Tag: vitamins
“DNA-based” personalized nutrition advice: Not ready for prime time
There are countless vendors offering "personalized" nutrition recommendations, some based on DNA- or microbiome-testing. What does the evidence actually say?
Do dietary supplements affect the survival of cancer patients?
Do dietary supplements offer advantages or risks to breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy?
Juice Plus+: Good Marketing, Not Good Science
Juice Plus+ is a multilevel marketing company selling fruits and vegetables that they have reduced to a powder and put into capsules. It's clever marketing using deceptive advertising. There is no scientific evidence that it benefits health.
The FTC cracks down on iV Bars for false advertising claims about its “intravenous micronutrient therapy”
One of the most popular forms of quackery sold by alternative medicine practitioners such as naturopaths is intravenous vitamin therapy, sometimes also called "intravenous micronutrient therapy" (IVMT). Most are variants of a concoction known as "Myers cocktail," and there is no good evidence that IVMT is efficacious for any of the indications for which quacks use it. Last week, the FTC issued...
Routine Vitamin Supplementation Mostly Useless
A new meta-analysis shows no benefit from multivitamins or routine supplementation. These results should motivate users to take a fresh look at their supplementation.
Puritan’s Pride Vitamin Advisor Gives Questionable Advice
The Puritan’s Pride website has a Vitamin Advisor that claims to provide a personalized supplement plan, with expert recommendations chosen just for you. In my opinion it is deceptive, designed not to provide evidence-based personalized health advice, but to sell their products; and one can only wonder what kind of “experts” would support such ill-advised recommendations. Stephen Barrett and I have just...
Vitamins and Cancer Risk
Vitamins have been promoted as a general panacea, as well as a means of preventing cancer. In reality, high doses of vitamins may even cause cancer.
Naturopathy vs. Science: Prenatal Vitamins
This is another post in the naturopathy versus science series, where a naturopath’s medical advice is assessed against the scientific evidence. Today’s topic is brought to you by Toronto naturopath Shawna Darou, who recently published her evaluation of prenatal vitamins. Vitamin supplementation is unnecessary for the vast majority of people. You wouldn’t know this walking through a drug store, where you’ll usually...
More evidence that routine multivitamin use should be avoided
If scientific evidence guides our health decisions, we will look back at the vitamin craze of the last few decades with disbelief. Indiscriminate use is, in most cases, probably useless and potentially harmful. We are collectively throwing away billions of dollars into supplements, chasing the idea of benefits that have never materialized. Multivitamins are marketed with a veneer of science but that...
Do vitamins prevent cancer and heart disease?
The US Preventive Services Task Force has released an update on vitamin and mineral supplements to prevent heart disease and cancer. The evidence was not good and did not support taking vitamins as "nutritional insurance."