What’s Happening: Multivitamins

The debate over multivitamins has been going on as long as we’ve had multivitamins to debate over: are they a good “insurance policy,” are they useless, or are they even worse than useless? This week, three new studies in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine found no benefit from multivitamin supplements, and a new editorial seized the occasion to make the case against them.

Critics point out that the populations covered in the studies were not completely representative (for example, one of the three studies looked at doctors, not a random sample of people), and also stress that taking a generic multivitamin is not the same as taking targeted supplements that you’ve picked out individually for specific reasons. But the take-home message probably still stands: getting your nutrition from food beats getting it out of a bottle.

The the Paleo world has been pretty quiet lately as everyone puts their feet up for the holiday and enjoys some well-earned indulgences, but take a look at the rest of this week’s news:

• Resistant starch has been back on the radar: if you missed the first wave of enthusiasm, here’s a primer to help you get caught up.

• Still on the fence about dairy? Mark’s Daily Apple has a post answering 10 common arguments against it, including common critiques about acne, hormones, and cancer.

• If you’re doing something – whether it’s diet, exercise, or anything else – that makes you miserable, Steve at Nerd Fitness wants you to STOP!

• Check out this horrifying infographic from Fooducate explaining the sneaky ways that fast-food companies target their advertising to kids.

• Wondering how you can use your iPhone to help improve your health? Chris Kresser has some suggestions for medical apps that might help you use that high-powered computer in your pocket for something besides Candy Crush.

• The most recent episode of Latest in Paleo covers all the newest happenings on the gut flora front, in case you missed anything.

• In case Americans thought their dietary guidelines were the only set of flawed recommendations, Anthony Colpo takes on the Australian National Heart Foundation - and seizes the opportunity to debunk the cholesterol-heart disease connection while he’s at it.

Do you still take a multivitamin since going Paleo? Do you think you’ll keep doing it, despite all the recent studies? Let us know on Facebook or Google+!