Wednesday, April 15, 1998

Taking your vitamins

Even though taking vitamins has been a popular idea in America for years, it hasn't always been so popular with the medical community.

Most vitamin needs are met by a balanced diet, physicians have told us, and extra-high doses of some vitamins can actually be dangerous, they have added.

Now, however, no less an organization than the respected National Academy of Sciences says women of an age to have children should take folic acid supplements to prevent birth defects.

Also, the academy advises, everyone 51 and older should take vitamin B12 supplements as a means of helping to protect themselves against anemia.

It doesn't follow from these guidelines that gulping large quantities of just any old vitamin is a good idea for anyone.

But the evidence of need would have had to have been very nearly irrefutable for the academy to have made its recommendations. Our own advice is that you heed the advice of the academy.