12.01.10
While half of Americans routinely take dietary supplements, the most common being multivitamin and multimineral supplements, evidence suggests getting nutrients from food is a much better option, according to a health report from Harvard Medical School titled “Vitamins and Minerals: Choosing the Nutrients You Need to Stay Healthy.” The report indicates studies of people who eat diets rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains and fish show they consume higher levels of vitamins and minerals from these foods and also have a lower risk of many diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancers. On the other hand, trials testing the effect of selected vitamins or minerals as pill supplements have mostly shown very little influence on health. The main exception may be fish oil supplements, for which some trials show a lower risk of heart disease and possibly vitamin D. Vitamin and mineral supplements deliver only a fraction of the biologically active compounds in food, the report states.