I'm no believer in the Patrick Holford style of vitamin consumption lifestyle but a basic multivitamin is good for many people, particularly those that don't eat properly. My own journey to believing in vitamins and minerals came from experiments in the garden with plants and solving problems with plants by the addition of such to their diets. It was a dramatic learning process for me.
I've also taken Vitamin B12 to ward off a hangover, C definitely helps colds go a bit quicker, I could highlight numerous other examples. There is definitely a lot of healthfood crap and rubbish spouted but I don't think basic vitamins should get lumped in with that.
They aren't a replacement, they are a supplement. Unless you eat 2 white fish, 2 oil fish, 5 Fruit and veg a day, no red meat etc a week then you don't lose by taking them. I don't take them as a replacement. You do better by taking them for the vitamins you MIGHT miss unless you spend a day of every week figuring out your food plan.
I get the idea that the '5 a day' fad is an awful ultra dumbed down tagline for the kind of spastics that live on junkfood.
I'm all for eating a balanced diet by the way.
>>3004 That's exactly what it is, but despite it's simplicity it's good enough to improve the nutritional balance of those it targets if and when they adhere to it.
Hmm sounds like it's made to treat people like retards though. Disappointing.
As I understand it, one portion is a ridiculously small amount, half a cup, a quick search yields
"A portion is about 80g of fruit or vegetables. This is roughly equal to:
A banana counts as one portion of fruit.
* an apple, orange, banana, or similarly-sized fruit
* two plums, nectarines or similarly-sized fruit
* a handful or grapes or berries
* a slice of melon, pineapple or large fruit
* one tablespoon of raisins or other dried fruit
* Two serving spoons of broccoli counts as a portion of vegetables.
* two serving spoons of cooked vegetables, e.g. broccoli or carrots
* a dessert bowl of salad
* two serving spoons of beans and pulses (only one portion per day)"