HFMA: Vitamins can promote well-being
Thursday, 17 Apr 2008 11:33
Vitamin supplements taken as part of a healthy lifestyle can help to promote well-being, the Health Food Manufacturers' Association (HFMA) claims.
The association adds that healthy people should feel confident that they can safely take their antioxidant supplements.
Its advice follows a review published by the Cochrane Library which said vitamin supplements may not boost health as designed and that some could even be harmful.
Dr Michele Sadler said on behalf of the HFMA that the review is "systematically flawed".
"The analysis focused on one broad category of study, then evaluated just 67 of the 748 studies that could be included in the review," she explained.
"Therefore, the paper's conclusions are drawn on less than nine per cent of available evidence. In no way can this review be considered comprehensive."
Dr Sadler added that the study made conclusions beyond what the evidence reviewed showed.
"Indeed, the paper's results focus on all-cause mortality, but the actual causes are not determined," she said.
"Antioxidant supplements cannot be expected to undo a lifetime of unhealthy living, but combined with good lifestyle choices, can play an important role in promoting overall health and well-being."