by Daniel Fox

Created on: November 20, 2008

This whole health obsession has become a national craze. It seems nearly every week some company has a new product that if you buy will 'magically' make you healthier. These products though all end up being the same thing with different names and different price tags, just to make these companies a bit of extra money. Nobody used supplements 30 years ago so why is there suddenly a huge demand for them?

The simple fact is you don't really need these supplements providing, of course, that your eating a balanced diet to begin with. It is much simpler and in fact much cheaper to just add these vitamins to your everyday diet, through fruit and vegetables. Yes you hear all the 'eat 5 a day' in the media all the time these days, that's because it's true. However supplements aren't needed for this.

The companies that sell these products try to make out you need them. Obviously they're going to do that but it's misleading and should not really be allowed in my opinion. Companies promoting there products as 'boosting your immune system significantly' and 'reduce you chance of disease by x%' are nonsense, if that were the case there would be some hard scientific evidence to support the need for supplements but as of yet there is not.

People spend an absolute fortune on these supplements without realising that you just don't need them. I had a friend who spent 100 a month on various vitamin supplements, when i showed him he was getting the recommended daily allowancene for all the vitamins just through his diet he was amazed, and thanked me for saving him that money! But it is that simple, plenty of fruit and vegetables and you have all the vitamins you need. If people ate what foods they knew were good for them then there would be none of this supplement rubbish. The fact is though the majority of people don't, otherwise there would be a great decrease in diabetes, heart disease and other health conditions related to diet and weight.

The only reason that anyone should take vitamin supplements, in my opinion, is if they are recommended by a doctor or nutrionist. There may be a genuine medical reason why vitamin supplements are required, for example a dificiency that cannot be replaced by diet. That is the only reason supplements should be taken, these are quite uncommon though. Other than that there is no real valid reason why vitamin supplements should be take. So long as you eat correctly you will get all the vitamins you need from your diet.

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