Weight Loss and Dietary Supplements: A Doctor’s Perspective
Dietary Supplements including detox diets and supplements are worthless for weight loss and just about any other health issue. Save Your Money and Time:
Detox diets, and dietary supplements are clearly worthless when it comes to losing weight. Dr Lipman reviews the evidence from the most recent scientific literature. All they do is take your money and cause you to lose focus on what is really healthy”-losing weight.
Read the Recent Evidence Yourself:
This year appears to be the crossroads of the vitamin, food supplement, and antioxidant wars. The results of multiple long term studies that began in the 1990’s have failed to show any benefit in reduction of chronic diseases, weight loss or even prolonged life span in individuals taking dietary supplements.
The controversies over the benefits of taking vitamins actually began in the late 1940’s when the questions of whether Vitamin C prevented the common cold was raised. Two years ago an extensive NIH study reported that Vitamin C does not prevent the common cold.
Released in February 2007, a metanalysis of antioxidants-beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium taken singly or in combination failed to show any improvement in all- cause mortality compared to placebo. In fact, beta carotene, vitamin A and E may actually increase mortality by producing among other things internal bleeding.
Long term studies of Vitamin E and C that began in 1997 were just completed in December 2008. No benefit was found in prevention of cardiovascular disease in healthy middle age men taking Vitamins E or C. Even more important was the report of 15,000 male physicians taking vitamin C and E that showed no differences in cancer or heart disease over a 10 year period in Physicians Health Study.
Since January 2009 several more long term studies were released The National Cancer Institute released the status of vitamin supplements for cancer prevention in an editorial in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. After reviewing hundreds of studies covering thousand of patients no convincing evidence was found that showed any benefit in “reducing the incidence or recurrence of neoplasia from nutrient supplementation or dietary modification.”
Recent evidence from the Women’s Health Initiative found no evidence that multi-vitamins has any effect on cancer or heart disease in 181,000 women followed for 8 years.
These observations, especially those involving the antioxidants, show again that anecdotal stories should never replace long term controlled studies. So many obesity prone individuals struggling to lose weight lose focus when concerning themselves with the dietary supplements they see advertised each day.
Losing weight is hard enough and spending money and effort on useless remedies is fruitless.
About the Author
Richard L. Lipman M.D., a board certified internist and endocrinologist has been treating weight and metabolic problems for 25 years in his Miami office. His recent book, The 100 Calorie Secret
Bone Thugs N Harmony -Tha Crossroads 1995
