Actually it's the other way around. Supplements can restore a desired natural balance where random eating of typical American diets, as people do today, has totally unsettled our potential for a healthy homeostasis. In other words, the body has the potential to live much longer and better if it has available to it all the nutrients/compounds that it can use to keep tissues reproducing accurately and functioning strong.
Nutrient deficiencies killed and crippled more people around the world than plagues before we discovered how to extract or make the vitamins and minerals and then add them to our foods or supplements. Depending on where you lived, available foods and sunlight varied thus everyone suffered different deficiencies but the body always had the potential to use many different unavailable nutrients to keep this from happening. The body has the ability to thrive, not simply survive, if it can receive everything throughout life it can use. Without all the proper nutrients supplied in the proper amounts daily, there becomes a triage effect. (Human bodies have been programmed to favor short-term survival, including reproduction, over long-term health when there are shortages of essential nutrients.)
Below are 3 questions and answers that will help you understand how giving the body things it doesn't always get thru available foods, needs to be compensated for in order to give it the best chance to thrive.
Is the effectiveness of a supplement for overall health validated?
Yes, supplements for deficiencies have all been validated to improve overall health. If you are anemic, an iron supplement can cure it. If you have certain gastrointestinal disorders leading to digestive or nutrient absorption problems, supplementing nutrients is paramount to long-term health. Calcium and vitamin D supplementation has been shown to be beneficial to maintaining bone health. Many vitamin preparations are prescribed by doctors to cure deficiencies that food is unable to accomplish based on an individual’s medical condition.
And finally multivitamin & mineral (MVM) supplementation was designed to cure nutritional deficiency disease that was once rampant throughout the world – and it does (keep in mind food fortification is also MVM supplementation) and why the US no longer has overt deficiencies. Also keep in mind it’s impossible to track the results of daily use of a properly formulated MVM from “cradle to grave” in modern society. The fact is we need them, because our personal diet and every study that tracks US diets confirm the fact. We have determined the essential nutrients we need at different levels throughout life and nobody gets all and certainly not in the proper amounts; a MVM can shore up the difference. But as long as you start early in life while you still have your health, by taking a MVM every day, you can rest assured you are hedging your bets against chronic disease brought on by imperfect diets. Don’t wait till the “engine is broken” before adding oil. Give it what needs while it’s still working so it keeps running.
The most recent study regarding MVM use validates the above: subjects using a daily MVM that had no history of cardiovascular disease (CVD), reduced their risks of CVD by 30-41% compared to non-users and the longer the use the greater the risk reduction. By living a healthy lifestyle including incorporating a daily MVM throughout all stages in life (or at least before disease sets in), we may significantly slow the inevitable decline in body and brain functioning and, to a point, we may end our days in a very “soft landing”: cognitively functional and relatively productive, meaning we would require little to no help participating in life.
What is the role of micronutrients in the body?
The human diet requires both macronutrients (protein, fats & carbohydrates) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, etc,) to grow develop and function. Of the micronutrients, there are ~40 essential vitamins, minerals and other bio-chemicals, which are responsible for virtually all metabolic and developmental processes that take place in the body including, energy production, cell division, replication, the growth, maintenance and function of our brains, heart, immune system, lung, skin, bone, muscle, etc. So obviously if you are even marginally short on your overall daily needs for extended periods, some parts of the body will get less than needed to function optimally. The body now must decide where the nutrients should go based on immediate rather than long-term needs. Human bodies have been programmed to favor short-term survival including reproduction over long-term health when there are shortages of essential nutrients. In other words when there are less than optimal vitamins or minerals entering our bodies, they will be routed to the areas that are needed to keep us alive such as energy production, blood formation, etc., at the expense of other areas of metabolism whose lack of optimal nutrition has only long term consequences such as the age-related diseases. Since vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) are involved in all functions, it’s not hard to understand that chronic insufficiencies are a primary cause of age related diseases and may be preventable or certainly lessened with a simple inexpensive MVM.
How are micronutrient deficiencies linked to chronic diseases like cancer?
Vitamins and minerals are the micronutrients and responsible for every action that takes place in the body so any prolonged shortage will compromise a needed body function that could then lead to disease.
Triage –something needed long-term will be sacrificed for short-term needs
There are ~40 essential vitamins, minerals and other bio-chemicals, which are responsible for virtually all metabolic and developmental processes that take place in the body including, energy production, cell division, replication, etc. So obviously if you are even marginally short on your overall daily needs for extended periods, some parts of the body will get less than it needs to function optimally. The body now must decide where the nutrients should go based on immediate rather than long-term needs. Human bodies have been programmed to favor short-term survival including reproduction over long-term health when there are shortages of essential nutrients. In other words when there are less than optimal vitamins or minerals entering our bodies, they will be routed to the areas that are needed to keep us alive such as energy production, blood formation, etc., at the expense of other areas of metabolism whose lack of optimal nutrition has only long-term consequences such as the age-related diseases like cancer, osteoarthritis, dementia, etc. (This is analogous to not taking in enough overall calories to support your body’s energy needs to stay alive. In this case the body will convert your protein intake to energy, rather than using it to maintain or grow muscle tissues). The body will now continue to live but muscles will shrink and become weak. Using a vitamin as an example, let’s take vitamin K. When there is not enough vitamin K to optimally supply all parts of the body it is preferentially distributed to the liver to preserve the blood coagulation function we cannot live without. This compromises vitamin K’s functions in maintaining bone and cardiovascular health, leading to the age-related conditions of bone fragility and hardening of arteries. Now picture this scenario for any or all vitamins and minerals since they are involved in all functions and it’s not hard to understand that micronutrient insufficiencies are a primary cause of age-related diseases – and may be preventable or certainly lessened with a simple inexpensive MVM.