I have long maintained that a balanced diet for generally healthy people is more than sufficient to provide essential nutrients for the body. Some supplements may be useful for specific problems, e.g., niacin for ' bad' cholesterol, but generally they are unnecessary for general health maintenance. This view seems to be supported by large and well-conducted trials.
The supplements business, including vitamins and minerals, is BIG business with lots of money spent advertising these nostrums, but I doubt they have any practical health effect, as recent studies appear to be revealing.
"“...I’m puzzled why the public in general ignores the results of well-done trials,” said Dr. Eric Klein, national study coordinator for the prostate cancer trial and chairman of the Cleveland Clinic’s Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute. “The public’s belief in the benefits of vitamins and nutrients is not supported by the available scientific data.” [emphasis added]
Everyone needs vitamins, which are essential nutrients that the body can’t produce on its own. Inadequate vitamin C leads to scurvy, for instance, and a lack of vitamin D can cause rickets.
But a balanced diet typically provides an adequate level of these nutrients, and today many popular foods are fortified with extra vitamins and minerals. As a result, diseases caused by nutrient deficiency are rare in the United States..."
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