BBC Horizon is Britain's premier science program, examining issues of the day underpinned by science. One criticism in the last few years, is some of the topics have been populist (eg hair care and cats).
The show first conducts a survey measuring some common vitamins and minerals in 3 volunteers and discusses the results (finds low levels in some people in the sample). Then spends time nit picking vitamin packet labels. And later attacks some of the fads associated with supplements (anti-oxidants causing deaths and herbal supplements causing liver damage).
But it largely misses the point. There is an increasing amount of chronic disease in Western countries. According to the Wikipedia, in 2006, 48% of Americans didn't get enough magnesium (not tested for in the Horizon survey) - since magnesium is linked to diabetes and heart disease. And the blood test used to assay the vitamin levels doesn't work for magnesium - a more complex test is required.
How could this happen. It turns out that magnesium is present in unprocessed grains (not fruit and vegetables). And since we eat processed foods, we miss out. For example white bread, pasta, white rice, corn flakes and potatoes contain 25% of the level of magnesium in whole grain bread. Just as magnesium is lost in processed grains, so is a bunch of other trace minerals (eg calcium, selenium, manganese and zinc etc).
It seems it's easy for busy people to miss out on important vitamins and minerals, including in preachy light weight Horizon shows these days. And it's not solved by exercise and eating more fruit and vegetables. There appears to be a choice: eat bird seed and lawn clippings, or eat normal food and take supplements.
The show first conducts a survey measuring some common vitamins and minerals in 3 volunteers and discusses the results (finds low levels in some people in the sample). Then spends time nit picking vitamin packet labels. And later attacks some of the fads associated with supplements (anti-oxidants causing deaths and herbal supplements causing liver damage).
But it largely misses the point. There is an increasing amount of chronic disease in Western countries. According to the Wikipedia, in 2006, 48% of Americans didn't get enough magnesium (not tested for in the Horizon survey) - since magnesium is linked to diabetes and heart disease. And the blood test used to assay the vitamin levels doesn't work for magnesium - a more complex test is required.
How could this happen. It turns out that magnesium is present in unprocessed grains (not fruit and vegetables). And since we eat processed foods, we miss out. For example white bread, pasta, white rice, corn flakes and potatoes contain 25% of the level of magnesium in whole grain bread. Just as magnesium is lost in processed grains, so is a bunch of other trace minerals (eg calcium, selenium, manganese and zinc etc).
It seems it's easy for busy people to miss out on important vitamins and minerals, including in preachy light weight Horizon shows these days. And it's not solved by exercise and eating more fruit and vegetables. There appears to be a choice: eat bird seed and lawn clippings, or eat normal food and take supplements.
