Money Being Wasted on Multivitamins, Says Consumer Watchdog

Consumer watchdog Choice has said that taking multivitamin pills everyday could be a waste of time and money.

An investigation by the watchdog found that healthy individuals who already eat a balanced diet but also take multivitamins could be spending money unnecessarily.

Calcium and Vitamin Supplements
Calcium and vitamin supplements are taken to provide the body with the ''required'' nutrients. Calcium is a mineral found in many foods. Vitamins are very important nutrients for the body.

Although there at times there are clinical evidence to support taking a supplement, the doses can often be way below levels required to have a significant impact, the organisation said.

"If you have a healthy diet and you're not a person with specific nutritional requirements, there's a good chance you're wasting your money," News.com.au quoted Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just as saying.

"At 20 to 70 cents per day for multivitamin products we priced, the 'worried well' can spend several hundred dollars a year simply by taking a daily pill.

About Vitamin B-6
Vitamins play an equally important part in the synthesis of neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters in the brain also help maintain good mood while keeping one's mental faculties sharp

"Marketing messages, often backed up by high-profile sporting celebrities, give the impression that we all need multivitamins to be fit and healthy," she said in a statement.

People popping a range of multivitamins without checking the recommended daily intake (RDI) requirements could be exceeding the RDI for some vitamins and thereby potentially putting their health at risk, as not all vitamins are safe in high doses.

About Vitamin B-12
Vitamin B-12 is also known as cobalamine or cyanocobalamine, owing to the presence of the metal, cobalt. Cyanocobalamine is used in most supplements because it is readily converted to active forms of vitamin B-12 in the body.

The investigation found that since most multivitamins contain lower doses of ingredients so it's harder for them to be over-consumed.

Vitamin labelling could also confuse consumers, with some labels stating the vitamin name such as B3, while others give the chemical name, niacin.

About Vitamin B9
Vital info about vitamin B9, its molecular structure, dietary sources, beneficial aspects, symptoms of deficiency and toxicity, supplementation tips and related research news are discussed in detail

"An untrained person probably wouldn't know that the two things are one and the same," Just said.

Manufacturers of products that are sold in Australia are not required to list how each ingredient amount relates to RDI.

"We want manufacturers to list vitamin and mineral values according to the percentage of an appropriate RDI in each dose to help consumers compare apples with apples," Choice's investigation concluded.

The study pointed out that some groups definitely benefit from supplements, including pregnant women taking folate before and after conception.

Source-ANI