Sir, – A number of red herrings arise in the article “Why food supplements can exceed your daily recommendations” (Jill Nesbitt, “Health + Family, April 9th).
Firstly, the Irish Medicines Board (IMB), whose primary concern is to safeguard public health, has stated it does not see a problem with consumers choosing to take levels of B6 and B12 which exceed the tiny amounts established as Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs). If there was a problem the IMB would be the first to step in. The risks to health of bee stings, lightning strikes, smoking and even hospitalisation are many thousands of times more immediate than the use of food supplements. The article is very short on proportionality.
Second, the RDA of a vitamin or mineral is actually the minimum amount of a nutrient required to keep a human functioning. RDAs have little or nothing to do with optimal health.
Third, there are innumerable studies which establish the benefits to physical and mental health of supplementing with vitamins and minerals. Equally there are studies such as the North/South Ireland Food Consumption Survey of 2001 which show that a relatively small proportion of the population reaches the desired intake of vitamins and minerals in their regular diets.
So, provided there are no adverse indications such as pregnancy, or prescribed medication, there are many reasons why a person may choose to supplement safely with vitamins or minerals. But on one point I completely agree with Dr Mary Flynn and Richelle Flanagan (both quoted in the article): the primary safeguard of good health is a good diet. – Yours, etc,
JILL BELL,
President, Irish
Association of Health Stores,
Youghal, Co Cork.