Do Vitamins really help anyone? or are the vitamin companies just making money?

Question

The reason I ask is I have a professor who "speaks out" about vitamins on a regular basis, talking about how vitamins just go right through you, there is no medical evidence that says your body actually takes anything in, And thats why your urine turns colors and smells, is because your body turns it to waste before it has a chance to absorb in you. So quite literally you are flushing your money down the toilet. oh, but he says prenatal vitamins are different, meaning proven medically effective.

Is any of this actually true? professional opinions would be greatly appreciated.


BTW the professor i am refering to is the head of the substance abuse couseling department and he "speaks out" about this when discussing the dangers of pharmacology with relation to substance abuse... I admit talking about vitamins in this situation is a far stretch, and the guy has some very radical viewpoints in other areas so it's hard for me to know whether hes for real on this or not, please help

I'm really asking more for my own peace of mind

and any evidence to support or deny his claim would be greatly appreciated

Answer 1

Well, they do help. I can tell when I take certain ones. B-complex certainly gives me more energy and elevates my mood. I sometimes take GABA to help regulate my mood. With the GABA I can tell a difference and have more vivid dreams. When I took A, C, E, and zinc on a regular basis, I found I didn't get as many colds and infections. Taking a kelp supplement would give me a little more energy.

Some will tell you that magnesium and B6 in large enough dosages helps reduce violence in some autistics (the same can be said for DMG and antioxidants).

Vitamins are basically food products. If you are deficient, your body uses them, and if you don't need them, they pass right through you. That fact that certain ones pass through you is why you need to take them. They will do that despite whether you get them from a tablet or a meal.

You have to also be careful which brands you get. There are different grades of delivery methods. You can go to the grocery store and get "feed grade" vitamins. Then you can go to the nutrition stores and get capsules, sublinguals, colloidals, etc., and these tend to absorb better. We cannot judge all vitamins by those brands and delivery methods that do not work. You also have to avoid the hype. Usually, those who claim the worst about vitamins have some to sell of their own. They will say things like, "I used to work at a waste treatment facility, I could see vitamins in the sewage and knew what they were because they still had the names stamped on them." Then they will turn right around and offer you the "brand that works." Alternative nutrition and vitamins work, its just that too many people are involved in the field, and too many are trying to make money off of it.

Answer 2

Vitamin B complex is produced Vitamins in deficiency surely helps But it should be given in a well balance way!If it is taken UN necessarily for a long time it do harm also! There are water soluble vitamins which after their work gets excreted through urine.But Fat soluble vitamins A,D,E and K if taken in large doses it causes hypervitaminosis and they occupy Liver and interrupts it work !Some time some salt of some vitamin do not absorbed so change in their salt for better result is required !General rule for any thing is true here also That is "Any thing in excess is harm full"Every drug has to pass LIVER for detoxification and metabolism and than final metabolites will be excreted out through kidney in urine !Now a day new concept has come up that is of free radical of oxygen !So They push this vitamin as anti oxident and helps in post ponding aging process !! But it must be taken in minimum reuired dose !So be conscious in taking vitamins !It may help to person taking but it surely helps Pharmaceutical company manufacturing it !
Always YouRsmE

Answer 3

My boyfriend is alive today due to vitamin therapy! He used vitamin therapy, meditation and visualization and has gone into remission from FSGS! He was told 23 yrs ago he had two more years to live! The Dr has his own line of vitamins he has made from the purest ingredients some come from New Zealand because it's so pure over there! The over the counter vitamins don't have the quality that you can get other places. When he did what the regular Dr's told him to do he kept getting worse and worse, til a friend hooked him up with Dr. Jack who has the vitamins! I don't think your professor knows what he's talking about!

Answer 4

I do take vitamins here and there. Mostly vit. B and C. I have heard about the multi vitamins not even disolving. That they just lump up in your stomache. And eventually pass through you. So if that is true, which I do believe it is, then yes you are wasting your money. I like to try and get my vitamins through the foods I eat. All natural is allways the best way to go. You could try using liquid vit. I bet those are the best way to go if you need to take them.

Answer 5

They really do help but do not substitute for a healthy well balanced diet. I have dark circles under my eyes whenever I quit taking multi vitamins. I believe the surgeon general came out few years ago saying the single most important thing everyone should be doing is taking daily multi vitamins.

Answer 6

Yes a good one a day tablet will help make up for what you are missing...Your body absorbs a certain amount of minerals and vitamins a day..If your body has max out for the day..You will simple pee out the remaining amount.

Answer 7

I take prenatal vitamins and my hair and nails grow really fast. My skin looks great too. I'm guessing they work.

Answer 8

i take vitamins every day, with food, I am a senior and so far so good, its your choice, you be the judge not someone else

Answer 9

A lot of what he said is true, however he is the Prof. So do as he says in class, and do what you think is right the rest of the time.

Answer 10

They don't do as much as the companies say they do but they are vital to a healthy life.