Vitamins Are a Waste of Money?

by Raymond Francis Headlines are screaming, “Don’t Waste Your Money on Multivitamins.” The drug companies are at it again, and if you like propaganda and misinformation, you will love the latest nonsense coming out of the disease industry. Drug companies are waging a worldwide effort to discredit vitamins and to make them less available to the general public. In many places, including Europe, they are succeeding. Laws have been passed to limit access to vitamins. Their latest attack is a study, funded by Big Pharma, published in the December 2013 Annals of Internal Medicine. This study concluded that multivitamins are a waste of money and that they do nothing to prevent disease. Several recent studies have found that multivitamins do nothing to boost the average American’s health, offering few if any benefits. An estimated half of all Americans take vitamin and mineral supplements, and multivitamins amount to about half of all vitamin sales. The so-called experts behind this research are urging people to save their money and abandon use of these supplements. This is Wizard of Oz stuff, so let’s take a peek behind the curtain and see what is really going on. The real problem is this: Vitamins prevent and cure disease—drugs don’t. Vitamins are necessary and helpful, and drugs are not. In addition, drugs are expensive and dangerous, and if these truths were to become generally known, vitamins are a big threat to the drug industry. This is a fact of life, and drug companies don’t like it. They are doing everything they can to eliminate the competition, including by confusing the public. Drugs not only don’t cure disease, drugs cause disease. Prescription drugs are toxins that poison one part of the body to suppress a symptom in another part of the body. By merely suppressing symptoms, the patient remains chronically ill, requiring a constant supply of drugs to continue to suppress the symptoms. This approach to medicine is very profitable for both doctors and drug companies. However, the damage goes far beyond keeping the patient sick; the toxic effects of the drugs make you even sicker than before. Drugs cause whole new disease problems, called “side effects,” and new drugs are prescribed to suppress these new symptoms. People often end up on a dozen drugs, most of which only suppress symptoms caused by the other drugs, while causing whole new problems of their own. Meanwhile, the patient is getting sicker and sicker, even if they don’t realize it. They are certainly not becoming healthier! Drugs are so toxic that medical statistics show they injure millions and kill over 100,000 Americans per year. However, medical statistics also show that even in the very best of circumstances only about one in four adverse incidents gets reported, and at worst, only one in twenty. So in truth, drugs most likely kill over 500,000 Americans per year, while hospitalizing millions. In contrast, how many people per year are killed by vitamins? None! Let’s get back to the December study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. What’s wrong with it? The same thing that is wrong with almost all of these studies—they are designed to fail. For example, when Linus Pauling said that vitamin C could prevent colds, studies were done with amounts of vitamin C so small, they didn’t work. The researchers announced to the world that Pauling was wrong. But Pauling was right if they had used the higher amounts he recommended. Very simply, the studies were designed to fail. Recent studies on vitamin E and beta carotene have concluded they are not effective in preventing disease and may even be harmful. But here is the problem. These studies used synthetic forms of beta carotene and vitamin E that we chemists know are ineffective, and can even have toxic effects. Why do you suppose they chose to use ineffective and even toxic synthetics, that we know don’t work, and then use the bad results to discredit all vitamins? Do you see the problem here? In this latest study, the multivitamin used was Centrum Silver Adults 50+. This is a study designed to fail. Anyone who knows anything about vitamin chemistry knows that Centrum Silver is a low-dose, low-quality multi. I could have told them before they did the study what the results would be. No knowledgeable person would expect such a product to show much benefit. This formula is so bad it is hard to know where to begin to describe it. First of all, minerals such as zinc, magnesium, copper, manganese, and calcium are all in chemical forms that offer low biological activity and little benefit. The vitamin E is in a synthetic form that is known to be poorly utilized. The beta carotene is also a synthetic of little value. The B vitamins do not include the most biologically active forms, and the vitamin B12 is in the form of cyanocobalamin, an unnatural molecular form that is known to have low biological activity and even have toxic effects. The formula contains hydrogenated palm oil; hydrogenated oils are not good for you. It also contains polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl alcohol. Who in their right mind would put these synthetic chemicals in a vitamin pill? This formula is loaded with fillers, some of which are allergenic, including corn starch, modified food starch, and talcum powder. It is full of artificial colors, including FD&C Blue 2, Red 40, and Yellow 6; artificial colors have a long history of toxicity. It also contains sugar, the allergenic and toxic preservative sodium benzoate, and toxic BHT. BHT has been banned in other countries, including England, Sweden, and Australia. Can someone please explain how such a formula can possibly prevent disease? This study concluded that multivitamins are a waste of money. However, the only thing it really proved is that low-quality multivitamins like Centrum are a waste of money. Thousands of studies prove that vitamins prevent and cure disease. Properly designed multivitamins are an excellent source of nutrients to fill the gaps in our less than perfect diets. Highquality formulas, such as the Beyond Health Multi-vitamin, are made with very-pure, biologically correct and active molecules that the body needs and wants. They do not contain anything that can be toxic, allergenic, or interfere with proper metabolism. These formulas work and are worth what you pay for them. Several years ago, the National Academy of Sciences issued a report saying that our food supply is now so compromised, that even if you eat a good diet, it is no longer possible to get the nutrition you need. The academy recommended that everyone take at least a daily multivitamin. The real truth is a daily, high-quality multivitamin is one of the best investments you can make for your health and longevity.