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Yes, many doctors recommend taking vitamins and supplement. Some are saying that all adults should at least be taking a multivitamin.
Vitamins and supplements may have gotten some bad press saying that they just come out the other end as expensive urine. And there are some safety concerns due to the fact that vitamins and supplements are not regulated by the FDA.
However, many doctors and experts are saying that most people should be taking vitamins and supplements daily to supplement beyond what they get from their diet. Vitamins and supplements are not to be used as a substitute for whole foods, but used to supplement it.
While it is true that real whole food is better than vitamins and supplement, we simply do not get enough of them from our food based on our average diet.
The book UltraPrevention cites that ...
"80 percent of Americans are not getting even the RDA of one or more of the essential vitamins, minerals, or other nutrients." [page 177]
And for those few that are getting the RDA amounts of essential vitamins, the RDA values themselves may be too low as mentioned by many experts.
What Experts are Saying About Vitamins and Supplements
Speaking generally, certain vitamins and supplements do have their benefits and are recommended for most people. Here are what some experts are saying about them.
In a radio program, Joe Graedon of People's Pharmacy, talked of importance of vitamin D, magnesium, and fish oil.
He says that if grew our own fruits and vegetables, didn't import food from so far away, and if we really did eat 5 or 6 or 7 helpings a day of those essential nutrients, then many of us would not need vitamin pills and mineral supplements. But looking at what the average teenagers eat, you are not going to get the balance amount of nutrients. Also if you are taking medication, some of which may reduce the ability to absorb certain vitamins, then you may also need supplementation.Joe Graedon says in the radio program ...
"I do think many of us do need some vitamins and minerals every day as a supplement beyond what we can get from our diet. Because (a) we are not eating well, (b) a lot of us are taking medicines which are depleting our bodies of these essential nutrients."[1]
As a counter-point, the third guest of the radio program Nancy Clark a registered dietitian says that vitamins/supplements are overrated. Most healthy people can get the nutrients they need from foods. They know what they should be eating, but some just don't. She says that food is much more important and one should not use vitamins and supplements as substitutes for food.
Many nutritionist believe that is not possible to get the optimum amount of vitamins from our daily foods. The authors of the book The Real Vitamin and Mineral Book writes...
"However, it is virtually impossible to meet the RDIs by eating the food available to us today. As a clinician who sees real people, I know how impractical and mis-leading the typical well-balanced diet explained in nutrition handbooks can be." [page 19]
This is partly because our foods are grown in nutrient depleted soils. Nutritional value are also partially lost during the transport, storage, processing, and even cooking of the foods.
