Could Doctors Have An Ulterior Motive To Discourage Vitamin And Mineral Supplements?

On 2nd Jan. 2014, I talked about "Are Vitamin And Mineral Supplements Necessary?" Some doctors believe that vitamins and mineral supplements are actually waste of money and they don't add any benefit to our body. Now, there is one article offers another perspective about vitamins and mineral supplements.

According to Katherine Martinko many people feel that the medical community’s desire to crush the multivitamin and dietary supplement market is a direct attack on alternative medicine (such as chiropractors, midwives, acupuncturists, osteopaths, homeopaths, and naturopaths). This is because if we are healthy and taking care of ourselves by other means, doctors and pharmaceutical companies will make less money.

The book Bad Pharma also points out that some doctors get paid thousands of dollars in speaking and consulting fees by pharmaceutical companies, another possible conflict of interest. So perhaps doctors aren’t to be entirely trusted when it comes to opinions about dietary supplements, since it may not be in their best interest to promote their use.

Researchers are known to cherry-pick the data that supports the argument they wish to make. The multivitamin study never mentioned a huge study last year reporting a lower incidence of cancer among men taking supplements. Nor does it address the fact that regular supplement users often report overall ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ health, although that could be due to users having generally healthier lifestyles than non-users, with better nutrition and more exercise. Nevertheless, it's worth keeping in mind that the supplement industry is not nearly as regulated as the pharmaceutical industry, so it's easier for supplement companies to invent claims about their products without doing studies to back them up.

It’s still a good idea to approach multivitamins with caution. They are not a substitute for good nutrition, and many of the cheaper varieties contain worrisome synthetic nutrients. Consult alternative health care practitioners for additional opinions to learn which supplements can be truly beneficial.