We may not be short of food, but what we’re choosing to eat can be less than ideal for optimum health. Despite more than ten years of campaigning by the Department of Health, only 31 per cent of adults get their five portions of fruit and veg a day.
“Not getting enough vitamin C can have a knock-on effect on the immune system, and missing out on nutrients such as folate [folic acid] can affect both heart health and mood,” says dietitian Dr Carrie Ruxton from the Health Supplements Information Service (hsis.org).
According to the government-backed National Diet and Nutrition survey in 2011, which tracked the food intake of 3,000 people for three years, we’re also not getting enough heart-healthy oily fish – the average weekly consumption of 54g fell below the recommended 140g. Levels of key nutrients such as iron and vitamin D – vital for energy as well as strong bones and teeth – were also found to be consistently low.
“In the short term, you may not see any symptoms as a consequence of poor dietary choices,” says Claire Williamson, nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation (nutrition.org.uk). “But research shows that a poor diet is linked to an increased risk of chronic illnesses in the future, including heart disease, certain types of cancer and diabetes.”
Even healthier eaters can become low in nutrients if they’re dealing with ongoing stress, Ruxton says, as “antioxidant nutrients such as vitamins C and E, selenium and beta-carotene can become depleted”.
Deficiencies can often result in the general sub-par state of health that many of us accept as normal. The Department of Health’s advice is to ensure we eat a varied diet that consists of “plenty of fruit, vegetables and starchy foods, choosing wholegrain wherever possible, and some meat, fish, eggs, dairy products and/or non-meat sources of protein”. But if your lifestyle – or your taste in food – means that’s difficult, then a supplement can seem like the next best thing.
In 2009, sales of vitamins and dietary supplements in the UK totalled £675 million, a growth of about 16 per cent over the previous five years. According to a recent poll on businesstraveller.com, a third of our readers regularly take vitamin supplements when they travel, while 10 per cent do so “occasionally”. But can a pill really make up for a less than ideal diet? Or are we simply wasting our money?
Supplements do have Department of Health backing, but only for specific groups of people, such as children under five, pregnant and breastfeeding women, older people and those on restricted diets such as vegetarians. The evidence for whether supplements are a good thing for adults in general is conflicting.
Last year, the Physicians’ Health Study found that taking a multivitamin cut the risk of all cancers in middle-aged men by 8 per cent. Researchers concluded that although a modest reduction, it was enough to support “the potential use of multivitamin supplements”. But, confusingly, a recent review of 817 studies carried out for the respected Cochrane Foundation by Copenhagen University, linked supplementing with the antioxidant vitamins A, E and beta-carotene with an increased risk of premature death.
There’s no doubt that getting a full spectrum of vitamins and minerals is important. The 13 vitamins – A, C, D, E, K and the eight B vitamins – have specific functions in the body. We need vitamin C for healthy cells, A for good eyesight and healthy skin, D for strong bones and teeth, and E to maintain cell structure. Apart from vitamin D, which is created when the skin is exposed to sunlight, our bodies cannot make vitamins, so we need to get them from food.
But you can have too much of a good thing. “Taking high doses of any single supplement is never a good idea,” says sports nutritionist Matt Lovell, brand ambassador for sports nutrition brand Kinetica (kineticasports.com). Nutrients compete with each other for absorption, so taking too much zinc (more than 25mg a day), for example, can lower iron levels and may damage the immune system over the long-term.
In the short term, high doses of vitamin C (more than 1,000mg) can bring on diarrhoea, while too much iron (more than 20mg), of which little is excreted so can build up to toxic levels, can result in vomiting and abdominal pain among other symptoms. To avoid “hypervitaminosis” – the build-up of fat-soluble vitamins to toxic levels (water soluble vitamins are passed in urine) – don’t take cocktails of supplements or pills that contain more than your recommended daily allowance (RDA).
We also don’t know whether the body utilises nutrients from supplements in the same way as those from food. “There is substantial evidence that a diet high in fruit and vegetables is beneficial for health, but there isn’t evidence that obtaining similar nutrients via a supplement has the same beneficial effect,” Williamson says.
The vitamins and minerals in most supplements are synthetic – a nutrient found in nature is isolated from the food that it is found in, then synthetically reproduced, often using derivatives of petroleum, and processed into a tablet or capsule.
“Because they’re not natural, the body has to convert them into a usable form, and nutrients are depleted in the process,” says Henrietta Norton, a nutritional therapist from wildnutrition.com. “So if you take a 300mg magnesium supplement, your body will only absorb about 10 per cent of that.”
Norton is one of a growing number of manufacturers who are producing “food-state” vitamins, which comprise a concentrated amount of nutrient bonded in a complex made from foods such as baker’s yeast and probiotic yoghurt to make a supplement that is more “bio-available” to the body. But other experts disagree about how this process works. “Vitamins are a chemical structure and are absorbed the same whether naturally occurring or in a supplement,” Ruxton says.
So how do you know that a supplement is safe and effective? “As long as supplements are bought within the EU, they will be high quality as there are strict regulations covering purity and safety,” Ruxton says. “A multi-nutrient supplement, containing both vitamins and minerals in recommended amounts, is a good starting point.”
Lovell recommends buying a different brand each time you run out. “The formulas differ between them, so switching regularly guarantees a good balance,” he says. “You need to take a supplement consistently to feel the benefits, but not every day – five days on and two days off works for a lot of people.”
Ten top supplements for travellers
1) Healthspan MultiVitality Gold
What’s in it? 100 per cent RDA of 18 essential vitamins and minerals as well as nine other important micronutrients.
Who needs it? Anyone who feels their diet is inadequate.
Price £5 for 90 tablets
healthspan.co.uk
2) Kinetica Essential 4
What’s in it? A multi-mix designed to top up the key vitamins depleted by regular exercise, including B complex, A, C and E.
Who needs it? Sport and fitness enthusiasts – if you exercise regularly you metabolise nutrients faster.
Price £20 for 120 tablets
3) Higher Nature True Food All Man
What’s in it? A broad spectrum of food-based essential vitamins and minerals – thought to be better absorbed by the body than a normal supplement. It also includes a probiotic for digestive support, co-enzyme Q10 for energy, and soyagen for prostate health.
Who needs it? Frequent travellers with busy schedules.
Price £9 for 30 capsules
4) Vitabiotics Wellman Skin Technology
What’s in it? A full spectrum of vitamins and minerals, plus extra nutrients designed to boost skin health, such as grape seed, green tea and marine collagen. Add a fish oil supplement for best effects.
Who needs it? Frequent travellers who’d like to lose that grey pallor that can come with hours spent in a pressurised cabin, and reduce the ageing effect of sun exposure.
Price £17 for 60 pills
5) Nature’s Best Pure Fish Oil
What’s in it? High-potency (1,100mg) pure fish oil from UK-based direct supply supplement manufacturer Nature’s Best, providing good intake of essential fatty acids EPA and DHA.
Who needs it? People who rarely eat fish.
Price £14.50 for 180 capsules
6) Cleanmarine Krill Oil
What’s in it? Krill oil comes from the tiny shrimp-like creatures that live on the seabed and feed directly from nutrient-dense algae. A combination of omega-three fatty acids, DHA (60mg) and EPA (27.5mg), with antioxidants, astaxanthin and canthaxanthin, as well as phospholipids, vitamins A and E.
Who needs it? People with joint problems – research suggests it has an anti-inflammatory effect and can help to reduce stiffness and swelling. If you find fish oil capsules too big to swallow or too fishy, consider switching to krill.
Price £22
7) Wild Nutrition Vitamin C and Bioflavonoids
What’s in it? 500mg of “food state” vitamin C and 160mg of bioflavonoids, which may be more readily available to the body than synthetic vitamins.
Who needs it? Anyone who comes back from every trip with a cold.
Price £20 for 60 capsules
8) Better You DLux3000 Vitamin D Spray
What’s in it? There is 75mg of vitamin D3 in one spritz of this peppermint flavoured oral spray.
Who needs it? People working in offices – although present in small amounts in foods such as eggs and oily fish, most vitamin D is made by the body when it comes into contact with sunlight.
Price £8
9) Bio-Kult Probiotic Multi-Strain Formula
What’s in it? 14 strains of good bacteria, including lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium bifidum.
Who needs it? Frequent flyers prone to travellers’ diarrhoea. Start taking a week before your trip and continue for a week after you return.
Price £9 for 30 capsules
10) GTF Chromium and Antioxidants
What’s in it? One capsule provides 120 micrograms of a biologically active form of chromium, one of the minerals found in yeast, liver and kidney. Chromium increases the action of insulin and helps to regulate blood sugar levels, contributing to normal blood glucose and energy metabolism.
Who needs it? People who are under stress and need coffee to get through the day. Also good for supporting weight loss.
Price £16 for 60 capsules
