Food Is the New Vitamin

Thoughts on the trend of student vitamin supplement consumption

—By Melanie Ermler

Whenever exam season comes around, students are seen stocking up on their vitamins in the forms of the ever-so-popular Emergen-C, Flintstone gummies (basically candy), Pedialyte (this became a popular liquid cure for hangovers and is now in the general umbrella category of “healthy things”), and other health supplements in any shape or form. Obviously the last thing students want amongst packed schedules, group projects, club meetings, long hours in the library, few hours in bed, and still keeping some sort of sanity is a runny nose, headache, or fever. Everyone is taught that keeping a well-rounded, nutrient-dense diet is important, and the trend in college students seems to be taking supplements to make up for their known, probable nutrient deficiencies.

Experts in nutrition would all agree that this is a bad move. Ideally, students should be meeting their nutritional needs, including vitamins and minerals, through their daily diet. “The recommended daily intake of vitamin C is 75-95 micrograms… Eat an orange. An orange has around 50 micrograms of vitamin C,” says Jennifer LaBarre, a Ph.D. student at U of M with a Master’s in Public Health in Nutritional Sciences. Most vitamin and mineral recommended intakes are easy to reach just by eating a plethora of fruits, vegetables, nuts, lean protein, and whole grains. Relying on the supplement form of vitamins instead of food has mixed results on efficacy. For example, a study found indications that the use of a multivitamin daily might reduce the risk of a certain breast cancer, while another study found an association of taking a multivitamin daily and the presence of breast cancer. “I’m not a supplement fan,” says Dr. Ana Baylin, M.D., Dr.P.H., Associate Professor of Nutritional Sciences at U of M’s School of Public Health. “Our efforts need to be focused on improving the diet of the students.” Despite expert opinions and lack of supportive research, 68% of people aged 18-34 take a vitamin supplement.

Why students are taking supplements

Why do a majority of young adults take vitamin supplements when all that nutritionists preach is a healthy diet and do not encourage supplement use at all? The Council for Responsible Nutrition performed a survey which found that folks aged 18 to 34 take supplements for “overall wellness,” with the most popular being a multivitamin, vitamin D, and vitamin C, respectively. “I take a multivitamin everyday for general overall health,” says U of M senior, Maria Milske. “But I take Vitamin D because it helped a skin condition I had. I never got diagnosed or clinically treated or anything, but I tried Vitamin D and it worked.” Maria’s mom, being a nurse, overheard that Vitamin D can be helpful for skin conditions, and she wasn’t wrong; Vitamin D is commonly used in clinical settings as off-label use for dermatology conditions, although a safer analogue is often used. In Julia Howard’s, a U of M junior, case, each vitamin she takes has a specific reason. She takes Magnesium, Turmeric, Fish Oil, Vitamin D, Biotin, a myriad of tissue regenerative pills, and Keratin. “I take Magnesium because it’s an important cofactor for like every cell, almost. I take Vitamin D because the sun sucks here.” There seem to be two general approaches to vitamin supplement use; most folks are taking vitamins to be “generally” healthy, as shown through the wide-range CRN survey, yet some folks seem to be taking vitamins to address a specific health concern.

U.S. government health agencies, private health groups, and health professional organizations will only promote a nutrient supplement after looking at someone’s diet, first.  In this case, by looking at supplement-taking as a “prescription” or “last resort” type of consumption, taking specific supplements may be a good idea because some recommended amounts are innately hard to reach. For example, Almonds are one of the foods highest in Vitamin E. The daily recommended intake is 15 milligrams; a fourth cup of almonds has 10 milligrams. Broccoli are one of the foods highest in Magnesium; a half cup of cooked broccoli has 51 milligrams.  The daily recommended intake for Magnesium is around 400 milligrams a day. Essentially, one would have to eat 4 cups of broccoli and eat a handful of almonds a day to satisfy the daily recommended intake of Magnesium and Vitamin E. Although these two compounds are also found in other foods besides almonds and broccoli, in the case of Magnesium, the amount in food is scarce, and in the case of Vitamin E, the variety of foods is scarce. When considering an average American student’s diet, it is easy to see why most folks aged 18-24 are deficient in these two specific vitamins. In reality, when considering student lifestyle, it seems unsustainable that students will eat a diet rich enough in Magnesium even when being intentional.

The concern

Nutritionists’ main concerns for acquiring vitamin recommended daily intake with supplements rather than food is the lack of all the additional compounds in foods that people are then not consuming. “There are many compounds that are beneficial, especially in plant-based foods – some we may not even be aware of in food. Healthy foods contain nutrients, fiber, and some of these beneficial compounds,” says Dr. Suzanne Cole, Ph.D., Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences at U of M’s School of Public Health. Despite the skepticism about the use for supplements among nutritionists, 95% of adults are deficient in Vitamin D, 94% of adults are deficient in vitamin E, 90% of young adults are deficient in Magnesium, and 51% of adults are deficient in Vitamin A. Basically, most people are not eating a diet sufficient in nutrients.

Determining which nutrients one is deficient in can be done by either a Primary Care Physician or a Direct Access Lab, and they both can perform a blood draw and test it for vitamins and minerals. In Direct Access Labs these are called ‘Comprehensive Wellness Profiles’ and cost around $97. Curiously, the most common vitamin deficiencies, such as Magnesium and Vitamin E, are not amongst the most common supplements–which are the multivitamin, Vitamin D, and Vitamin C–suggesting a misuse of vitamin supplements amongst students.

The misuse of vitamins, such as taking a multivitamin for general overall health without consulting ones diet first, may actually be hazardous to health. On February 11, 2019, the FDA started going after vitamin companies. They are sending out warning letters to companies who claim false claims about their product while ignoring unknown purity, questionable safety and efficacy, and possible drug interactions. The FDA sent out 17 different letters. “Supplements have to be manufactured so there is a concern about the purity of nutrients and the presence of contaminants. Supplements are not regulated to the extent of pharmaceutical drugs,” says Dr. Suzanne Cole.

Numerous sources, including research studies, nutrition experts, and even the FDA come to the consensus that vitamin supplements are ineffective in preventing chronic disease and are potentially hazardous. There is some agreement that supplements should be viewed as a person-by-person, prescription-like mechanism; however, it is important that students are informed by the dangers of supplement use and do not replace their healthy diets. The vitamin supplement trend amongst college students is generally seen as being “healthy,” when in reality the issue is very complex. When becoming aware of a vitamin deficiency, it is best to search out foods that contain the respective vitamin, because that food may have other vital compounds that the diet may be lacking as well. As for the trend of taking excess Vitamin C during exam season, we should follow LeBarre’s advice and eat an orange instead.

Feature photo: Colorful Food, by Melanie Ermler