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有針對性地使用膳食補充劑可能有助於生命的某些階段或某些人群,但不能替代均衡和健康的飲食。什麼是膳食補充劑,它們的益處和風險在哪裡?
許多人經常服用維生素、蛋白質和礦物質補充劑,這些補充劑聲稱可以預防營養不足和疾病,至於服用多少,一般認為“越多越好”,由於其抗氧化特性,合成維他命被認為只會對健康產生積極影響,減緩衰老過程,增強體能和身體機能。補充劑製造商特別喜歡在廣告中強調這一點,他們的說法尤其適用於希望快速新增肌肉量以獲得最佳訓練效果的健美運動員,但最終往往攝入遠遠超過每日推薦劑量的維他命和蛋白質混合物,就製造商而言,他們很少能提供關於其產品功效的可靠研究。近年來,癌症研究人員、營養專家和食品化學家一直在密切關注服用這些補充劑的副作用,大量研究顯示,維他命和蛋白質補充劑不僅無法達到預期效果,而且會顯著增加癌症、哮喘和過敏的風險。
Many people regularly take vitamin, protein and mineral supplements. Even when plenty of food is available in the needed variety, these supplements are said to prevent deficiencies and illnesses. Often their consumption goes hand in hand with a belief in 'the more the better'. Due to their antioxidant properties, synthetic vitamins are reputed to affect health only positively, slow the aging process and enhance fitness and physical performance. The supplement manufacturers especially like to drive that point home in their advertising. Their claims go down particularly well with bodybuilders who hope to grow muscle mass quickly for the best possible training results. But they often end up taking a cocktail of vitamins and protein that far exceeds the daily recommended doses. For their part, the manufacturers can rarely offer reliable studies on their products’ efficacy.
In recent years, however, cancer researchers, nutritional experts and food chemists have been looking closer at the side-effects associated with taking these supplements. Extensive studies have shown that vitamin and protein supplements not only fail to achieve the desired effect, but can significantly increase the risk of cancer, asthma and allergies.
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