Benjamin Franklin once said, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” This blog mostly covers the wealth, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not interested in health (and wise). As you may have gathered from the title, this article will cover a little of all three.
Over a year ago, I wrote an article about the Youngevity Scam. Youngevity is a company that sells vitamins and supplements at prices that seem to be four times the industry average, with no additional proof of quality or effectiveness. One of the points that I made in the article is that current research is showing that vitamins and supplements may do more harm than good.
In fact, scientists believe antioxidants might make your cancer worse.
And if you don’t believe those very good sources, this extremely-respected medical journal has processed numerous extremely large studies to conclude: “Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements.”
There’s more: Vitamins appear to be bad for your workout. And here’s another article, How Vitamins Went From Medical Marvel to Marketing Scam.
And if you are looking for some humor with your information, here’s John Oliver’s evisceration of Dr. Oz and the supplement industry.
Even with all those underlined, reputable sources, that statement drew an extremely strong reaction in the comments. The reaction has, in some ways, eclipsed the intended discussion of Youngevity itself. I recommended that people place that passion to work in addressing the publishers of those articles rather than me. I’m simply pointing out their research. I’m not sure that advice hit home with the commenters… perhaps because they lack the critical thinking skills to avoid such scams like Youngevity in the first place.
I have to admit that I was surprised by the strong reaction. Then I started to realize that people have individual problems with pharmaceutical companies. Some don’t like the long list of possible side effects they are required to state in commercials. Some have experienced a bad reaction. Some have found that medicine hasn’t fixed the intended problem. Some just hate the exorbitant prices. It’s probably a combination of all the above.
Perhaps this USA Today article explains it best:
“Many consumers view alternative medicine industry as more altruistic and home-spun than Big Pharma. But in his book, Offit paints a picture of an aggressive, $34 billion a year industry whose key players are adept at using lawsuits, lobbyists and legislation to protect their market.”
I wonder if people would feel the same if they new that? I can see the appeal of alternative medicine. The cost of vitamin C is minimal compared to many pharmaceuticals. The side effects seem to be limited. There are no patent wars over vitamin C. It can claim to be “all natural.”
This is all great, but as Tim Minchin writes in one of my favorite 10 minute shorts, “By definition, alternative medicine has either not been proved to work or been proved not to work. Do you know what they call alternative medicine that has been proved to work? Medicine.”
In my opinion, watching that video is probably the best investment of 10 minutes you’ll make this week. If you are lucky enough to find such great information presented in entertainment way once a year, you’ve hit a home run. It really is that well-done.
As the USA Today article mentioned, people often pit supplements against pharmaceuticals like they are the Red Sox and Yankees. They like to point out that some pharmaceuticals were taken off the market because they harmed people and thus supplements are the answer. It isn’t a fight between or the other. It isn’t a zero sum game where if one loses the other wins. If the entire pharmaceutical industry was whisked off to Jupiter tomorrow, it wouldn’t change the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of vitamin C. If the entire supplement industry was whisked off to Saturn it wouldn’t change the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness of Viagra (which is very effective).
People in that Youngevity article have taken things to the extreme suggesting that there’s a “sickness industry.” The idea behind it is that doctors have collaborated to keep people sick so that they can get repeat business. This ridiculous notion seems to work on those who lack critical thinking skills. Those with critical thinking skills would realize that they couldn’t keep such an elaborate plot secret in every country on Earth. Someone would leak it for the fame and fortune. Not only that, but these people would have to explain why these doctors would not choose to cure their own mothers and daughters. People are going to get sick no matter what we do, there’s no need for doctors to intentionally try to keep people sick. They have more personal incentive to solve a sickness and become personally famous with movies and book deals on how he/she did it… not to mention money from the cure itself (Pfizer did quite well with Viagra).
Other people in the Youngevity article have pointed out that the pharmaceutical industry is undoubtedly corrupt and that I shouldn’t defend them. I imagine there most certainly is corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. However, we must grant that there likely is the same corruption in the supplement industry. If we are going to be conspiracy theorists, we might as well be equal opportunity ones. I wonder if these conspiracy theorists are the same people who own mutual funds. I wonder if these people have mortgages. There is extensive evidence that there is corruption all over Wall Street and yet I don’t know anyone with money who doesn’t have money effected by it. The subprime lending and banking collapse in 2008 are just a couple of examples. If you bought into stocks at that time you would have probably come close to doubling your money. You may have used a bank’s money to own their homes today.
The lesson here is that good results can come about despite “corruption.” We’d love for every industry to be corruption-free. I can’t think of any industry that is. I can’t see how damning all industries because of some “corruption” is progress.
Many supplement supporters will point to their safety. I can’t tell you how many comments I’ve gotten from people saying, “When was the last time someone died from supplements?” (I resist the urge to educate them about the role that Ephedra played in Baltimore Orioles’ Steve Belcher’s death.) However, there’s a lot of research showing that supplements simply aren’t as safe as we thought. There’s a New York Times article that cites quite a few problems with supplements such as “20 percent contained potentially harmful levels of lead, mercury or arsenic”, and people taking two products “developed hair loss, muscle cramps, diarrhea, joint pain, fatigue and blisters.” The conclusion was simple: “For too long, too many people have believed that dietary supplements can only help and never hurt. Increasingly, it’s clear that this belief is a false one.”
That article didn’t address the damage done to the liver by supplements.
Then there are hidden dangers with supplements that few consider. This Wikipedia article on self-licensing shows that people use supplements as an excuse, like a counterbalance, to engage or continue dangerous habits such as smoking. However, without proof or significant evidence that supplements counter the dangerous habits, a person is left with worse health than before.
Even if we were to concede that supplements are generally safe (which would simply be wrong from the above information), we have to consider the case of ice cream. Ice cream is “safe” too, so why not advocate that as an alternative to medicine?
The answer is that safety doesn’t mean anything without effectiveness. Each day millions and millions of people get in cars despite the fact that they aren’t safe. Why? Because cars are effective transportation. A couch may be safer, but it is sucks when it comes to transporting people from point A to point B. People focused on safety without regard to effectiveness have got their priorities backwards.
Once I put all the conspiracy theories aside, I’m left one with one question, “Does it work?” If it doesn’t work, then we might as well associate it with ice cream, at least that tastes better.
When it comes to pharmaceuticals, you know that they’ve been tested in multiple clinical trials to show that they are both safe and effective. Like any human endeavor, there are mistakes that happen, but these are the outlier cases. It isn’t the norm, or there would be hundreds of million of people dropping dead from medicine each day. On the other hand, when it comes to supplements, there are typically no clinical trials showing that they are effective for anything… with these notable exceptions on the FDA’s website. It’s not like vitamins and supplements haven’t been put to the test either. This article on The Atlantic does a great job of citing that in tests of hundreds of thousands of people vitamins and supplements haven’t been effective. This article on The Slate comes to the same conclusion.
Finally, as the NY Times wrote in this article, Herbal Supplements Are Often Not What They Seem, “DNA tests show that many pills labeled as healing herbs are little more than powdered rice and weeds.” The article shows that you might not be getting what you are buying with supplements, which is very different from most pharmaceuticals that are under strict regulations.
In short, there’s significant proof that pharmaceuticals do work and significant proof that vitamins and supplements don’t work. I’m with you in wishing the opposite were true, but that doesn’t make it reality. Thus with the exception of vitamin D and calcium supplements for bone strength, folic acid for expecting mothers, and a few others, I conclude that it does not make sense to buy vitamins.
I leave you with some advice that I believe both camps can agree on. Eating right and exercising seems to be the time-tested formula for good health.
Update (1/2015): More research continues to show that antioxidants don’t improve lifespan.
Update (7/2016): Consumer Reports has put together some information to help consumers with supplements. They mention that they created a dangerous weight-loss supplement simply to show how quick and easy it is for anyone to do the same. They also created a label to show how deceptive they can be.
They also reported that supplements can make you sick. With the help of a team of doctors, they created a list of 15 supplement ingredients to always avoid.
Not only that, but Consumer Reports (again with medical professionals) explain few people need supplements, but here are the one who do.
Consumer Reports also tells you what USP Verified and other supplement seals mean. The quick and dirty: No one approves the products are safe and effective like FDA approval, but at least the seals show that some of the product has been checked sometime to ensure that it contains what it says.
[I want to make it quite clear that I’ve received no compensation from anyone for this post. The supplement people are often quite quick to point out that Big Pharma is paying for articles like this in an attempt to discredit it. So know that I have no financial interest in this war of pharmaceuticals and supplements. I simply want to help educate people use critical thinking skills and not waste their money on marketing when the science shows they receive no benefit.]
The preceding was an updated article first published in August 2013.
That was a great summary and I love that Minchin video too — pure genius!
With the few exceptions you noted above, there are many very good reasons to not take supplements. For the most part, they are either of unproven value or have been proven ineffective; but in some cases, like with ephedra as you pointed out, they can even be deadly. Many of the companies that market supplements show blatant disregard for the general welfare of consumers, so there’s very good reason to be extremely mistrustful of the industry as a whole, and that goes double for any supplement companies that involve multilevel (pyramid) marketing. The potential risks associated with supplements are multiplied because these products are meant to be taken daily, often multiple times daily, for years; thus, violating the canonical principle of “all things in moderation”.
Consumers should be especially wary in light of incidents like the recent metal contamination debacle with LifeVantage and Herbalife products; incidents with companies like Chemins and Metabolife (i.e., they were poisoning people with ephedra and lying about it to the FDA); and just the simple fact that so many of these companies grossly misrepresent the effectiveness and value of their products — if a supplement company resorts to making deceptive/illegal claims about effectiveness, then it isn’t much of a stretch to conclude that they would be equally deceptive about safety, and that they therefore might have no qualms about selling products that are tainted, adulterated, or just unhealthy.
The theory about a “Big Pharma/Medical Industry conspiracy” to stifle supplements is just fodder for the gullible and dimwitted. Pharma makes no lobbying efforts against supplements and they aren’t trying to suppress them in any way whatsoever; the fact is, they make many of them (if you don’t believe me, just check the bottle labels at the supermarket/pharmacy). In the few cases where supplements been shown to be effective, it has been the medical/scientific communities (not sketchy supplement companies) that did the research and got it in front of the FDA – that’s why we know about the value of things like vitamin D, calcium, folate, omega-3 fatty acids, diets low in saturated fats, etc. (i.e., virtually all scientific knowledge about nutrition). A supplement produced by a veteran Pharma company is also a lot more likely to meet label specifications and be free of adulterants than some crap from a shady fly-by-night MLM company. However, even in the best case scenario (i.e., when products contain what they are advertised to contain, the ingredients haven’t lost activity, and no adulterants or contaminants are present), supplements often turn out to be worse for us than anticipated. As more and more data comes in from long-term clinical trials, we are often seeing increased disease rates among supplement users. The non-Pharma supplement industry always seems to sidestep results like this or uses them as an excuse for hyping some other new untested supplement.
One of the other potentially serious problems with supplements that often goes unconsidered, but which we’ve discussed here a few times, is the Licensing Effect, whereby the act of doing something that one perceives as ‘good’ (e.g., taking a supplement) provides a false sense of security to do something bad (e.g., eating poorly or not exercising). So even if a supplement isn’t contaminated, contains what’s it’s advertised to contain, and doesn’t turn out to be directly harmful, it can still be indirectly harmful by having a permissive effect on unhealthy behaviors. I see this reflected in virtually every supplement sales pitch and in the behavior of supplement users. Didn’t eat enough fruit and vegetables today? No problem, you took your antioxidant pill right? You forgot to stretch at the gym, but that’s OK too because you gobbled a few chondroitin/glucosamine tabs. You don’t do cardio, but that doesn’t matter because your heart is protected with fish oil capsules…right? Fatigue from lack of food and sleep isn’t a problem because there’s guarana…right? For binge drinking there’s vitamin B and milk thistle…right? Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!!!!! If someone is using these products to bridge gaps then it means their lifestyle habits aren’t healthy, and if their lifestyle habits aren’t healthy, taking supplements isn’t the fix – correcting their lifestyle is the fix. If someone’s lifestyle is already healthy, then there is even less reason to take supplements.
I can think of so many epic failures in the supplement industry and very few successes. When was the last time you even heard someone mention Echinacea?
I’ve used Youngevity Tangy Tangerine and had good results. It makes me feel much more energetic and alert. Per LazyMan’s advice last year, I also tried Optimen Vitamins from Amazon which have similar nutritional information as Tangy Tangerine. The Optimen vitamins were much cheaper and made me feel nearly as good as the Tangy Tangerine. The big difference between the two was that I couldn’t take the vitamins on an empty stomach whereas the Tangy Tangerine I could.
How difficult it must be to view the world through skepticism and conspiracy. Everything is really a scam to take your money. And how noble it is to be the purveyor of the bad news that someone is taking your hard earned money. Someone needs to tell you your being scammed!
I’d rather view the world through primrose glasses and be f%%%d up the a%s than believe everyone is f%%%ing me all day long. Just feels a little better.
Tell us more of what makes you you happy, so some other skeptic can pull off your glasses and make you look in the mirror.
BTW – Critical thinking requires a view of balance and employs data points from both sides of the equation. You created an argument by pointing out a single case of Ephedra killing someone. There are many more cases of death by supplements but also far greater cases of death by pharmaceuticals. Also toast and ice cream are NOT good food choices IMO.:)
Toutain, I find it funny that people through the world from conspiracy as well. I can’t tell you many times people here have said that doctors, the FDA, and Big Pharma are in cahoots to keep every sick.
I don’t know anyone who thinks they are being f-ed all day long. It’s just wise to know when you are. I didn’t even get to the latest research that came out yesterday: herbal supplements appear to often not contain what they are supposed to.
I’ve written quite a bit about makes me happy. I wrote an article about it yesterday.
Critical thinking doesn’t requires a view of balance. One can think critically about domestic violence without trying to try to find kind of positive of it.
My argument was far more detailed and widespread than a single case of Ephedra killing someone.
I never said that toast and ice cream are good food choices. They are simply examples of products you can digest that are safe, just like many supplements. They appear to be equally ineffective as well.
[Editor’s Note: This comment was moved from my Protandim Scam article because it was more appropriate for this topic barely mentioning Protandim at all.]
I apologize for the length of this. First off I admit I trust supplements more than I trust drugs. But I do not believe/trust in MLM products, including Protandim. Just because something is natural does’t mean it’s safe for everyone. There are many herb/drug interactions. Before I recommend a supplement to someone, I look to see what drugs they are on first and what their disease is and if there are any contraindications. I did not always believe in supplements until my late husband was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. We decided to look into alternative medicine because we felt we had nothing to lose. He continued with his meds tho and he “went” on a health/supplement regimen. But we were not true believers at the time and he was not consistent. If he was PERHAPS he might be alive today. Of course, I don’t know that …. it’s pure conjecture. Since his death, I have studied in-depth the alternative treatments and find them safer/more effective than drugs. Drugs only treat/maintain the symptoms/disease, not the root cause of the problem, which could simply be a vitamin deficiency. I know that’s simplified statement and sometimes it’s more than just that. I suffer from migraines and I have learned that it can often be caused by magnesium deficiency. Most doctors don’t know this and instead simply prescribe migraine drugs. There have been several whistle-blowers who have testified that medical clinical trials are often rigged and the dangerous side-effects were known, but not published. One is David Graham of Merck & their drug Vioxx: http://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/111804dgtest.pdf. Another is Marcia Angell, who worked for over 20 years as editor of JAMA. She wrote a book about it: The Truth About Drug Companies: How They Deceive us and What to Do About It. I’m providing links to a couple of articles which can be explored further: http://www.feelguide.com/2014/01/12/90-of-prescriptions-exposed-as-a-scam-massive-corruption-uncovered-between-doctors-big-pharma/, http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/faking-medical-reality/ (note: the links don’t work but I’m sure you can find the info on your own). Six years ago, John Ioannidis, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece, found that nearly half of published articles in scientific journals contained findings that were false, in the sense that independent researchers couldn’t replicate them. (I don’t have a link for that, but a simple Google search will find it.) These days, it’s not always possible to get our nutrients from food unless we know how they are grown. Most mega farms’ soil is farmed in such a way that the ground is deficient in nutrients. And then there is GMO food and pesticides which is difficult to get off food.
So many things to dig through here… I’m not sure why you posted this on my Protandim article if you aren’t really going to talk about it.
There’s no evidence that supplements are more effective… and a lot of evidence that they are ineffective. We know the vitamin deficiency diseases… they are listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutrition_disorder#Vitamins_and_micronutrients. If you happen to have one then vitamins may help. See your doctor and see what they have to say.
Dozens of studies of hundreds of thousands of people show that there’s no need for supplements and that they may even be harmful: http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleID=1789253.
As I said in the article, there are cases of corruption in the pharmaceutical industry. The FeelGuide article that you linked to didn’t seem to provide any evidence, just someone’s accusations. Maybe I missed it, I admit that I didn’t have a ton of time to get through it, but I saw a lot of inflammatory statements with no source to back it up.
Just because a published article in a journal couldn’t be replicated it doesn’t mean it was necessary false. Independent researchers don’t attempt to replicate everything published. Unless you are a scientist, you probably want to stay out of the journals, because, as you point out they often haven’t been shown to work in large enough sample sizes. It’s why we have a system in place that systematically reviews useful findings… and if they continue to be useful they become more proven. You can read more about the process here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/aboutcer/. A good companion piece would be this: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/what-do-scientific-studies-show/
As for soil being deficient in nutrients, you needed worry about it. For a long explanation, see the middle of this article. The explanation is part of the Youngevity article, because their distributors are spreading the bad information about soil depletion to create demand for their product.
If you have a problem with GMO and pesticides, buy organic. Your problem is solved. Without GMO and pesticides the world’s hunger problem would be even larger than it already is.
Some supplements contain a lot of nutrients that are good for the body. But of course you have to consider first the brand name and everything. Do not be engaged just because of advertisement. Be wise!
Marie, you missed the point of the article. The supplements are generally not good for the body. Brand name is unimportant. It is just a label and does not change the chemical composition of the product.
I don’t have any opinion one way or the other about this stuff. I just came across this “Youngevity,” and as I always do, I typed “Youngevity” and “scam” into Google to investigate and came to this site.
Although I tend to agree with some of what you are writing, the fact that supplements have no value is simply not true. Here are some medically proven examples:
The cure for rickets is calcium, phosphorus, and/or vitamin D. Yes, these three “supplements” are the medical cure for for the disease rickets.
http://www.medicinenet.com/rickets/page4.htm#what_is_the_treatment_for_rickets
The cure for the disease scurvy is vitamin C. Yes, the “supplement” vitamin C is the medical cure for scurvy.
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/125350-treatment
Vitamin B12 is proven to cure canker sores, claudication, fatigue, and improve memory loss. Yes, regular certified medical doctors prescribe vitamin B12, a “supplement,” to cure canker sores, claudication, fatigue and help improve memory loss to victims of memory loss.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/vitamin-b12/dosing/hrb-20060243
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-926-vitamin+b12.aspx?activeIngredientId=926&activeIngredientName=vitamin+b12&source=1
Think about these the next time you read or hear that vitamins and supplements do not cure diseases. The three I wrote above are the most known ones, but there are others. But for some reason, the medical community and government don’t ever mention these.
With the poor diet most American eat that lacks the essential nutrients we need, a multivitamin is recommended by most physicians/medical doctors to “supplement” a patient’s diet due to this lack of nutrients and vitamins.
Regarding the above information, I just wanted to point out a few facts. If you don’t believe me, look these up. Also, stop saying that “supplements are not effective,” when clearly, as shown above, some are.
I, personally, take a multivitamin and a vitamin B complex I buy at Vitamin Shoppe, but I don’t go crazy with all the extra supplements. I have also experienced and have spoken to others who have experienced the medicinal qualities of Allium (garlic), also a good source of selenium supplement (which most Americans do not get enough of) – not placebo – but actual benefits: chiefly cardiovascular, digestive, and anti-inflammatory.
Eat healthy, be happy, enjoy life, praise God.
DJDave,
You are referring to vitamin-deficiency diseases. These are diseases that happen by not having enough of certain vitamin. As you pointed out, people without enough vitamin C can get scurvy.
The thing is that we know exactly what these diseases are. They are listed in this chart.
They are extremely rare in the United States. Anyone with a healthy diet wouldn’t have a problem getting more than enough.
The answer to a poor diet isn’t to take a multivitamin. The answer is to improve the diet.
In any case, research done on hundreds of thousands of subject lead the annals of Internal Medicine to declare, “The message is simple: Most supplements do not prevent chronic disease or death, their use is not justified, and they should be avoided. This message is especially true for the general population with no clear evidence of micronutrient deficiencies, who represent most supplement users in the United States and in other countries… we believe that the case is closed— supplementing the diet of well-nourished adults with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might even be harmful. These vitamins should not be used for chronic disease prevention. Enough is enough.”
In short, there’s no problem with the vitamins in Americans diets.
The medical community and the government don’t mention them because they are extremely rare. No one mentions to me to look up when I leave a building so that an anvil or a piano doesn’t fall on my head. It isn’t an effective use of time to warn about these.
In addition, this can give uneducated people the erroneous believe that if vitamin C cures scurvy, it can also cure cancer. That’s the problem. Vitamin salesmen have no desire to educate people that this isn’t true, because they lose money.
Mr Lazy you are mistaken about diseases related to b12 being rare. Please educate yourself. They are far from rare more common than one would think. After 20 years suffering with various things docs told me related to fibrymyalgia I now have the answer after finally being screened for b12 deficiency. Many people have a genetic inability to absorb b12 through their diet, antacids and prescribed medicines for acid reflux strip b12 and make it hard to absorb through diet. Too much info to relay in this post but safe to say you are completely off base in your assumption. If docs would start screening for this common problem many would still be able to walk and many would still be alive today. It’s a crime in my book. Something needs to change for docs to become aware of this problem.
Lesley Shriver,
I respectfully disagree with you since you didn’t cite any sources of your information. You seem to be basing everything on one experience, your own. If you have sources of information, then please sure than rather than say, “educate yourself.” I’ve cited my sources extensively proving that I have educated myself. Please do the same.
That said, a little quick research on Wikipedia says, “The human body’s stores for different vitamins vary widely; vitamins A, D, and B12 are stored in significant amounts in the human body, mainly in the liver, and an adult human’s diet may be deficient in vitamins A and D for many months and B12 in some cases for years, before developing a deficiency condition.” It is cited, so please no complaint about Wikipedia about the source of the quote, read the primary reference and prove it wrong if you can.
The Mayo Clinic has more information on B12 including the mention of those using long-term acid-reducing medications. Obviously this is a rare special case, and one that your doctor should help you with.
I wasn’t writing about every special case for every particular vitamin such an article would be a billion pages long and quite boring. This is about the general public just buying vitamins thinking that it will make them healthier.
“Without GMO and pesticides the world’s hunger problem would be even larger than it already is.”
Wow…really LazyMan?? GMOs huh. Hope you know a good oncologist buddy. Good luck.
Hmmm, GMOs can prevent millions of dying of certain starvation and there’s a small chance (according to you) that some of them get cancer later in life? Yes, it sounds like a good deal to me. I wonder if you’d agree after a few months on a deserted island with only GMO food.
If you don’t want to eat GMOs no one is making you. Simply choose organic and you don’t have to worry.
Now, let’s get back to the topic of supplements, because GMOs aren’t a part of that discussion.