published in Nutrition Journal, researchers looked at various indicators of nutrient and health status to determine whether regular supplement use is of any potential benefit. The researchers administered questionnaires and physical examinations with 278 daily users of multiple nutritional supplements. Data for 602 non-supplement users and 176 users of multivitamin/mineral supplements only were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The most commonly used supplements were a multivitamin/mineral, B-complex, vitamin C, carotenoids, vitamin E, calcium with vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, flavonoids, lecithin, alfalfa, coenzyme Q10 with resveratrol, glucosamine, and a herbal immune supplement.
Tha study authors reported that "Serum nutrient concentrations generally increased with increasing dietary supplement use. After adjustment for age, gender, income, education and body mass index, greater degree of supplement use was associated with more favorable concentrations of serum homocysteine, C-reactive protein, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides, as well as lower risk of prevalent elevated blood pressure and diabetes."
It should be noted that while this study establishes a correlation between supplement use and positive nutrient and health status, it does not establish a causal relationship. |
