That Supplement isn't a Cure For All Your Health Problems

You must have heard or possibly used a product from a multi billion dollar industry with the hope that you will get cured for one ailment, condition, or health concern. I am not talking about the Yoruba gbogbo nise (Cure it all), instead I am talking about Supplements. This industry has learned how to use marketing to get their information into your brain stem so they can devour your hard-earned money, with the hope of getting better health.

This information are most times quietly influenced to manipulate, mislead, and harvest money from your wallet with already dashed hopes, and the funny thing is you will remained tied up in the circle with no one coming to help you because that is where you think you will be getting all the help you are looking for. Most of the people pushing supplements online and on the media do this without having enough scientific evidence to support their claim.

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Let me start with something you might be familiar with. You must have heard of vitamin C being a cure to cold but maybe you do not know where it started from. It started from one scientist named Linus Pauling who won the Nobel price in chemistry in the year 1955. His writing on vitamin C preventing cold in the 1970s led to the Pauling effect which made manufacturers of vitamin C see increased profit which was quadruple what they made in the past.

Asides from cold, Pauling began to write on vitamin C treating almost every disease from flu, cancer, and every disease under the sun. You see, it wasn't like he was just making it up (as we would say as at the time), his basis was built on the fact that vitamin C had antioxidant. Antioxidant is found in many of our foods, and it plays important role in offsetting cellular damage as well as playing major roles in aging and disease. He went with the school of thought that more vitamin C would provide more antioxidant to the body leading to less disease.

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Scientist have looked into vitamin C as well as other supplements that talk about delivering antioxidant to the body, and it was seen that they do not treat or cure cancer in any way. So if you are one of those who believe that the supplement you have in your cupboard would prevent cancer, then I just broke a bad news to you, because it doesn't. But then you ask why a lot of people still hold on to this belief? The answer is that people are attracted to quick fixes and shortcuts to their health conditions or possible health conditions. I am sure you are trying to exonerate yourself from the vitamin C illustration, but then what about the brain boosting formulations and the super immunity supplements, or the better gut supplement you have in your closet?

According to survey, 4 in 5 Americans take supplements, and 2 in 3 adults take multivitamin and supplements worldwide with over 100 billion dollar industry which will double in the next few years. If we want to look at supplement, we cannot but mention the scurvy case with sea lords and pirate. James Lind came up with an observation that the absent of fruits and vegetables while on sea led to scurvy and he decided to give them oranges and lemons after which they became well. What the pirates were lacking was vitamins, because the body cannot produce vitamins on its own and the fruits gave them the vitamin the wanted.

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In the midst of the great depression, people where not getting the nutrients they needed and had vitamin deficiencies leading to different health conditions. When Alka-Seltzer multivitamin came in the 1940s, it brought a drastic change to the health and well-being of people. Soon there were mass production of multivitamins being distributed. This meant that the multivitamin industry became a thing because we were malnourished so it was understandable then but in our world today, we have more of a waste problem than a food scarcity problem.

One thing I have noticed about multivitamins and supplements is that they usually have more then the required recommended intake in one dose. If you doubt this, you can take a look at the supplement you have in your hands, and you might be seeing 200% of a particular vitamin or nutrient that you would normally need on a daily basis. This is outrageous but then this is why a lot of people are glued to them as they see them as potential silver bullets for their health but what people do not know is that once it is a water soluble vitamin, your body would get rid of them and if it is a fat soluble vitamin, the excess can be stored in the tissues but then if there are cases of maga doses, then taking them in excess is dangerous to your health so you can see that they are selling you a lie in an angel package.

In essence, the supplement industry, thriving on the desire for a magic bullet, often sells consumers an illusion packaged in angelic promises. Understanding that a balanced diet and lifestyle remain the cornerstone of health is pivotal to navigating through the enticing yet uncertain terrain of supplements. As consumers, critical discernment and a cautious approach can help unravel the complexities surrounding this booming industry.

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Reference

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https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Athanasios-Valavanidis/publication
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9820110/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-11023-4
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36838362/
https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-C
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20799507/
https://www.cancer.gov/research
https://osteopathic.org/2019/01/16
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/MVMS-HealthProfessional/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1276007/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3536506/
https://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/alka-seltzer/98309