{"id":169,"date":"2005-07-16T13:49:55","date_gmt":"2005-07-16T20:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lee.org\/blog\/archives\/2005\/05\/10\/asd\/"},"modified":"2015-06-18T00:04:03","modified_gmt":"2015-06-18T07:04:03","slug":"vitamins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/2005\/07\/16\/vitamins\/","title":{"rendered":"Vitamins"},"content":{"rendered":"

I blogged last year<\/a> about my confusion with buying multi-vitamins. It comes down to knowing how much vitamins to take and how much is too much. I’ve found a good reference. Consumerlab.com<\/a> is a free resource available to Oxford Healthcare members… of which I am.<\/p>\n

I got the Puritan<\/a> Mega Vita Min tablets today with my 10% Oxford discount. (hint: if you call them on the phone, they don’t verify your Oxford membership)By taking them, I hope to live forever. I’ll get back to you in a century or so to tell you if it works.<\/p>\n

Here’s the Consumerlab research:
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Background:<\/strong>
\nMultivitamins\/multiminerals are America’s most popular dietary supplements. Referred to as “multis,” the ingredients vary widely by brand. There are no established standards on what multis should contain.<\/p>\n

One reason for not having uniform standards is that people’s diets and their needs differ. Nutrient requirements and cautions vary depending on age, gender, health status, use of substances such as alcohol or tobacco, and medications taken.<\/p>\n

Many new and revised recommendations have been issued by the Institute of Medicine, including a major update in January 2001 (see ConsumerTips<\/a>\u00e2\u201e\u00a2 in this report). However, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to require product labeling to include much of this new information in the “% Daily Value” listing that appears in the “Supplement Facts” panel.<\/p>\n

Products also can remain on store shelves for months or even years before being replaced with newer versions. Consequently, even if a manufacturer has re-formulated its product to meet new recommendations, consumers may still be buying the older version.<\/p>\n

In addition to selecting a product that appears to have the right ingredients, one should be confident that it: contains what it claims; breaks down properly once in the body so its ingredients can be effectively utilized; and is free of impurities. Neither the U.S. government nor any agency is responsible for routinely testing multis or other dietary supplements for their contents or quality.<\/p>\n

ConsumerLab.com, as part of its mission to independently evaluate products that affect health and nutrition, purchased many of the leading multivitamin\/multimineral products sold in the U.S. and tested them for their quality and evaluated them against the most recently recommended Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n
For more detailed information on the potential benefits of multivitamin\/multimineral supplements as a whole, see ConsumerTips<\/a> section of this report and the General Nutritional Support<\/a> article in the Natural Products Encyclopedia.<\/font>For information on nutritional depletions caused by specific drugs, see the Drug Interactions<\/a> section of the Natural Products Encyclopedia.<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>Quality Concerns and What CL Tested For:<\/strong>
\nMultivitamins\/multiminerals are among those supplements most likely to have quality problems. They contain multiple ingredients and, therefore, more possibility for error. Multis have been known to be short on some ingredients, fail to dissolve properly, and be contaminated with heavy metals.ConsumerLab.com tested products for their amounts of several common labeled ingredients: folic acid, calcium, and vitamin A (retinol and beta-carotene). Not all of the products were labeled to contain every one of these ingredients. Therefore, some were alternatively tested for other ingredients — such as Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the absence of folic acid, and iron or zinc if calcium was not present (see Testing Methods and Passing Score<\/a>).Products also were tested to determine if they: disintegrated properly in order to dissolve and be absorbed in the body; and did not contain potentially harmful levels of lead, a contaminant of some mineral-based products.<\/p>\n

Products had to pass testing on all of these criteria to be considered APPROVED. In addition, ConsumerLab.com reviewed the levels of vitamins and minerals to determine if any product provided doses high enough so as to carry a risk of adverse side effects. Those that exceeded upper tolerable limits (ULs — see discussion below) are footnoted.<\/p>\n

Testing & Results:<\/strong>
\nOnly 14 of 24 multis and fortified waters selected by CL passed testing. Also 20 additional products passed but were tested at the request of their manufacturers or distributors through Voluntary Certification Program<\/a> (each product indicated with an asterisk). Three pet supplements also were tested, of which one failed. The reasons why products failed are indicated in the table and summarized below by category of multivitamin\/mulitimineral supplement.<\/p>\n