The Vitamin Scam
Updated: Aug 28, 2019
Most of the time when we talk about healthcare costs we are referring to the cost of going to the doctor, emergency room or prescription medicine. It is without question that we as consumers spend a lot of money each year on high deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance and more to ensure when we have access and some coverage for when we get sick.
Preventative medicine and self care trends are key data analyzed by insurers to gauge the cost of care year. The theory being the more people control their health through healthy eating, exercising and self-care to stay well and deal with minor illness themselves the less likely they are to visit an emergency room. Since the time I’ve worked in healthcare the needle of this metric has seldom if ever moved downward. This metric often shows utilization of care such as going to the doctor continues to increase each year and we fill more and more prescriptions as well further increasing the cost.
Despite that, the messages of self care, preventative medicine and care continue to be pushed onto consumers as a way to manage these costs. As a result, over the counter medicines and vitamins have exploded in terms of options available and cost points to fit every imaginable family budget for self-care needs. The vitamin industry alone is a $36.1 Billion dollar industry in the United States. Next to pharmaceuticals it is one of the largest health related industries in terms of growth and sales with no signs of slowing down.
The Rise of the Flintstones
People never used to take vitamins or supplements of any kind. Part of this was due to most people growing their own foods and we were generally getting the majority of what we needed from our diets. We ate whole foods that were often homemade and contained very few pesticides and chemicals. Convenience food such as fast food restaurants and prepackaged frozen meals were just taking off as a way to support busy families as a new trend of both parents working outside the home started to occur.
In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960’s another form of convenience also started to grow with the marketing of vitamins. Vitamins were introduced as a way to supplement what people ate to ensure they received the daily recommended needs of necessary vitamins and minerals. People flocked to vitamins because it was considered healthy and wise to ensure we, including our children, were getting the right essential minerals since we were able to no longer count on as many home meals. By the 1970’s Flintstones children’s vitamins and One Day Adult Vitamins were in almost every home. Marketing of these vitamins started to include popular TV characters like the Flintstones to remind children and moms to take their vitamin every day.
Today, vitamins have expanded to include every single and combination of minerals and vitamins known with aisles of them on the shelf in every major retailer. There are even independent stores with just vitamins!
Do They Work?
Looking at the Flintstones Vitamin label leaves much to be concerned about in terms of what it does to support your child’s health. Similar concerns can be seen by looking at adult daily vitamins. Most of the ingredients in both are man-made synthetics that do nothing to help our health.
Here is a comparison between Flintsones and the doTERRA children’s supplements called A2Z.
Unfortunately the majority of the vitamins sold are useless and contain things that are actually bad for us. John Hopkins Medical researched several popular brands of vitamins and concluded they don’t reduce our risks for serious and chronic illness nor do they effectively support our bodies.
NPR News also did an interview with a top researcher on vitamins who had found similar conclusions.
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100511973
Despite this information vitamin sales continue to soar as consumer turn to them for help in managing their health.
If Our Vitamins are Not Working, Why are We Told to Take Them?
Our food system is severely broken when even Romaine lettuce is stripped from the shelves due to contamination (December 2018 –https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2018/11/21/romaine-lettuce-turkey-recalls-bring-safety-concerns-thanksgiving/2076915002/ ). We can all agree that we are not getting the nutrients we need from our food and it is completely understandable thinking we could get them from a vitamin instead.
The problem is though if the majority of vitamins are ineffective we are not only wasting our money but our bodies simply flush them out without any benefit. We need something that won’t do that and can actually support our systems and health against the challenges in our food system.
I do believe we need a supplement to our food. We are not getting what we need from food and even healthy food because of how it is grown and produced is not supporting our lifestyles and health.
What Does Work?
It actually took me a really long time to be convinced to try the doTERRA Life Long Vitality supplements. Here I was starting a business about family health and even I wasn’t convinced these supplements were any different than what I had taken in the past – – – until I tried them.
https://dragonspitapothecary.wordpress.com/2018/04/06/life-long-vitality/
I think the difference is these are not classic “vitamins” but rather actually things our bodies need to function. They are things that naturally support what we used to get from our food system and are in fact actually food themselves. Our bodies respond to these supplements because they are natural plants and elements that we know how to process and use for energy.
This video from Dr. Axe explains why these are different very well.
Skeptical
You are right to be skeptical.
Our vitamin and food industries leave us no choice but to be skeptical about everything we consume. I too was skeptical and even shared my skepticism with you last year on this blog:
https://dragonspitapothecary.wordpress.com/2018/06/13/why-your-vitamin-isnt-working/
What is cool about the doTERRA Life Long Vitality is if you use them all or even if you don’t in the first 30 days and decide they didn’t work for you, you didn’t like them or just that they are not for you, you can get all of your money back.
As an update to what I wrote about in the June 2018 about my experience with the Life Long Vitality supplements I continue to take them every single day. My energy level is great and I see an improved difference in my skin and digestion. It has helped support my focus on my diet and getting more active. I honestly feel good and notice a difference if I miss a day or two of these supplements.
Interested in more?
If you’re working on your health in 2019, I encourage you to overhaul your vitamins and give your body what it needs for success. With no financial risk it’s worth the time to try and see for yourself.
Please reach out to me with any questions. amyk@dragonspitapothecary.com
Get an account today and start saving money on the supplements that actually work. I have never had a customer return them and I know you too will also find benefit from them.