There are some groups that may actually need vitamins or nutritional supplements, but they constitute individual cases (Al Jazeera)
Vitamins and nutritional supplements represent an important industry in the United States, where Americans spend approximately $45 billion, out of more than $177 billion that people around the world spend on drugs, powders, and other forms of supplements aimed at improving health.
Studies indicate that approximately 59 million Americans take some form of vitamins or supplements, and they spend about $510 annually on these substances on average.
But experts in the field of food expressed their belief that this is a waste of money.
Dr. Matthew Silvis from the Center for Family Health and Community Medicine in Pennsylvania, USA, says that eating a balanced meal provides all the nutrients the average person needs to maintain his health.
He added in statements to the website "Health Day", which specializes in medical research: "If you eat a well-balanced meal that contains vegetables, fruits and other forms of food, you do not need any drugs that contain vitamins or nutritional supplements."
However, he went on to say that there are some groups that may actually need vitamins or nutritional supplements, but they constitute individual cases. He explained that these groups include pregnant women who need folic acid to prevent birth defects in fetuses, the elderly who need calcium and vitamin D to prevent osteoporosis, and some people who suffer from digestive problems and cannot absorb certain nutrients from their diets.
Silvis stated, "If you are already eating a balanced diet, all the additional vitamins and minerals that you take through nutritional supplements are eliminated from the body through urine," adding that "when the body gets enough of these substances, it gets rid of the remaining additional amounts."
Source: German