What did people do before vitamins/minerals were available as supplements?

Question

Were people vitamin defficient or did they get what they needed from eating healthier than we do today? My husband thinks supplements are a hoax by the government. What do you think?

Answer 1

No, more people died from mysterious causes and people generally didn't live as long.

What did they do? They got sick and died.

That's not to say that you can't get the vitamins and minerals elsewhere ... but until you know you need it, whether or not you get it is left up to chance.

Consider scurvy (a disease that comes about if you lack vitamin-C): Once the British military figured out that there was a deficiency that could be fixed by adding citrus to seamen's regular diet, the "disease" went from a top killer to virtually unheard of.

If you know what's in everything you eat (and you have the resources), you can make sure you eat the right foods to get the vitamins and minerals you need. If you don't keep that carefull track, or you simply avoid certain foods that would provide missing vitamins and minerals, these supplements are a wonderful.

In any case, your husband is wrong about it being a hoax: Amongst other critical supplies various relief agencies carry around overseas with them: Multivitamins. If its a hoax, its a world-wide hoax with a ton of researchers in on it.

If you have a generally well rounded diet, you'll probably get MORE than what you need. Indeed there have been a number of studies that show that if you miss some things long enough, the deficiency in your body can start cravings. Trouble is, its hard to sort out that sort of craving from the "gotta have chocholate now..." kind of craving. This may be the body's attempt at regulating your actions towards getting more of what it needs ... but its too soon to tell.

Generally, Americans do NOT have as well rounded a diet as they used to and supplements can help make up for it. Yeah, better would be to improve the diet ...

But that doesn't mean that the supplements can't be used in a pinch.

Answer 2

Or course there were and ARE people with deficiencies, either by social/economic class or region... And one key to answering your question would be for you to define "Before"... If you look at the diet of your average peasant / farmer from the 1500's, you'll find they actually had a good number of vitamins and minerals as they were on a vegetable and grain heavy diet.. starvation was more of a risk!! The "Royalty" was more likely to have nutritional deficiencies as they were on a richer diet of meats and white-bread with fewer veggies.

If you go back to the 1850's-1950's... you're looking at a fairly well balanced diet for the middle-class and wealthy. With obvious issues for region... if you're in a warmer climate you'll have more FRESH fruit and veggies. But my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents were ALWAYS canning veggies and fruit at harvest time. You put it up to last you thru the winter.

I DO think that supplements are a HYPE by their manufacturers and the industry... I mean if you simply have a V-8 or two a day you get your vitamins and minerals for the day.

As a kid (60's & 70's) I never took vitamins... we simply ate RIGHT. We lived in the growing Silicon Valley, yet we had a 144 sq ft garden and ate endless tomatos, beans, squash, peppers, and such. We only had McDonalds perhaps 4 times a YEAR.

BUT I knew other kids who didn't like veggies and had parents who would permit that kind of behavior.. one kid was actually suffering from scurvy in Junior High.

Answer 3

I pretty much agree with Sweeny, but I would like to add that our modern, "conventional" way to grow produce actually results in a less nutritious fruit or vegetable because the soils amended only with chemical fertilizers do not have the minerals and stuff the plant needs to be at optimum health. Therefore, the harvest is also deficient in those vitamins and minerals the plant should be producing in abundance. People should be eating foods grown organically or all naturally, using compost and manure for fertilizer, because these methods really do create more nutritious foods.

Answer 4

Before vitamins became available as supplements, there wasn't a lot of fast/junk food either...people's diets were a bit more well balanced with more fruit and veggies being part of their standard fare (esp in parts of the country where a lot of people grew a good bit of their own food).

When more and more processed foods came onto the market, fast food, junk food, etc is when people's diets began lacking certain elements they used to get through the foods they ate...hence supplements came about to provide nutrition ya can't get from hamburgers and twinkies.

Answer 5

As much as possible, people would try to get vitamins from food; but the reality is that on most days, unless a person is entirely fixated on food and has nothing else to do all day, most people would have difficulty in trying to eat all of the foods that would be required to meet the recommended minimum daily requirement. Hence, the introduction of "One a Day" vitamins to make it easier to ensure people are getting the daily vitamins recommended for healthy functioning.

Answer 6

They just didn't have them. They weren't as "health conscious" as we are today, and they didn't understand there were benefits to be had by vitamins and minerals. All they got were in the food they consumed. They DID, after all, have a much shorter life expectancy than we do today. So I don't think they are a hoax. I take my vitamins every day.

Answer 7

Supplements only became needed when people started processing food to the point that the nutrients were removed (white flour vs. wheat) and fast food became the main food supply.
In the past (pre-industrial), people often were sick with dietary deficiencies, especially in the winter when there was no fresh fruit or veggies.
If people ate whole foods, fresh fruit and veggies, and kept away from fast foods, we would not need so many supplements.

Answer 8

You can get all the vitamins for the foods you eat, you do NOT need to take supplements, unless you are health nut who is delusional enough to believe that they are a great help .

Answer 9

They ate food they grew and were not eating as much preservative and additives as we are today. At the same time a lot of people were deficient in some form or another.
Vitamins are not needed if you eat right and most people that take them don't need them, but you can't convince them of that.

Answer 10

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