Word: vitamins
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...their focus on preventing scurvy and other rare deficiency problems, to be irrelevant to real health needs. "Our clientele generally thinks of the RDA as a kind of joke," says Sandy Gooch, owner of the chain of seven Mrs. Gooch's markets in Southern California. What's actually needed, vitamin advocates suggest, is guidelines for optimal consumption. That amount may very well depend upon age, sex and life-style habits...
Nonetheless, failing to match daily dietary guidelines is no reason to go running for the vitamin bottle. "What you do one day or one week isn't the whole story," stresses Jeanne Goldberg, assistant professor of nutrition at Tufts. "It's what your general eating patterns are." Blitzing on junk food for a day or two is no problem if over the long haul a diet regularly contains fruits and veggies. If it does not, popping pills is a good insurance policy, especially important for those who reject greens outright. Supplements are also useful to people with special conditions, including...
Others believe it is too soon to be making recommendations to the public. The long-term effects of high-dose supplements are still unknown, and doctors warn of dangers even in the short term. Too much vitamin D, for example, can cause damaging calcium deposits in muscle tissue, including the heart...
Last February the FDA rejected as premature applications by vitamin makers to promote folic acid as a means of preventing neural-tube birth defects, antioxidants as a hedge against cancer, and zinc as a booster of aging immune systems. Both federal and state regulatory agencies have been cracking down on nutrient health claims. The FDA says it will hold label claims to standards similar to those applied to drugs. Advises Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health: "At this time I say don't take megadoses, but I'm not ruling out that in two or three...
...Mighty Vitamin...