Are Vitamin supplements bad?

[imported_Matty]

OK, I am bombarding this site today with questions. :lol:
I was just reading in this new holistic dog book I bought that vitamin supplements are bad for dogs and humans (all animals). It said that the body does not look at vitamin supplements the same way it would accept natural vitamins from whole foods.
It went on to discuss ascorbic acid which is not the whole form of vitamin C, it said that ascorbic acid is just the protective layer that protects the differnt kinds of vitamin C and other components. It also said that you can't just take one component of a vitamin and expect the body to use it accordinly. The body will view the offending supplement as if it were an invader and try to secrete it out of the body as quickly as possible. It also said that a vitamin has tons of different components which cannot be manufactured in a lab, when you only offer the body one component of many then the body has to leech enzymes and other components from other parts of the body to absorb it or try to absorb it. Also by taking one vitamin supplement or just a component of a vitamin supplement you cause deficencies in other vitamins. Its all so mind boggling :o
I always thought it was a good idea to add a few vitamins to my dogs meals and my meals. Now Im not so sure if its healthy or not :o by giving a vitamin pill am I causing an imbalance of another? This is the first book I ever read that was so totally against vitamin supplements. It talks a lot about bio chemistry (which by the way I know nothing about :-? ) and the book goes into big time detail of how unacceptable and proof of why vitamins are bad. It says you can only get vitamins naturally from whole foods.
So, are they bad or is this book just a little bit misleading? I will get the name & authur of the book for you guys later I just don't have it in front of me.

[Black GSD]

Won't go into the "are vits bad" thing.
Just wanted to say that it is not necessary to give suppliments to dogs if they are on a balanced high quality food. Giving an additional vit/min suppliment is a giant waste of money.

[TDG]

first things first - supplements are not bad in general. you have to look at the ingredient quality and sources tho. anything marketed for dogs, or pets in general, is not subject to the same strict regulations that apply to human grade stuff, so you have to be very careful.

the main issue with supplements is that most of the mainstream ones use many synthetic vitamins, which are not recognized and utilized by the body the same way as those from natural sources. that addresses the concerns the author you cited has with the different components etc. so if you buy products, check the ingredients.

some examples: dl-alpha tocopherol is synthetic vitamin E. the natural version, isolated for example from soy- or wheat germ oil, is d-alpha tocopherol.

the best way to supply additional vitamins is from food sources. that way not only the vitamins themselves are isolated, but also certain compounds that increase utilization by the body. examples for this are alfalfa, cod liver oil, liver meal, nutritional yeast, etc.
some supplement products include these things in very concentrated form.

it is true that if certain vitamins or minerals are supplemented in excess, they can cause toxicity and absorption interferences with other vitamins and minerals. because of this, it's important to know what exactly you are giving and how much your dog needs.

i think the book is very misleading, but to make a firm statement on that i'd have to read the entire thing.

something many people do not take into consideration is that many of the foods we are eating every day are grown on soils that are already depleted and need massive amounts of fertilizer and pesticides, so the produce from these soils is low in needed vitamins to begin with, and often contaminated with all kinds of chemical compounds. so even these "whole foods" may not supply everything the body needs in the required quantities. the only way to get away from that are organically produced things, but not everyone can afford that.

personally i think it's a good idea to add supplements to your own diet and that of your pets. you just need to be aware what these supplements are made from. what you find at grocery stores, drug stores and big box retailers like for example wal mart is often not worth the cost of the package it comes in.

as for black GSD's statement - even "balanced high quality foods" don't always supply everything the individual dog needs. requirements differ depending on age, health status, genetics and many other factors, and commercial dog foods are not designed with the individual dog in mind. they cover the "averages", but for many dogs that is not good enough.

and keeping your individual dog in good health according to his/her needs is certainly not a "waste of money" in my eyes. :)

[imported_Matty]

Thanks TDG, I tried to reply to this post last week but my computer was having problems.
The name of the book is called " Healing Pets with Natures Miracle cures" by Henry Paternak DVM., CVA.

TDG, maybe you could read this book and explain what the aurther is trying to say. He talks a lot about things like biochemistry and stuff. All of this is way above my head :lol:

Thank you for explaining vitamins to me in your post. Your ideas make a heck of a lot more sense. :wink: