What Your Doctor Knows About Supplements … And You May Not

Your physician may be the exception, but most medical schools barely teach their doctors-in-training about nutrition, much less vitamins and mineral supplements. Add to that the legitimate concerns that exist about the manufacturing quality of supplements and your doctor might look like a deer in the headlights when you ask if Vitamin C can help fight your cold.

Doctors have been given new guidelines on vitamins and minerals and you should know what they are. Vitamin and Mineral Supplements: What Clinicians Need to Know was developed by 2 doctors — JoAnn E. Manson, MD, PhD, Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Shari Bassuk, SciD, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health — and recently published in JAMA.

You know what vitamins are missing from the recommended list? Old standbys like Vitamin C, zinc and fish oil (Omega-3 fatty acids). Despite a lot of research, there’s no support for most vitamins and minerals. Instead, the list has a few very specific recommendations for people with particular conditions (like Crohn’s or age-related macular degeneration) or time of life (pregnancy, seniors) or to make up for what medicines take or block from you body (PPIs, metformin).

You know what else is missing? Any supplements for generally healthy people, including multivitamins. Where are we supposed to get our vitamins and minerals from? Eat complete (whole) foods in a varied diet.

I emailed Dr. Manson and she told me that for those who are generally healthy, routine supplementation is not necessary.

One last thought, if you are taking any supplements make sure that your doctor knows and that you choose a brand that is certified by independent testers like ConsumerLab.com, US Pharmacopeia, NSF International, or UL who all test if supplements contain the labeled dose(s) of the active ingredient(s) and don’t contain microbes, heavy metals or other toxins.