Harmful ingredients in daily vitamins!

Nutritionists said that nutritional supplements do not only consist of key vitamins, and often contain elements such as E and gelatin, which help improve the shelf life of the final product.

Nutritionist Carol Granger warns: “People think that supplements are healthy, and while some can be so, others can be as harmful to health as ultra-processed foods when taken regularly in large quantities.”

“If an additive is being used to help the manufacturer rather than add a health benefit, dig deeper and ask questions,” says Amy Benbow, a nutrition expert at Viridian.

Amy explained that the tablet model requires binders and glue to hold the materials together in one tablet. While capsules contain the nutrients and ingredients in a shell derived from plant cellulose, making them less ultra-processed.

The thickener carrageenan can be used to bulk up supplements. “Despite being a seaweed extract, research has shown that carrageenan may cause inflammation in the intestinal lining,” Benbow adds.

Amy continued: “White tablets of nutritional supplements often use titanium dioxide to make the appearance uniform, and the same substance is used to whiten toothpaste, but the European Food Safety Authority recently banned titanium dioxide in foods and nutritional supplements in the European Union.”

Capsules containing ingredients from natural sources are often in natural colors, such as light beige and green, and vary from batch to batch depending on the season.

Meanwhile, Niamh McMillan, Pharmacy Supervisor at Superdrug, says: “Food supplements may contain additional ingredients for a number of reasons, including to improve the processability of the product or to facilitate dissolution or absorption. They are not harmful and have undergone rigorous safety testing before being made available for use in supplement manufacturing.” "food".

It is worth noting that vitamins and nutritional supplements are not a substitute for a healthy diet. Therefore, it is recommended to focus on food first and strive for balance.