Vita-Misses

Why vitamin pills don't always work

(HealthDayNews) -- About half of the vitamin pills sold in the United States contain so many useless fillers that the beneficial compounds pass through the digestive tract unchanged and exit the body through the kidneys, says author David Bodanis.

Vitamins are very tiny molecules, says Bodanis, "so the portions don't really have to be as big as what's handed out now. Yet who would believe in the power of tiny pills?" he asks.

So "they're bulked up" with fillers that include sand, chalk and talc, bound by steamed extracts from pigs' feet and other animal bones, Bodanis says in his book The Secret Family.

And, he adds, "About half of the most popular vitamin pills stay in such large granules that they can't be digested at all."

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
www.healthday.com