Every morning, I lay out an ever-growing pile of vitamins.
If you?re like me, you don?t know whether they work, but you?re afraid not to take them. So, you buy calcium for bones, glucosamine for joints, acidophilus for digestion, fish oil for … I don?t know. It?s healthy, right?
Even if you?re a minimalist, the whole vitamin business is confusing. Let?s say you buy One-A-Day. First, pick a formula. Do you want to boost physical or mental energy, bone or joint strength, heart health or metabolism? If you choose joint health, are you doomed to being a lamebrain, fat couch potato with a weak heart?
I shop at this Owings Mills vitamin store. Every time I leave there, I worry. Did I miss some supplement that could add years to my life or perhaps buy something that will be revealed as deadly in tomorrow?s paper?
I recently heard some people take selenium to lower their diabetes risk. The newest study shows selenium may actually increase your chance of getting diabetes. Isn?t that ironic?
There was the claim that lycopene in tomatoes could prevent prostate cancer. Then came this unfortunate headline: “Study Disputes Benefits of Lycopene for Preventing Prostate Cancer.”
My husband is convinced all conventional nutritional wisdom will eventually be proven wrong. He?ll read the paper and shout, “Hah! Now they say margarine is bad. It has trans fats. I told you it was good to eat butter!”
“I don?t think that?s exactly what they mean,” I say. It?s too late. He?s already slathering a pound of Land O?Lakes on a piece of toast.
But I understand his point. I mean, who can decide whether it?s worth eating fish for a longer life when you might die sooner from mercury poisoning?
So, I guess I?ll just take my vitamins and hope for the best. Unless I pick up my Examiner one day and read this headline: “Hopkins Researchers Say Most Supplements Useless.” That?s when I?ll toss all my pills in the trash. My husband will be delighted to have been right all along. And somehow I won?t be surprised at all.
Anne Boone-Simanski is the society columnist for The Examiner and can be reached at [email protected] or 410-878-6131.
