Vitamin-popping teens may think taking daily supplements makes them healthier. But researchers say these young people already have a heightened awareness of their dietary needs and are likely to be getting the nutrients they need from food alone.

In 1997, researchers assessed information gathered in a larger study of cardiovascular health among adolescents. The researchers focused on the supplement-taking habits of more than 1,500 boys and girls attending the eighth grade in 96 elementary schools in California, Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas.

Students were asked which -- if any -- supplements they had taken in the 24 hours prior to their interview.

Investigators reported that about one of five students were taking supplements. They saw no apparent differences between boys and girls, although white teens used more supplements than other racial groups.

Almost half of users took multivitamins, with vitamin C being the most popular supplement among the 35% who took single-ingredient supplements. Just over 8% of vitamin users said they took three or more supplements per day, the report indicates.

For 16 of 20 micronutrients, vitamin and mineral intake from food was much higher among supplement-taking teens than for non-users, the researchers found. Supplement-takers also scored much higher on nutrition knowledge.

The investigators conclude that for these teens, supplements simply piled unnecessary vitamins on top of the adequate nutrition provided by food alone. But they noted that judicious supplement use could help teens meet recommended dietary allowance (RDA) levels for a few nutrients.

Journal of the American Dietetic Association November 2001;101:1340-1346

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

One of my major approaches is to help people become independently healthy. Many of you may not have noticed but I changed the headline of my site to reflect this. It just doesn't seem right to have to spend hundreds of dollars a month in supplements to stay healthy. While supplements are certainly far safer than most medications, it is my observation that most supplements that are taken by people who are eating a healthy diet are unnecessary. This is especially true for multiple vitamins that contain a large number of different vitamins. The likelihood that one will be sensitive or have a reaction to a supplement is directly proportional to the number of vitamins and minerals in the supplements. It is not unusual for most supplements to contain more than two dozen different nutrients. All it takes is for your body to be sensitive to one of them and then the value of the entire supplement becomes actually disease, rather than health promoting. Most supplements should be targeted like a rifle, not blasted with a shotgun. We use muscle testing for many of our patients to help determine if they are sensitive to their supplements or, even more importantly, beneficial for them.