Until recently I have taken a multi-vitamin everyday, along with several other vitamins depending on the time of the year (for example – Vitamin D in winter) or the type of training I was doing (Brewers Yeast, a B complex during particularly hard training regiments for “improved energy and recovery”). The funny thing is I never felt any different when I took them.
Actually its not really that funny because I may have been wasting my money for the past several years. Do multi-vitamins really do anything? A lot of research out there shows they do not. And there is a lot of research that they do. Some say the reduce the risk of Cancer and some say the increase the risk of Cancer. Honestly, go Google it yourself. The World is Awash in contradictory studies on this topic.
I used to think that taking one was kind of like an insurance policy: They do not do me any direct harm and could be giving me the vitamins needed. When my girl friend asked me why I was taking them now I said “For my health”, but then she retorted “But do you feel any different when you do not take them?”
Thats when it clicked. No I do not. I have never felt any noticeably different taking a vitamin or not. When taking B vitamins for energy I never felt more energetic. When I took vitamin D to prevent SEDS I still felt just a lousy during the long dark winter months. I guess thats not totally true because sometimes I did feel sick to my stomach if I took one without food.
So my plan now is to cut out any form of vitamin supplement and just focus on getting my daily intake from food instead. Something tells me that in a few months time the only thing that will change is having an additional $30 in my wallet every month.