There’s no substitute for good food

“Are you getting enough vitamins?” For the vast majority of people, the inevitable answer to this question is ‘hell no’...Data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) shows that fewer than one per cent of the UK population achieve all nine of the Eatwell Guide recommendations — a set of guidelines detailing how much of each food group we should be eating to achieve a healthy and balanced diet.

Analysis of the NDNS results by the  Health and Food Supplements Information Service (HSIS) suggested multiple vitamin deficiencies among the people of United Kingdom.

Evidence that a standard A-Z multivitamin supplement will have much impact is scant, to say the least

Doesn’t it make sense, then, to simply take a shortcut to good health by swallowing a multivitamin every day? Alas! If only the solution was so simple.

Evidence that a standard A-Z multivitamin supplement will have much impact is scant, to say the least.

A study in the medical journal BMJ Open found no difference in disease or health conditions between those who took multivitamins and those who didn’t.

A recent review of more than 80 separate studies on the effects of vitamin and mineral supplements in healthy adults, meanwhile, concluded that they were associated with little or no benefit when it came to preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease or death. “The quick answer is that there is no evidence of benefits for most people,” said Professor Susan Fairweather-Tait, an expert in micronutrients, at Norwich Medical School.”

The observations, part of an article published in The Independent, are right on the money. That’s in my humble opinion.

I am talking through experience. I knew a lady, who lived to be 75, never had a meal that wasn’t rich in oil and spices. “Invigorate with food and not boosters,” she used to repeatedly tell us. “Real fitness and looks will come from good food and not attractively advertised nutrients,” she emphasised.

She, a mother of eight children, was as fit as a fiddle till the second last year of her ephemeral journey.

Every time she had a cold she didn’t take pills. Instead, she drank vegetable and meat soups.

The importance of good food was also underlined by India’s famous restaurateurs M. Ather and Asher. “There is no replacement for good food,” said the owners of the Aminia group of restaurants during a recent meeting at Aminia in Dubai.

After I recovered from a long period of illness, I visited a leading cardiologist. I sought his opinion on a particular tonic. He drew my attention to two men outside his chamber. They were digging a tunnel on a hot day. He said,“You think those men drink tonic? Obviously, no. The answer is simple. Have food in healthy portions and you will need no tonic or supplements.”   

Another physician told me, “don’t waste money on other things, use it to buy nutritive foodstuff. Also, don’t miss out on seasonal fruits.” 

In short, supplements can never achieve what food can.