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Tag: Cochrane

  • Coronavirus: Taking supplements poses risks

    Coronavirus: Taking supplements poses risks

    If you’re thinking there’s a vitamin supplement you can take to fend off the novel coronavirus, think again. As a general rule, for otherwise healthy people, vitamin and herbal supplements offer greater risks than benefits. Still, the New York Times reports that millions of people right now are spending money on supplements, believing that supplements will improve their immune systems.

    Based on independent evidence from Cochrane.org and other sources, there’s no reason to believe that most supplements offer most people any meaningful benefits. You can read here about vitamin B12, vitamin C, vitamin D, and fish oil supplements.  And, you can read here about 15 ingredients in some supplements that pose particular health risks.

    One serious issue with supplements is that they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. So, they can have additives that are dangerous to your health. Another issue is that they can interact in harmful ways with other drugs you are taking, both prescription and over-the-counter. So, it’s best to speak to your doctor, before taking supplements.

    The safest and most effective way to boost your immune system if you are otherwise healthy is to eat healthy, drink a lot of water, and, exercise. Exercise is your best bet for bone health, not calcium or vitamin D supplements.

    What about zinc? Zinc helps our immune systems fight off bacteria and viruses. Right now people are buying large amounts of zinc. The best way to get zinc in your system is from eating red meat, poultry, shellfish, beans, nuts, chickpeas, lentils.

    If you take zinc supplements, be careful. The National Institutes of Health says that taking too much zinc can be harmful, lowering your immunity, and it warns you should take no more than 40 mg a day. It recommends that adult women get 8 mg of zinc a day and men 11 mg. Cochrane has found evidence that zinc supplements have helped prevent pneumonia in children aged two to 59 months. But the quality of the evidence was “low.”

    People are also buying elderberry supplements and echinacea. Cochrane finds that the evidence does not show echinacea fights the common cold, but it says echinacea could offer a “weak benefit.” As for elderberry supplements to prevent flu, the National Institutes of Health reports that  the evidence is weak.

    And melatonin? People are also struggling to sleep because of stress and anxiety. So, they are buying melatonin because they believe it can help them sleep better. Cochrane finds evidence that melatonin is “remarkably effective in preventing or reducing jet lag,” and says short-term use appears to be safe. But, it has not studied its effect on sleep more generally. The NIH reports that there is not enough strong evidence to show that melatonin helps or is safe for people with chronic sleep problems. Again, there are possible adverse interactions with other drugs. So, talk to your doctor before taking it. Here are some tips for sleeping well without drugs.

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  • Should you be taking vitamins?

    Should you be taking vitamins?

    Liz Szabo reports for the New York Times that older Americans are popping supplements like candy. Doctors may recommend certain vitamins like vitamin D and folic acid, and dozens of others are marketed widely. But, the evidence suggests that most of these supplements offer no health benefits for otherwise healthy individuals and that some ingredients in some supplements do harm. Should you be taking vitamins?

    If you are otherwise healthy, speak with your doctor. You should likely skip the vitamin pills and instead eat a balanced diet. The preponderance of independent studies on almost all supplements suggests that the benefits are at best negligible and the dangers, at times, significant. For example, the biggest studies show that  vitamin E and folic acid supplements do not promote heart health. What’s worse, the studies show that too much vitamin E can mean you are at higher risk of heart failure, prostate cancer and death from any cause.

    Still, nearly seven in ten older adults take at least one vitamin and nearly three in ten take four or more vitamins.  There appears to be a misplaced belief that you can get more of the nutrients you need from vitamin pills and that more vitamins in your system is better for your health. But, pills are generally no substitute for eating a healthy diet, some ingredients in some vitamins can cause serious health risks, and taking more vitamins can be harmful to your health.

    Before believing the “experts” and spending your money on a supplement, you might want to review the scientific evidence on www.Cochrane.org. Cochrane is a global independent network of researchers, professionals, carers, patients and people interested in health. The people at Cochrane “gather and summarize the best evidence from research to help you make informed choices about treatments.”

    You can read the independent research findings about these vitamins on Just Care:

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