Evans

Annotated Bibliography

Are Multivitamins Worth Taking?

Jessica Evans
Professor Malcolm Campbell
UWRT 1103
March 11, 2015

Evans
Annotated Bibliography
Aubrey, Allison. "Multivitamins: The Case For Taking One A Day." NPR. NPR, 30 Jan.
2015. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
This radio publication from NPR states that multivitamins can be helpful to an
extent. NPR is a radio broadcast that provides news to the public through means
of radio station. Most Americans dont reach their daily quota of fruits and
vegetables and multivitamins are ways of making up for that loss. To avoid
multivitamins, the FDA has changed standards to increase the folate levels in
breads. This has essentially helped over time by 50 percent which is excellent
considering folate in women helps avoid birth defects. The American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition did a study that found multivitamins were helpful in reaching
proper calcium and magnesium levels and some iron levels in women. There is
research that supports both sides of multivitamins being able to reduce disease.
Overall there is not enough evidence to tip the scale over either side of
multivitamins being able to prevent disease, but there is evidence that they can be
beneficial in making up for what our diets lack in nutritionally. This radio
broadcast seems to be fairly reliable especially since they look at evidence from
both sides of the debate. The intended audience of this broadcast is people looking
for nutritional help through multivitamins. I think they did a nice job of asserting
and overall response to the use of them but also noted that there are questions that
must still go unanswered. I will use this source in my project because it seems
reliable and has evidence supporting both sides which shows its not biased. It also

Evans
provides answers to some of my questions while also providing more questions
for me to research further.

Goodman, Brenda. "Experts: Don't Waste Your Money on Multivitamins." HealthDay

Consumer News Service 16 Dec. 2013: Points of View Reference Center. Web. 11
Mar. 2015.
This scholarly article clearly establishes that the author does not believe
multivitamins are worth taking. There was a study with multivitamins and
placebos that showed no difference in the outcome between taking each one. She
believes that not only are multivitamins not worth taking but they may actually be
harmful in large quantities. This article contradicts the first source and states that
multivitamins are not efficient in fulfilling nutrient gaps in poor diets. In a study
done there seemed to be no improved memory after taking multivitamins daily for
12 years, however there was evidence that they could reduce the chance of cancer
up to 8 percent and the chance of cataracts by 9 percent. In another study there
seemed to be no effect on heart disease or issues after taking multivitamins for a
long period of time. Regardless of any of the positive findings she believes that
multivitamins are overall a waste of time and money. This scholarly article seems
reliable due to the studies indicated within it and also the examination of both
sides of the argument. This source seems to be a little more biased than the first in
that she is more blunt about her view and seems to believe it regardless of any
positive findings in studies. I do plan on using this source in my project because it
provides studies and hard evidence with many statistics supporting its claims. It

Evans
will be interesting to compare the findings of this source against the one with a
completely opposite point of view.

"Vitamin Supplements: Healthy or Hoax?" American Heart Association. American Heart

Association, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
This webpage article emphasizes that multivitamins may be helpful, but overall a
healthy diet cant be beat. They can be beneficial in some cases in preventing
heart disease and stroke but not as beneficial as if you got these vitamins naturally
through diet. There is a variety of important vitamins that cannot necessarily be
found in vitamin or mineral supplements. Due to the lack of dietary fiber in these
multivitamins, they dont allow for full absorption of the vitamins and thus are
much less efficient then if you were to add foods containing those vitamins
instead. Multivitamins can be especially ineffective if taken on an empty stomach.
This article states that multivitamins are just supplements and should not act as
replacements. This article seems to be reliable and matches the views of the other
sources that multivitamins can assist in getting nutrients but they dont make up
for them in terrible diets. The American Heart Association is a widely recognized
source but I do think there can also be a small biased in them wanting to
encourage a healthy diet over anything since that is basically the image of their
organization. However I will be using this source in my project because it shows a
more scientific perspective of why multivitamins may not be very useful instead
of just relying on observations from studies done. This helps shape my argument
on the benefits of eating healthily over taking multivitamins.

Evans

"Vitamins and Minerals: How Much Do You Need?" WebMD. WebMD, 8 Dec. 2014.
Web. 1 Mar. 2015.
This peer-reviewed journal talks more about what levels of multivitamins are safe
and what is considered a UL (tolerable upper intake level), or overdose. There are
measurements called RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) and AI (Adequate
Intake). Theres also a measurement of DV (Daily Value) that the FDA uses to
measure daily intake. Certain multivitamins can clearly be more risky than others.
For instance, taking too much Vitamin A can build up and become toxic in the
body along with mineral iron and selenium. As the other sources, this one also
agrees that multivitamins are to be used as a supplement and not as a replacement.
The UL is not typically labeled on the product itself so it is important to know
these numbers when taking supplements so you dont end up doing more harm
than good to your body. Though it may be strange to think too high intake of
nutrients can be bad for your body, it is serious and important to know how much
is too much although this is unlikely to happen. This peer-revised source seems
reliable because it comes from a WebMD, which is known for its medical advice
and research. They have a large chart with the daily allowance amounts that
seems legitimate and they provide the references in which they got their
information. It was also recently reviewed which means the information provided
has been reviewed and it is up-to-date. I found this source interesting because it
looked at different aspects of multivitamins and didnt provide the same
supplemental, not replacement argument that most other sources included. I will

Evans
use this in my project because it allows me to further inquire about the harmful
effects that multivitamins could potentially have when being abused.