If you’re among the one-half of the adult population in North American that take dietary supplements every day, listen up.
An interesting study was just published in the journal Psychological Science that exposes an all-too-common relationship between multivitamin use and eating behavior. A Taiwanese scientist wanted to test if frequent use of dietary supplements had any influence on food decision-making after observing a colleague justify eating an unhealthy meal simply because he had taken a multivitamin earlier in the day.
Here’s what happened in his study:
Participants were divided into two groups. Group A was told to take a multivitamin and Group B was assigned a placebo. But what Group A didn’t know was that they were actually also consuming placebo pills. This duped group expressed less desire to exercise and more desire to overeat, citing that they felt okay with their decision because they had taken a multivitamin earlier.
We are constantly being told that dietary supplements are meant to complement a balanced diet, not make up for it. But what this study reveals is that people who pop supplements regularly may carry around a false sense of health protection that tends to lead them to make poor food choices.
It’s that “I can wolf down this Big Mac because I took my multi” mentality. I know a handful of people who operate this way, and admittedly, I too have been guilty of using multivitamins as a pig-out pass in the past.
Is this way of rationalizing unhealthy decisions more common than not?
Chime in!
You can't rely on a pill to take care of your health: that's your job! :) Even though a vitamin can provide some of the same nutrients as a healthy diet, eating clean has many other health benefits that a supplement won't give you (energy, workout fuel, keeping you full, etc.) They don't cancel each other out.
ReplyDeleteThis brings to mind the whole, "It's okay I eat (insert unhealthy food here) every day for lunch - I pair it with a Diet Coke" rationale. Um . . . . no. No it's not.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention that vitamins and minerals are only part of the "health" picture. We also need antioxidants, fiber, probiotics and prebitoics, in addition to protein, essential fats and whole food based sources of carbohydrates. Sometimes there are foods that can serve as supplements, or what I call "superfoods." One of my favorite whole food supplements is nutritional yeast, but even for all its nutritional bounty, it can't replace a good, clean, whole foods based diet. To learn more about nutritional yeast and it's attributes, please follow this link.... http://www.thekitchenvixen.com/2009/04/whats-in-name.html
ReplyDeleteGood point!
ReplyDeleteWell said, Elizabeth!
ReplyDeleteVery true, you can't rely on a vitamin alone, however most of us do not get even close to the recommended amounts of minerals and vitamins our bodies need to sustain a healthy internal balance...thats why it is important to take a multi along with a nutritionally packed diet (or as packed as you can get it) I started taking a Multi Vitamin a year ago, and have noticed improvement in my skin, hair and nails! much to my surprise, I wasn't getting enough from my daily diet to to nourish those parts of my body...I currently take ANCIENT GODDESS and it works wonders www.ancientsupplements.com
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