TIME magazine’s senior writer John Cloud recently pondered the question of nutraceutical dietary supplements in this way:
“Vitamins, probiotics, omega-3 capsules, antioxidant pills: they can’t hurt, right? Around the corner of each advancing birthday lurks a possible affliction – arthritis, cancer, Alzheimer’s – and a giant industry has emerged to try to prevent them all.
“North Americans now spend an estimated $28 billion a year on dietary supplements – more than twice what we spent in 1995 and more than $5 billion more than what we pay each year for gym memberships. But do supplements actually work?”
Here’s what happened to John: , Continue reading
You may wonder why anything this obvious even needs to be reported as “news” in the first place. Yet that’s what’s happened this week over the issue of whether taking vitamin supplements can ward off cancer and other serious diseases better than eating healthy food does. Pitching this supplement claim is like a dream fantasy for legitimate supplement manufacturers and snake oil salesmen alike, so both groups will be disappointed by this “news”.
The Ethical Nag 