Making the Smart Choice

Dietary supplements are just that — a supplement to a healthy diet, not a replacement for one. Taking megadoses of any vitamin is never a good idea. The body’s own protective mechanisms have ensured that it’s nearly impossible to get to toxic levels when ingesting vitamins and minerals from eating fruits and vegetables. Start with these natural plant sources, the ideal way to receive the right amounts in the most absorbable form. Then, if you wish, supplement with a multivitamin/multimineral and educate yourself on the scientific literature and so you can make an informed choice.

Keep in mind that multivitamin formulations that include a mix of different complexes of vitamins and minerals can offer a reasonable way to get some additional nutritional value into your diet in the most efficient way possible. For example, because high levels of zinc can block absorption of copper and can lead to a copper deficiency anemia, the ratio of these two minerals is controlled in multivitamins.

Be careful not only to avoid taking toxic doses, but also to avoid supplementation of a single vitamin or mineral if there is no specific deficiency. For example, taking a single B vitamin in high doses instead of a B vitamin complex can lead to what is called a conditioned deficiency: the high dose of the single B vitamin causes an increase in the breakdown of the B vitamins that are not being supplemented. In extreme cases, the breakdown of these B vitamins to low enough levels can cause neurologic problems, such as seizures.

Ultimately, it is important to remember that you should not rely on supplements to make up for a poor diet. Fruits and vegetables are rich sources of mixed vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other specialized substances in combinations that cannot be duplicated in most supplements. A colorful diet, with representation every day from as many color groups as possible, remains the best way to ensure you receive a well balanced set of key nutrients.