Replies

"Anyone eating a balanced diet does not need supplements. Pill popping is a rather new phenomenon—humans certainly did not evolve to require nutritional supplements to survive."

Uh, humans originated in equatorial Africa, where there is LOTS of sunlight. During most of the evolutionary cycle, clothes were not available (not invented yet). So the protohumans DID evolve to need a relatively high level of vitamin D. Migration to colder climes (with much less intense sunlight) resulted in deficiencies, which evolution attempted to counter with less melanin in the skin, but folks were still spending most of their time in the sun. With the advent of civiliation, what with clothes, heated buildings, and the move of most people off of farms, it is impossible for "some" humans to get adequate Vitamin D from natural sources.

The same appears to be true of Vitamin C. Most animals synthesize it internally. Humans do not, but the evolutionary explanation as to why is less clear-cut than for Vitamin D.

Deficiencies in our distant evolutionary past which were corrected for by evolution hardly affect modern humans.

Clothing has been worn for at least 10,000 years. So, that, too, is hardly a factor with modern humans—it’s part of our evolutionary picture, as is eating cooked food.

Pill-popping, otoh, has only been around for a few decades. Obviously, the human race survived this long without it. I could see how pill popping would have an effect on our evolution—where our bodies would increase efficiency of ridding ourselves of these excesses of chemicals, to the point where it would be impossible to maintain physiologically healthy levels of vitamins and minerals without popping supplements. But we have not reached that point yet. Medical disorders aside, either you are getting enough of the necessary vitamins and minerals in a healthy, balanced diet, or you’re eating an unbalanced diet that no amount of pill popping is going to rescue.

It is incredibly difficult to find pure information about vitamins and minerals; almost all of the information touting their health benefits is published by supplement manufacturers. They’re not exactly an unbiased source.