Are vitamin supplements healthy?

Vitamin supplements are very common these days, especially now that more
people want to maintain a healthier life, but dont have the time to sustain a
normal diet, so they end up with vitamin deficiencies. The most common
dietary supplements include Calcium, vitamin C, B vitamins etc. It is also
believed that they can prevent diseases or help to overcome some of them.
But are they 100% safe to consume?
EFSA (Europian Food Safety Authority) has been publishing regulations about
food supplements since 2002, about the levels of vitamins, minerals and
other substances included in the supplements, for safety evaluation and
prevention of health risks. Also, the European Union Food Supplements
Directive (The Directive) deals with the regulation of vitamin and mineral food
supplements. It was revised in 2011 and states that supplements can only
contain vitamins and minerals taken from their approved list. Finally, the FDA
has requested dietary supplement correct labeling since 1997 and new
updated guidelines until today are published.
But, according to an article released on 2015 called Wide-Scope Screening of
Illegal Adulterants in Dietary and Herbal Supplements via Rapid PolaritySwitching and Multistage Accurate Mass Confirmation Using an LC-IT/TOF
Hybrid Instrument, it is stated that in some supplements, there may be
prohibited substances that are not included on the label. The conclusion was
that they actually detected some of these adulterants, including sibutramine
and sildenafil. Another research article called DNA barcoding detects
contamination and substitution in North American herbal productson 2013,
concluded again that some supplements are not what they state to be on
their label and they contained adulterants and contaminants. Dr Mercola also
mentioned in his article Magnesium Stearate: Does Your Supplement Contain
This Potentially Hazardous Ingredient? on 2012, that we should avoid
supplements with fillers and additives such as Magnesium Stearate and
contaminants like BPA, Calcium Hydroxide and Irganox 1010: a "moderately
hazardous chemical. He also mentioned the probability of cross contamination
during the production. These are just a few examples of researches
conducted on the subject and a matter of concern if we think about all the
misleading labeling on vitamin and mineral supplements that we may have
been consuming.
The US Department of Agriculture/Department of Health and Human Services
2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, acknowledge that "supplements
containing combinations of certain nutrients may be beneficial in reducing the
risks of some chronic diseases when used by special populations," yet also

state that excessive use of certain supplements has the potential to be

harmful. A research like this The enigma of beta-carotene in carcinogenesis:
what can be learned from animal studies.on 2004, shows an increased risk of
cancer in vitamin supplement users, according to dose levels. If the vitamin
dose exceeds the appropriate daily intake, it may be a risk of cancer, but if
the dose is in the appropriate amount it may actually help prevent it. Also, a
recent study on 2016 called Multivitamin/mineral supplements: rationale and
safety also showed that multivitamin supplements taken at the physiological
dose are safe in the short and long term and problems may occur only if
single vitamin dosages are high. We can safely assume that taken in the
correct dose, vitamin supplements are considered safe according to all these
studies.
In my opinion, I would follow Dr Mercolas advice and would consider safe the
food supplements that are tested, have followed good manufacturing
processes, have quality assurance and certifications on all production stages
and finally I would check their label myself to avoid potential hazardous
ingredients and try to consume them at the correct doses.
Sources:
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/vitamins-and-cancer-risk/#more37235
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140916111743.htm
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/06/23/whole-foodsupplement-dangers.aspx
Wide-Scope Screening of Illegal Adulterants in Dietary and Herbal
Supplements via Rapid Polarity-Switching and Multistage Accurate Mass
Confirmation Using an LC-IT/TOF Hybrid Instrument
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150805121841.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14704331
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/science/herbal-supplements-are-oftennot-what-they-seem.html?_r=0
http://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1741-7015-11-222
https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/supplements
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900716001155