Are vitamin/health remedies a waste of money?

[tangofan]

Not sure if this has been done already but....

Caught a glimpse of something on TV the other day saying vitamin supplements/health remedies were a waste of time and money. I admit I take a few(!)on a daily basis, they are as follows

Mulitvitamin/mineral tablet
High strength vitamin C
Vitamin B blend
Ginseng
Agnus Castus
St Johns wort

Occasionally Echinacea when I feel a cold coming on(which seems to work most of the time)

Disclaimer:I have depression(but didn't like the side effects of the prescribed meds) and suffer from PMS quite badly and though I have a reasonable diet I find I get tired and stressed a lot. I used to think the above daily cocktail helped but I'm half tempted to just quit the lot and see if there's any real difference.

Any thoughts?

Yes, I think it has been demonstrated that vitamin supplements are of no benefit to healthy people. On that basis they are therefore a waste of money. However, supplements are big business in the country and the companies will try to convince you otherwise.

Herbal remedies are a different matter, they are considered medicines and some have been shown to be effective for certain things. Echinacea has been shown to reduce the severity and duration of colds, for example.

I take a multi vitamin, vitamin D spray and also Pro Biotics. I've been lead to believe that as long as the quality of the supplements is good, then your body will be able to absorb them. Cheap stuff from Sainsburys isn't a good idea.

We can be deficient in lots of vitamins and minerals; it depends on how good your diet and lifestyle is.