Vitamin and mineral supplements can be helpful for people who don’t get enough necessary micronutrients in their diets, says a 2018 position statement by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
This includes some people with chronic health conditions, people who have problems absorbing nutrients, older people, and pregnant people. And almost three-quarters of Americans take nutritional supplements, according to the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade organization representing supplement manufacturers.
How much of that supplement popping is necessary, or even a good idea, is debated, but most of us take some kind of vitamin or mineral supplement at least occasionally, and that’s mostly harmless. However, for some supplements, it’s possible to take too much.
The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics warns against the “routine and indiscriminate use of micronutrient supplements for the prevention of chronic disease.” Why? Because some nutrients have upper intake levels or upper limits (ULs), beyond which ...
