March 9, 2011 • 19 mins
People spend 20 billion dollars a year on health supplements like multivitamins -- but do they actually work? Join Molly and Cristen as they explore the value of vitamin supplements (or the lack thereof).
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.
It's ready. Are you welcome to stump Mom Never told you?
From house stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to
the podcast on Kristen and I'm Molly. Molly. I don't
(00:21):
know if you can tell from my raspy voice. So
you have been raspy this week? I've been. It's been
a raspy week. I've been a little under the weather,
got a little chest congestion, a little little sniffle of
the nose. Uh So at first I thought, hey, maybe
I should amp up my vitamin intake, Vitamin C, vitamin conger. Yeah,
(00:42):
take some of vitamin C. Yeah, make myself feel better, right,
But then I said, no, I'm not gonna waste my
money on that junk because it's not going to do
anything for me. Yeah. That's sort of our podcast in
a nutshell today. Yeah, you can kind of stop listening
because the title should women taking vitamin ends and uh,
it's not. It's not great news out there, guys, it's not.
(01:05):
And you know, I recently was in the vitamin aisle myself,
and you see so much marketed to you as a woman.
It's like, hey, do you have ovaries? You might like
this vitamin. Hey, are you a woman under twenty five?
Are you over twenty five? Are you pregnant, are you
thinking about getting pregnant? You have gray hair? There's something
for everybody. Yeah, And so I was looking at these
vitamins and I was like, do I need a female vitamin?
(01:25):
Do I need a male vitamin? Do I need this vitamin?
Or like a whole bunch of little vitamins. I mean,
I really would like to just take chewables kids swab.
I wish I could still take some flints. I mean
we could, we could, could we? I don't know. So
that's why we decided you to this podcast, was to
delve into the world of vitamins. And I'll just tell
you know, we did not come up with much that's positive. No,
(01:47):
but we did come up with much just positive for
the multi vitamin industry. Hey, guys, guess what, We're spending
twenty billion dollars a year on these things, on these supplements. Yeah,
and you know, part of it is just it's as
some doctor said, it's fine because it's a cheap insurance policy.
If it makes you feel better to spend ten bucks
on a bottle of multi vitamins. So you can think
that maybe you're getting some benefit from them. That's fine,
(02:09):
let's see bo effect can be there. You might think, hey,
I feel healthier because I got of my vitamin E
running through my body right now. But and and some
doctors will say, well, there's really no harm that they're
doing anything bad. They may not be doing anything good,
but more and more people are trying to find that
actually they might do something bad, and that's it might
be worthwhile not spending at the ten bucks a month
(02:30):
on your vitamins. Now, it's just start off by saying
the effect of vitamins in one's body will depend on gender, age, race,
and a lot on your diet. Yes, and that will
be sort of the key thing is that you can
get all this stuff from popping a pill. But right
now it sounds like just getting a really great diet
(02:53):
is what you need to do to stay healthy. So
instead of you taken some vitamins C Kristen Conger, which
is now i'll refer to vitamin C, thank you. Uh,
you might want to stock up on some orange juice,
some broccoli, get some greens, get some fruits. That's that's
where the real gold is. Doctor after doctor is going
to say the best source of vitamins is in your food.
(03:16):
And I'm not talking about like fortified lucky charms about
have been fortified lucky charms, talking about actual whole foods,
like the broccoli, things that grow, like the oranges, like
the brown rice like that. So, but you know, some
people may say, hey, I try my best, but I
don't always meet the expectations set out by me. Five
(03:39):
fruits and vegetables a day. Yes, that some people may say, hey,
I can't get the five, so I'll just I'll supplement
with the vitamin and more and more, it's looking like
that just really it's not worth it. It's if you've
got the disposable income to spend on vitamins, you've got
a little extra that you should be applying to fruits
and vegetables. But let's talk about how a supplement is
actually a specific supplement where they've they've just mashed a
(04:00):
whole bunch of vitamins together instead just take this one
pail or your golden How these in in particular might
be more dangerous than helpful. So let's just start off
with the bad news and This comes courtesy of Tara
Parker Pope over at the New York Times, and this
is from two thousand eight. First of all, we have
(04:22):
a large clinical trial of almost fifteen thousand male doctors
taking vitamin C and E for a decade. Surveys says
no meaningful effect on cancer rates. Another study found no
benefit of vitamin E n C for heart disease. We've
got a major study on vitamin E and selenium on
whether it could lower a man's risk for prostate cancer,
(04:44):
and they had to end it prematurely for worries that
the treatments might actually do more harm than good. We
also have warnings of vitamin C seems to protect not
just healthy cells but also cancer cells. UM. We've got
a Johns Hopkins Well of Medicine review of nineteen vitamin
E clinical trials UM finding that high doses of vitamin
(05:06):
E actually increased a person's risk for dying during the
study period by four percent. Not huge, but still four
percent is four percent. Uh. Then we also have what else,
another study of vitamin E vitamin he's just really get
in the beating vitamin each takers at a higher risk
(05:27):
of heart failure. UM. Finland study of smokers taking twenty
milligrams a day of beta caroteen should an eighteen percent
higher incidents of lung cancer. We've got a two thousand
do Harvard study showing that seventy two thou nurses who
consumed high levels of vitamin A from food, multi vitamins
(05:48):
and supplements had a forty eight percent higher risk for
hip fractures. It's I mean, I forget the point I
could go on. Yeah, So basically, keep doing these studies
where these vitamins that we thought would be so helpful
to consume them in large amounts, particularly the antioxidants a
C S ease that we thought could uh mop up
our free radicals and lower the chances of cancer. These
(06:09):
vitamins can feed the cancer cells just as well as
they can feed the healthy cells. So we're not really
preventing anything or extending our life by taking any vitamins.
And it seems that taking them in these groupings, some
multi vitamins might you know, be part of the reason
why they're not working. And so that's why doctors keeps
saying go back to the foods, go back to it,
and it's natural element, because maybe there's something about the
(06:31):
way that we extract this vitamin that you know, it
just can't match what the food can do in your body.
So people are saying, hey, it's not looking too good
for these individual vitamins. It's not looking too good for
a multi vitamin. But there is one vitamin of the
moment that we should mention because in searching for vitamins
that you know are getting the good press. Right now,
(06:52):
I got one letter for you, d D D. Vitamin
D right now is the superstar the vitamin world. But
when you said vitamin EU was taking a beating, Chris
and I was, I was about to laugh because a
few years ago, vitamin E was the superstar of the
vitamin world. So that's why it's important to remember this
podcast is very much a moment in time, and right
(07:15):
now vitamin d's on the upswing. In five years, vitamin
D could be the lowest of the low again, But
right now the studies on vitamin D look like it's
it's the one to pump up on. So just like
we used to think that antioxidants might protect us from cancer,
studies suggest suggest mind you that vitamin D may also
(07:35):
help fend off cancer and ward off infections and This
goes along with calcium as well. Vitamin D and calcium
or often grouped together, and they are very very good
for our bones in particular, particularly as women, we have
this higher risk of osteoporosis. But chailia women who are
gone through menopause and have fewer hormones. Calcium and vitamin
(07:56):
dear often the big ones that doctors will have us
take extra of because vitamin D promotes calcium uptake. Now, well,
Kristen popped through a bunch of studies that showed, uh
that vitamins just aren't aren't living up to their promise.
There are a bunch of sort of studies that show
how vitamin D can affect women in particular that I
wanted to run to. Um. Let's see. This is a
(08:20):
two thousand ten study about levels of breast cancer and
vitamin D levels. They found that half of women with
breast cancer had lower vitamin D levels than the group
that did not get breast cancer. And so they're saying that,
you know, in addition to maintain the bone health of women,
perhaps vitamin D can play a role in preventing breast cancer.
Vitamin D deficiency in two thousand and eight was linked
(08:42):
to an increased risk for since arian delivery. So now
researchers just saying that pregnomen in particular I might want
to load up on vitamin D so that they can
have healthy, easy childbirth. And then another study two thousand
and ten said, not only does that childbirth become easier
with vitamin D levels, uh, you'll just have an easier
pregnancy altogether, because the women who took high rates of
(09:04):
vitamin D during pregnancy had half the rate of pregnancy
related complications as a women who took lower rates of
vitamin D. So, right now, vitamin D, particularly if you're
a lady, is the vitamin dujore. And even though our
body is naturally produced vitamin D um as many as
half of all adults and children are said to have
less than optimum levels. And not surprisingly, since it has
(09:26):
been getting all of these glowing reviews, sales of vitamin
D tests and vitamin D supplements of just skyrocketed over
the past two years. Now, the way your body makes
vitamin D is from being out in the sunshine. So
you know, it's really funny because we always hear sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen,
But when you start reading more about vitamin D. You'll
find these doctors who are like, put sunscreen on your face,
(09:48):
like I always put it on your face, But then
maybe it's sun birds. Then maybe just take five minutes
to run around outside without sunscreen everywhere else. But speaking
of outside in the sun and all of this, here's
the big thing we got to keep in mind with
all of this vitamin research is the big factor of
correlation versus causation. The one thing that doctors come across
(10:10):
over and over and over again when they're trying to
decide whether or not vitamin supplements really are good for
you is the question of whether or not people who
are taking vitamins are just naturally healthier. You know. The
people who were taking the vitamins are the ones who
were going out for an afternoon job getting their vitamin D,
going home for a snack of oranges getting their vitamin C,
(10:32):
you know, and and they therefore will have better health
down the road. Right in comparison to this one study
that looked at women who took multi vitamins, UH, they
had higher levels of breast density, which has been linked
to breast cancer. So they're saying, you know, basically, if
you look at these two studies side by side. A
woman who has high levels of vitamin D has a
lower chance of breast cancer. Woman who's just popping a
(10:53):
multi vitamin and maybe not eating as well because she
thinks she needs you know, she thinks it's her nu
trans are taken care of. What that multi vitamin maybe
legal lifestyle that makes her more likely to get breast cancer.
But since we are a lady podcast, small and we'd
like to talk a lot about the ladies, we gotta
talk about fullic acid. Oh my goodness, everything changes, not
just in your life, but in your vitamin regimen when
(11:16):
you become with child. Yes, I'm sure a lot of
people out there have heard of prenatal vitamins. It's typically
one of the first things that you'll start popping when
you get a little bone in the oven. And the thing.
Three things that are in a prenatal vitamin that are
especially important for pregnant women are folic acid, iron, and
calcium content. And folic acid is really the big one
(11:37):
because that is going to reduce the risk of the
baby being born with a neural tube or a birth
effect that is uh the brain in the spinal cord.
Don't don't hook up the way they should. But since
these neural tube defects can happen before you even know
you're pregnant, and also because it can take a while
for a fullic acid to build up in your system
(11:58):
and provide these preventative effects, UM health experts are concerned
um about how women can go ahead and get this
into their systems before they get pregnant so that it
can take effect. And in NINETI the f d A
authorize the addition of fullic acid. You all enriched grain
products and required UM fortification by So that's why we'll
(12:23):
see fullic acid and fully added to a lot of
grain products. So we'll be eating, you know, getting ingesting
all this full of acid for a while, probably long
before we get pregnant. Yeah, if you are, if you're
thinking about the coming pregnate, you might as well just
go ahead and start looking for foods with fullic acid.
Is is what a doctor will probably tell you. Now.
If that's and again that's sort of I think the
(12:44):
big start item in a prenatal vitamin. They'll be casting
me in a prenatal vitamin, so it will prevent the
woman from losing her own bone density as the fetus
grows and begins to use minerals from her bones, and
the iron is there to help the mother and baby's
blood carry oxygen. But again, the star starve at all?
Is that that fullic acid? But if you have no
(13:05):
intention of getting pregnant or are not pregnant, but if
heard the prematal vitamins are great for promoting thicker hair
and stronger nails, don't do it. Don't do it. You
You should not take prenatal vitamins if you are not
yourself about to give birth. Yeah, because if there's one
thing we have learned from this vitamin episode is that, well,
(13:26):
all these nutrients are are good in and of themselves.
We don't necessarily need to pack our bodies full of them.
We don't. And yet you know, we don't know enough
yet about how you know what's what's too much, what's
too little? What's the optical amount? When you read these studies,
like even the vitamin D studies, vitamin D, which can
do no wrong right now, the researchers aren't share what
(13:46):
the optical amount of it is. So you don't want
to be the person who's like overdosing on vitamin D
and finding out for us what can happen when you
take too much of it? And the Institute of Medicine
is reevaluating the daily recommended doses of all these vitamins,
So years down the road might be that, hey, we
might not need so much vitamin C every day. The
thing we do know right now is that doctors will
(14:08):
prefer that we eat a healthy diet to get our
vitamins that way. Yeah, every single vitamin and antioxidant that
we have talked about again and again, experts say just
get it through your food. Just get some fruits, get
some vegetables, and get a manual body. Yeah. I know
that's not the most the sexiest conclusion to come to,
not the funnest thing we've ever said, but perhaps the truth. Yes,
(14:29):
it's pretty common sense. Healthy eating people, good, good exercise
and solid living. Well. On that note, should we open
it up to our listeners and perhaps read a listener mail. Absolutely,
and we will read something that has come into our
email address. Mom, stuff it also works dot com. No, Christ,
(14:50):
this is usually the time we do listener mail. But
really quick, we've got a pretty cool announcement. That's right, Molly,
We are about to jet set off to Austin for
south By south West Interactive. Yes, we are doing a
live podcast, live live, not not here in our little studio.
We're getting outside of our comfort zone. We're gonna get
in something in front of some people and do a
(15:11):
live podcast at south By Southwest. If you have an
Interactive pass, you need to head over to the Driskill
Hotel on Friday at three thirty. Do you see a
live podcasts of stuff I've Never told you? And as
a bonus, Molly, what else do they get? They get
a live podcast from the stuff to blow your mind,
not too full one to you from three three or
(15:33):
four thirty two of your favorite house stuff works podcasts.
At least I hope we're your tea favorite. And let
me just say we've got a We've got a good
topic for you. It is and it's it's something a
lot of people ask for. And even if you can't
come to south By Southwest, we're going to make sure
that all of you guys can hear eventually our thoughts
on this topic. But just a fun sneak peak polyamory.
(15:53):
I don't know this is people. I think you might
have just given it with a whole cake. That's all right, though,
polymerst wit it about it. You are excited, so so
don't forget south By Southwest Interactive, Austin, Texas, Friday Dristle
Hotel three thirty. Stuff. I've never told you stuff to
blow your mind. It's going to be fantastic. We're gonna
(16:14):
take questions from the audience, but you can always send
your questions to us via our email. And now we
can return to regularly scheduled listener mail. Fantastic segue Molly. Now,
this email is from a person named Kristen, but not
Kristen the podcast person that is sitting across from me,
um and this is an email in response to an
email we read about monogamy. Um and we read this
(16:37):
on the Objective Sexuality podcasts. And I think the gist
of the email I don't have that one in front
of me, was just that the argument that animals aren't
monogamous wasn't a very good, uh, you know, thing to
extrablight to say that humans weren't going to anogony. So
that was the email we read. This is the email
that's in response to this one. She writes, When I
heard you read that listener mail on monogamy, and my
(16:57):
blood just star to boil. To the woman who wrote
the high handed defensive monogamy, sexuality isn't one size fits all,
and your mileage will be will vary. Non Monogamy isn't
for everyone and clearly isn't for you or your friend. However,
justifying this by say monogamy is more civilized and that
you're rising above your base or instincts is judgmental and
frankly insulting. The problem with monogamy is this need? Is
(17:19):
this need some people seem to have to equate monogamy
with morality. This kind of thinking, the labeling of desires
that aren't appealing to you as bad and wrong instead
of as just not for me, creates a society in
which people who live outside the cultural sexual norm, such
as promiscuous women, gay people, kinky people, etcetera, are demonized
for having what is at its core sex between consenting adults.
(17:43):
So I guess my point is live and let live.
I've got an email here from Kim and she writes,
I'm an avid listener, usually after a long shift in
the bathtub with a glass of wine, because that's what
I do. I work at a wine bar. I'm currently
studying for my small Ya exam. Somalia Is are wine stewards,
(18:06):
basically very highly experienced wine connoisseurs. Usually our line of
work includes a lot of experience and also a lot
of exams and even culinary school, and I'm betting a
lot of wine drinking too. By two thousand and eight,
there are a grand total of a hundred and sixty
seven Master Somalia's worldwide. However, only fifteen or women. These
(18:27):
degrees are highly coveted and one has to be invited
to participate in the master level Smalley Exam. I hope
women continue to break the glass ceiling in the wine
world and plan on doing my best to study up
for the challenges ahead. So fun little tidbit from Kim,
do you think, Kris? And then instead of calling it
the glass ceiling, they should call it the glass bottle
(18:47):
or the wine glass breaking, the breaking the wine glass ceiling.
I'm gonna let you work out and out of work
on my metaphor for that one, but I'm on it. Yeah,
thank you Kim for for sharing that tidbit. Something to
think about next time you pull open a bottle of
red or white. So if you have an email to
send us It's mom Stuff at how stuff works dot com.
(19:07):
Can also find us on Twitter at mom Stuff Podcasts,
and of course you can find us on Facebook, where
we'd love to see you and we'd love you to
like us, comment, etcetera. Interact and finally, read our blog
It's stuff Mom Never Told You at how stuff works
dot com for more on this and thousands of other topics.
(19:28):
Is it how stuff works dot com to learn more
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Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray.
It's ready, are you
Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.
It's ready. Are you welcome to stump Mom Never told you?
From house stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to
the podcast on Kristen and I'm Molly. Molly. I don't
(00:21):
know if you can tell from my raspy voice. So
you have been raspy this week? I've been. It's been
a raspy week. I've been a little under the weather,
got a little chest congestion, a little little sniffle of
the nose. Uh So at first I thought, hey, maybe
I should amp up my vitamin intake, Vitamin C, vitamin conger. Yeah,
(00:42):
take some of vitamin C. Yeah, make myself feel better, right,
But then I said, no, I'm not gonna waste my
money on that junk because it's not going to do
anything for me. Yeah. That's sort of our podcast in
a nutshell today. Yeah, you can kind of stop listening
because the title should women taking vitamin ends and uh,
it's not. It's not great news out there, guys, it's not.
(01:05):
And you know, I recently was in the vitamin aisle myself,
and you see so much marketed to you as a woman.
It's like, hey, do you have ovaries? You might like
this vitamin. Hey, are you a woman under twenty five?
Are you over twenty five? Are you pregnant, are you
thinking about getting pregnant? You have gray hair? There's something
for everybody. Yeah, And so I was looking at these
vitamins and I was like, do I need a female vitamin?
(01:25):
Do I need a male vitamin? Do I need this vitamin?
Or like a whole bunch of little vitamins. I mean,
I really would like to just take chewables kids swab.
I wish I could still take some flints. I mean
we could, we could, could we? I don't know. So
that's why we decided you to this podcast, was to
delve into the world of vitamins. And I'll just tell
you know, we did not come up with much that's positive. No,
(01:47):
but we did come up with much just positive for
the multi vitamin industry. Hey, guys, guess what, We're spending
twenty billion dollars a year on these things, on these supplements. Yeah,
and you know, part of it is just it's as
some doctor said, it's fine because it's a cheap insurance policy.
If it makes you feel better to spend ten bucks
on a bottle of multi vitamins. So you can think
that maybe you're getting some benefit from them. That's fine,
(02:09):
let's see bo effect can be there. You might think, hey,
I feel healthier because I got of my vitamin E
running through my body right now. But and and some
doctors will say, well, there's really no harm that they're
doing anything bad. They may not be doing anything good,
but more and more people are trying to find that
actually they might do something bad, and that's it might
be worthwhile not spending at the ten bucks a month
(02:30):
on your vitamins. Now, it's just start off by saying
the effect of vitamins in one's body will depend on gender, age, race,
and a lot on your diet. Yes, and that will
be sort of the key thing is that you can
get all this stuff from popping a pill. But right
now it sounds like just getting a really great diet
(02:53):
is what you need to do to stay healthy. So
instead of you taken some vitamins C Kristen Conger, which
is now i'll refer to vitamin C, thank you. Uh,
you might want to stock up on some orange juice,
some broccoli, get some greens, get some fruits. That's that's
where the real gold is. Doctor after doctor is going
to say the best source of vitamins is in your food.
(03:16):
And I'm not talking about like fortified lucky charms about
have been fortified lucky charms, talking about actual whole foods,
like the broccoli, things that grow, like the oranges, like
the brown rice like that. So, but you know, some
people may say, hey, I try my best, but I
don't always meet the expectations set out by me. Five
(03:39):
fruits and vegetables a day. Yes, that some people may say, hey,
I can't get the five, so I'll just I'll supplement
with the vitamin and more and more, it's looking like
that just really it's not worth it. It's if you've
got the disposable income to spend on vitamins, you've got
a little extra that you should be applying to fruits
and vegetables. But let's talk about how a supplement is
actually a specific supplement where they've they've just mashed a
(04:00):
whole bunch of vitamins together instead just take this one
pail or your golden How these in in particular might
be more dangerous than helpful. So let's just start off
with the bad news and This comes courtesy of Tara
Parker Pope over at the New York Times, and this
is from two thousand eight. First of all, we have
(04:22):
a large clinical trial of almost fifteen thousand male doctors
taking vitamin C and E for a decade. Surveys says
no meaningful effect on cancer rates. Another study found no
benefit of vitamin E n C for heart disease. We've
got a major study on vitamin E and selenium on
whether it could lower a man's risk for prostate cancer,
(04:44):
and they had to end it prematurely for worries that
the treatments might actually do more harm than good. We
also have warnings of vitamin C seems to protect not
just healthy cells but also cancer cells. UM. We've got
a Johns Hopkins Well of Medicine review of nineteen vitamin
E clinical trials UM finding that high doses of vitamin
(05:06):
E actually increased a person's risk for dying during the
study period by four percent. Not huge, but still four
percent is four percent. Uh. Then we also have what else,
another study of vitamin E vitamin he's just really get
in the beating vitamin each takers at a higher risk
(05:27):
of heart failure. UM. Finland study of smokers taking twenty
milligrams a day of beta caroteen should an eighteen percent
higher incidents of lung cancer. We've got a two thousand
do Harvard study showing that seventy two thou nurses who
consumed high levels of vitamin A from food, multi vitamins
(05:48):
and supplements had a forty eight percent higher risk for
hip fractures. It's I mean, I forget the point I
could go on. Yeah, So basically, keep doing these studies
where these vitamins that we thought would be so helpful
to consume them in large amounts, particularly the antioxidants a
C S ease that we thought could uh mop up
our free radicals and lower the chances of cancer. These
(06:09):
vitamins can feed the cancer cells just as well as
they can feed the healthy cells. So we're not really
preventing anything or extending our life by taking any vitamins.
And it seems that taking them in these groupings, some
multi vitamins might you know, be part of the reason
why they're not working. And so that's why doctors keeps
saying go back to the foods, go back to it,
and it's natural element, because maybe there's something about the
(06:31):
way that we extract this vitamin that you know, it
just can't match what the food can do in your body.
So people are saying, hey, it's not looking too good
for these individual vitamins. It's not looking too good for
a multi vitamin. But there is one vitamin of the
moment that we should mention because in searching for vitamins
that you know are getting the good press. Right now,
(06:52):
I got one letter for you, d D D. Vitamin
D right now is the superstar the vitamin world. But
when you said vitamin EU was taking a beating, Chris
and I was, I was about to laugh because a
few years ago, vitamin E was the superstar of the
vitamin world. So that's why it's important to remember this
podcast is very much a moment in time, and right
(07:15):
now vitamin d's on the upswing. In five years, vitamin
D could be the lowest of the low again, But
right now the studies on vitamin D look like it's
it's the one to pump up on. So just like
we used to think that antioxidants might protect us from cancer,
studies suggest suggest mind you that vitamin D may also
(07:35):
help fend off cancer and ward off infections and This
goes along with calcium as well. Vitamin D and calcium
or often grouped together, and they are very very good
for our bones in particular, particularly as women, we have
this higher risk of osteoporosis. But chailia women who are
gone through menopause and have fewer hormones. Calcium and vitamin
(07:56):
dear often the big ones that doctors will have us
take extra of because vitamin D promotes calcium uptake. Now, well,
Kristen popped through a bunch of studies that showed, uh
that vitamins just aren't aren't living up to their promise.
There are a bunch of sort of studies that show
how vitamin D can affect women in particular that I
wanted to run to. Um. Let's see. This is a
(08:20):
two thousand ten study about levels of breast cancer and
vitamin D levels. They found that half of women with
breast cancer had lower vitamin D levels than the group
that did not get breast cancer. And so they're saying that,
you know, in addition to maintain the bone health of women,
perhaps vitamin D can play a role in preventing breast cancer.
Vitamin D deficiency in two thousand and eight was linked
(08:42):
to an increased risk for since arian delivery. So now
researchers just saying that pregnomen in particular I might want
to load up on vitamin D so that they can
have healthy, easy childbirth. And then another study two thousand
and ten said, not only does that childbirth become easier
with vitamin D levels, uh, you'll just have an easier
pregnancy altogether, because the women who took high rates of
(09:04):
vitamin D during pregnancy had half the rate of pregnancy
related complications as a women who took lower rates of
vitamin D. So, right now, vitamin D, particularly if you're
a lady, is the vitamin dujore. And even though our
body is naturally produced vitamin D um as many as
half of all adults and children are said to have
less than optimum levels. And not surprisingly, since it has
(09:26):
been getting all of these glowing reviews, sales of vitamin
D tests and vitamin D supplements of just skyrocketed over
the past two years. Now, the way your body makes
vitamin D is from being out in the sunshine. So
you know, it's really funny because we always hear sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen,
But when you start reading more about vitamin D. You'll
find these doctors who are like, put sunscreen on your face,
(09:48):
like I always put it on your face, But then
maybe it's sun birds. Then maybe just take five minutes
to run around outside without sunscreen everywhere else. But speaking
of outside in the sun and all of this, here's
the big thing we got to keep in mind with
all of this vitamin research is the big factor of
correlation versus causation. The one thing that doctors come across
(10:10):
over and over and over again when they're trying to
decide whether or not vitamin supplements really are good for
you is the question of whether or not people who
are taking vitamins are just naturally healthier. You know. The
people who were taking the vitamins are the ones who
were going out for an afternoon job getting their vitamin D,
going home for a snack of oranges getting their vitamin C,
(10:32):
you know, and and they therefore will have better health
down the road. Right in comparison to this one study
that looked at women who took multi vitamins, UH, they
had higher levels of breast density, which has been linked
to breast cancer. So they're saying, you know, basically, if
you look at these two studies side by side. A
woman who has high levels of vitamin D has a
lower chance of breast cancer. Woman who's just popping a
(10:53):
multi vitamin and maybe not eating as well because she
thinks she needs you know, she thinks it's her nu
trans are taken care of. What that multi vitamin maybe
legal lifestyle that makes her more likely to get breast cancer.
But since we are a lady podcast, small and we'd
like to talk a lot about the ladies, we gotta
talk about fullic acid. Oh my goodness, everything changes, not
just in your life, but in your vitamin regimen when
(11:16):
you become with child. Yes, I'm sure a lot of
people out there have heard of prenatal vitamins. It's typically
one of the first things that you'll start popping when
you get a little bone in the oven. And the thing.
Three things that are in a prenatal vitamin that are
especially important for pregnant women are folic acid, iron, and
calcium content. And folic acid is really the big one
(11:37):
because that is going to reduce the risk of the
baby being born with a neural tube or a birth
effect that is uh the brain in the spinal cord.
Don't don't hook up the way they should. But since
these neural tube defects can happen before you even know
you're pregnant, and also because it can take a while
for a fullic acid to build up in your system
(11:58):
and provide these preventative effects, UM health experts are concerned
um about how women can go ahead and get this
into their systems before they get pregnant so that it
can take effect. And in NINETI the f d A
authorize the addition of fullic acid. You all enriched grain
products and required UM fortification by So that's why we'll
(12:23):
see fullic acid and fully added to a lot of
grain products. So we'll be eating, you know, getting ingesting
all this full of acid for a while, probably long
before we get pregnant. Yeah, if you are, if you're
thinking about the coming pregnate, you might as well just
go ahead and start looking for foods with fullic acid.
Is is what a doctor will probably tell you. Now.
If that's and again that's sort of I think the
(12:44):
big start item in a prenatal vitamin. They'll be casting
me in a prenatal vitamin, so it will prevent the
woman from losing her own bone density as the fetus
grows and begins to use minerals from her bones, and
the iron is there to help the mother and baby's
blood carry oxygen. But again, the star starve at all?
Is that that fullic acid? But if you have no
(13:05):
intention of getting pregnant or are not pregnant, but if
heard the prematal vitamins are great for promoting thicker hair
and stronger nails, don't do it. Don't do it. You
You should not take prenatal vitamins if you are not
yourself about to give birth. Yeah, because if there's one
thing we have learned from this vitamin episode is that, well,
(13:26):
all these nutrients are are good in and of themselves.
We don't necessarily need to pack our bodies full of them.
We don't. And yet you know, we don't know enough
yet about how you know what's what's too much, what's
too little? What's the optical amount? When you read these studies,
like even the vitamin D studies, vitamin D, which can
do no wrong right now, the researchers aren't share what
(13:46):
the optical amount of it is. So you don't want
to be the person who's like overdosing on vitamin D
and finding out for us what can happen when you
take too much of it? And the Institute of Medicine
is reevaluating the daily recommended doses of all these vitamins,
So years down the road might be that, hey, we
might not need so much vitamin C every day. The
thing we do know right now is that doctors will
(14:08):
prefer that we eat a healthy diet to get our
vitamins that way. Yeah, every single vitamin and antioxidant that
we have talked about again and again, experts say just
get it through your food. Just get some fruits, get
some vegetables, and get a manual body. Yeah. I know
that's not the most the sexiest conclusion to come to,
not the funnest thing we've ever said, but perhaps the truth. Yes,
(14:29):
it's pretty common sense. Healthy eating people, good, good exercise
and solid living. Well. On that note, should we open
it up to our listeners and perhaps read a listener mail. Absolutely,
and we will read something that has come into our
email address. Mom, stuff it also works dot com. No, Christ,
(14:50):
this is usually the time we do listener mail. But
really quick, we've got a pretty cool announcement. That's right, Molly,
We are about to jet set off to Austin for
south By south West Interactive. Yes, we are doing a
live podcast, live live, not not here in our little studio.
We're getting outside of our comfort zone. We're gonna get
in something in front of some people and do a
(15:11):
live podcast at south By Southwest. If you have an
Interactive pass, you need to head over to the Driskill
Hotel on Friday at three thirty. Do you see a
live podcasts of stuff I've Never told you? And as
a bonus, Molly, what else do they get? They get
a live podcast from the stuff to blow your mind,
not too full one to you from three three or
(15:33):
four thirty two of your favorite house stuff works podcasts.
At least I hope we're your tea favorite. And let
me just say we've got a We've got a good
topic for you. It is and it's it's something a
lot of people ask for. And even if you can't
come to south By Southwest, we're going to make sure
that all of you guys can hear eventually our thoughts
on this topic. But just a fun sneak peak polyamory.
(15:53):
I don't know this is people. I think you might
have just given it with a whole cake. That's all right, though,
polymerst wit it about it. You are excited, so so
don't forget south By Southwest Interactive, Austin, Texas, Friday Dristle
Hotel three thirty. Stuff. I've never told you stuff to
blow your mind. It's going to be fantastic. We're gonna
(16:14):
take questions from the audience, but you can always send
your questions to us via our email. And now we
can return to regularly scheduled listener mail. Fantastic segue Molly. Now,
this email is from a person named Kristen, but not
Kristen the podcast person that is sitting across from me,
um and this is an email in response to an
email we read about monogamy. Um and we read this
(16:37):
on the Objective Sexuality podcasts. And I think the gist
of the email I don't have that one in front
of me, was just that the argument that animals aren't
monogamous wasn't a very good, uh, you know, thing to
extrablight to say that humans weren't going to anogony. So
that was the email we read. This is the email
that's in response to this one. She writes, When I
heard you read that listener mail on monogamy, and my
(16:57):
blood just star to boil. To the woman who wrote
the high handed defensive monogamy, sexuality isn't one size fits all,
and your mileage will be will vary. Non Monogamy isn't
for everyone and clearly isn't for you or your friend. However,
justifying this by say monogamy is more civilized and that
you're rising above your base or instincts is judgmental and
frankly insulting. The problem with monogamy is this need? Is
(17:19):
this need some people seem to have to equate monogamy
with morality. This kind of thinking, the labeling of desires
that aren't appealing to you as bad and wrong instead
of as just not for me, creates a society in
which people who live outside the cultural sexual norm, such
as promiscuous women, gay people, kinky people, etcetera, are demonized
for having what is at its core sex between consenting adults.
(17:43):
So I guess my point is live and let live.
I've got an email here from Kim and she writes,
I'm an avid listener, usually after a long shift in
the bathtub with a glass of wine, because that's what
I do. I work at a wine bar. I'm currently
studying for my small Ya exam. Somalia Is are wine stewards,
(18:06):
basically very highly experienced wine connoisseurs. Usually our line of
work includes a lot of experience and also a lot
of exams and even culinary school, and I'm betting a
lot of wine drinking too. By two thousand and eight,
there are a grand total of a hundred and sixty
seven Master Somalia's worldwide. However, only fifteen or women. These
(18:27):
degrees are highly coveted and one has to be invited
to participate in the master level Smalley Exam. I hope
women continue to break the glass ceiling in the wine
world and plan on doing my best to study up
for the challenges ahead. So fun little tidbit from Kim,
do you think, Kris? And then instead of calling it
the glass ceiling, they should call it the glass bottle
(18:47):
or the wine glass breaking, the breaking the wine glass ceiling.
I'm gonna let you work out and out of work
on my metaphor for that one, but I'm on it. Yeah,
thank you Kim for for sharing that tidbit. Something to
think about next time you pull open a bottle of
red or white. So if you have an email to
send us It's mom Stuff at how stuff works dot com.
(19:07):
Can also find us on Twitter at mom Stuff Podcasts,
and of course you can find us on Facebook, where
we'd love to see you and we'd love you to
like us, comment, etcetera. Interact and finally, read our blog
It's stuff Mom Never Told You at how stuff works
dot com for more on this and thousands of other topics.
(19:28):
Is it how stuff works dot com to learn more
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