Do Multivitamins Work? The Truth Behind the Supplement Industry| Between the Lines with Palki Sharma

[Music] foreign [Music] are you a health Enthusiast do you know someone who is I think we've all met that one person who believes multivitamins changed their life they take their vitamin C's and these very seriously and they pop those pills like candy the number of such people is growing the world over and it seems like a harmless Trend after all in a post-pandemic world isn't Health everything and if tiny capsules guarantee that Health then why not tonight we'll try to answer that question the question of why not are multivitamins truly the magic cure a lot of us believe so given how fast this industry is growing it could be worth 300 billion dollars by 2024 it's massive it's also highly unregulated you get these pills everywhere on Instagram on Amazon even your neighborhood grocery stores some of them have brand ambassadors but for most popularity depends on hearsay people who swear by these pills who call them their secret superhero serum they guarantee Eternal youth immunity strength glowing skin thicker hair better Nails whatever you want but do they deliver what exactly are multivitamins should you be taking them do they pose a risk and most importantly why should you care hello and welcome I'm palki Sharma and on this show we'll try to read between the lines the stated and the unstated the obvious and the hidden to bring you the full story [Music] thank you our protagonist tonight is a pill it comes in different colors in different names and Promises different benefits it is called a multivitamin and what is that well usually a supplement if your diet lacks something this supplement will make up for it it contains vitamins minerals other nutrients and guess what there is no standard for what a multivitamin is think of it like this if your body is Batman the multivitamin is like Robin essentially a sidekick are you not getting enough sunlight take a vitamin D is your immune system weak pop a vitamin C are you looking for better eyesight vitamin A can come to a rescue it's the trend but where and how did this trend begin supplements were first introduced in the 1930s and 1940s it was a way to address nutrient deficiencies cure diseases like rickets or scurvy it was a time when countries were dealing with the second world war medical treatment was expensive so supplements were seen as a good alternative a way to avoid hospitals and expensive treatments they came like knights in shining armor promising to keep people healthy in recent years their popularity boomed people became more health conscious but they were making poor lifestyle choices so they turned to vitamins and supplements to undo the damage also the health and wellness Market in general has been growing and supplements form a big chunk of it over half of all Americans take some sort of vitamin or supplement more than half in 2017 the supplement industry was worth 37 billion dollars by 2024 it could be worth 300 billion 300 billion dollars like I said this is a booming market and it's the same story in India multivitamins topped drug sales for the first time in the year 2020 it was during the pandemic people wanted to be armed with nutrients to fight the Wuhan virus the industry raked in billions no matter what deficiency you have actual or perceived the vitamin industry has your back they started as Tiny capsules but now they come in many shapes and forms like these gummy bears honestly who wouldn't want to eat one of those there's also vitamin coffee vitamin e-cigarettes vitamin beer and even vitamin vodka because who wouldn't like a good dose of vitamins with a side of shots and it's okay if you want to have them it's your choice but do you really need them and there's a difference between the two let's go back to our Batman reference vitamins are to our body what Robin is to Batman but Batman doesn't always need Robin similarly we don't always need vitamin supplements in fact there's very little evidence to suggest that multivitamins help studies show that there is no clear health benefit here's one such the physician's health study summed it up best it began in 1997 it ended in 2011. it was the largest study looking into multivitamins more than 14 000 people participated they took one of two pills for over a decade one was a multivitamin the other was a placebo a dummy pill do you know what the results showed there was no clear evidence of any health benefit due to multivitamins so why do so many people take them the answer is this term the placebo effect you know what that means a dummy treatment that shows results and how does that happen basically when you take these supplements your mind is thinking health so you tend to adopt a healthier lifestyle as well you tend to start eating better or exercising in most cases and the effect you see comes from these healthier choices not the pills you pop and then again you can argue what is the harm why not keep taking multivitamins for morale because they can lead to side effects in some cases adverse ones in 2011 researchers found that women who took multivitamins died at a higher rate than women who did not another study said that men had a higher risk of prostate cancer high doses of vitamin A and D can be harmful they increase the risk of cancer plus there's a risk of heart diseases and lower lifespans and some of these may be extreme cases but there's enough empirical evidence to show that vitamins could send you to the emergency room let me show you some numbers in the UK more than 23 000 emergency room visits are linked to supplements 23 000 in a year because of supplements some can even be poisonous there was another study conducted in 2017 it found that 20 percent of all cases of liver toxicity are because of supplements we have some Stark numbers from Poison centers in the U.S they get one call every 24 minutes about supplement poisoning imagine that these vitamins and supplements are supposed to help us instead they could send us to the ER then how are they selling like candy because like I said there is no regulation the multivitamin Market is absolutely no rules no regulation no oversight it's almost running Rogue you don't need a prescription you don't need supervision you can buy them almost everywhere and often they don't even come with instructions so you never really know what is the safe limit should you take one pill a day or two should you give a break every two months or every six months no clear answers plus multivitamins often team up with other sidekicks that's Health gimmicks and quacks on the internet if you look at social media today everyone is a health expert everyone has something to recommend and more often than not it is multivitamins there's also false advertising drinks that apparently help you lose weight herbal supplements so-called cures for everything they're marketed everywhere often without real research one study found that 70 percent of supplements tested had some degree of substitution meaning it doesn't have the product mentioned on the label many of them even have contaminants or fillers and this is not friendly stuff but it's still selling in large numbers call it the pandemic effect or just the general fear of lifestyle diseases but people are really embracing these tiny capsules science says you don't need them to be healthy it may look like a magic wand to fix all your problems but in reality it's more like sprinkling fairy dust on your health pretty but not very effective they won't turn you into the Hulk and honestly if you are suddenly turning green maybe it's time to ditch those pills but on a more serious note the real hero is not these pills it is a balanced diet instead of relying on an army of vitamins rely on fruits and vegetables and if you still feel the need for a pill call your doctor first they got their degrees for a reason they will help you make an informed choice and whatever you do remember this there is no secret formula to Good Health we all know how to do it but we don't want to swallow that bitter pill think about it [Music] thank you

Channel: Firstpost

Views: 855,336

Keywords: firstpost, palki sharma, multivitamin, multivitamin tablets, vitamin, health tips, lifestyle, supplement industry, dietary supplement industry, food supplement industry, do multivitamins work, multivitamin capsule, multivitamin supplements, multivitamin supplements for bodybuilding, multivitamin truth, truth behind supplements, multivitamin work, multivitamin supplement, multivitamin supplements good or bad, multivitamin industry, vitamins supplements, vitamins, health and wellness

Id: VdkL9l3uO5g

Length: 10min 0sec (600 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 30 2023