Reversing its long-held stance on the value of vitamin supplements, the Journal of the American Medical Association this week (July 5, 2002) recommended that all adults take a multi-vitamin daily. This advice is based on a comprehensive review of more than 30 years of scientific lit-erature that supports the use of vitamins in preventing common chronic illnesses, such as heart disease and cancer. The review confirmed that Americans are not getting enough of the essen-tial nutrients they need from food alone.
The journal features two articles by a pair of Harvard physicians who based their findings on a scientific review of studies on vitamins published in English from 1966 through early 2002. The authors concluded that while some populations, notably the elderly, have a higher risk of in-adequate vitamin intake, the general population is also at risk.
“It appears prudent for all adults to take vitamin supplements,” the researchers state. “Phy-sicians should make specific efforts to learn about their patient’s use of vitamins, to ensure they are taking the vitamins they should, such as folate supplementation for women in the childbearing years . . .” Although the Journal of the American Medical Association articles did not review vitamin intake for children, in some reports the lead study author was quoted as saying that children should probably also take a multi-vitamin daily.
Here are some of the key observations made by the researchers:
A large number of individuals do not observe recommended intake of five fruits and vegetables a day. A multi-vitamin would significantly offset the health risks associated with inadequate diet.
Some groups of patients, such as alcohol-dependent individuals and the elderly may have an increased risk of vitamin deficiency or an unbalanced intake of daily levels of nutrients.
The low cost associated with multi-vitamins make them a convenient and affordable choice for disease prevention.
A multi-vitamin provides low daily levels of many vitamins, reducing the risk of overdosing on individual vitamins.
In response to this important study, we are pleased to offer a wide range of multiple vitamin-mineral supplements to fulfill the essential daily nutritional needs for you and your customers, conveniently and effectively.
For your information, the consistently best-selling full-spectrum multiple vitamins formulas in our line are:
POWER SOURCE 100 (Product #3090)
ULTRA MULTI 90 PLUS (Product #1090)
SUPER-VITE Tablets (Product #1034)
MEGA MULTIPLE 85 Nutra Caps (Product #266)
