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Diet and Health: Vitamins (May 20, 2005, Two)

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Program Summary

A,B,C,D,E. We all know that vitamins and minerals are critical for maintaining our health, but what’s the best way to get them? Eat a balanced diet, of course, with plenty of fruits and vegetables. But anyone who despises broccoli and hates grapefruit will tell you – it ain’t easy!

Poor diet can result in vitamin and mineral deficiencies, which in turn can lead to some serious diseases like scurvy and pellagra. If vegetables are on your no-fly list, can you just take a daily vitamin tablet to make up for them? No, say the experts. Everyone should take multivitamins to supplement a good diet, but they are not a substitute for the fiber, protein, and healthy carbs that fruit, vegetables, and whole grains provide.

On the other hand, it is possible to get too much of a good thing – you can actually overdose on vitamins and minerals. You might think that consuming a lot of iron or vitamin E, for example, may protect you from illness, but taking them in amounts that far exceed the recommended daily allowance can cause problems by interfering with your body’s chemistry. The best protection is to be an educated consumer; don’t go along with nutritional fads until you are satisfied that they are safe. Here’s tip for those that think veggies are vile: Hold your nose and they won’t taste so bad.

Guests

George Brooks, professor of exercise physiology and metabolism at the University of California in Berkeley, California

Balz Frei, director and endowed chair of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon

Janet King, chair of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee; professor of nutrition and internal medicine at the University of California, Davis; professor of nutrition, University of California, Berkeley; senior scientist at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute in Oakland, California

Meir Stampfer, professor of nutrition and epidemiology; chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts

Related Links and Resources

NPR Morning Edition, April 18, 2005: Government Unveils Revised Food Pyramid
United States Department of Agriculture: MyPyramid.gov
United States Department of Agriculture: Dietary Guidelines for Americans
BBC Horizon: The Truth About Vitamins
National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements
Food and Nutrition Information Center: Vitamins and Minerals
Linus Pauling Institute: Micronutrient Information Center
Harvard School of Public Health: Vitamins
Harvard School of Public Health: The Nutrition Source: Knowledge for Healthy Eating

For Discussion:

• How do vitamins and minerals keep us healthy? What does each one do?
• Which vitamins and minerals can be found in which foods? What are anti-oxidants?
• How does a lack of vitamins and minerals affect body processes? What diseases can arise from not getting enough?
• If one multivitamin pill a day helps you stay healthy, will two or three be even better? Can you overdose on vitamins and minerals? What happens when you consume too much?
• What are the water-soluble vitamins? What are the fat-soluble ones? How are they each absorbed by the body? Which ones can be dangerous? Why?

Activities

Now I know my ABC’s. Vitamins and Minerals spell out good health at Kidshealth.org, which explains what they are, what they do, and how to get them. More Articles Like This One links to other features about diet and nutrition for teens. Have students keep a food diary for one week to see if they are getting their RDA from what they’re eating; then have them add or subtract foods to meet the requirements. They’ll spend a week on their revised plan to see how closely they’re able to follow it.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Nature's Superheroes, a lesson plan from the New York Times Learning Network that has students researching vitamins and minerals and creating a directory. The related news feature examines vitamin D, which is obtained from sunlight; we may not be getting enough of it because extended exposure to the sun can cause skin cancer.

More or less. What happens when we don’t get enough vitamins and minerals? Vitamin Deficiencies (Somethingfishy.org) tells you. You’ll learn which ones are contained in which foods and what problems are caused by not getting enough. What happens if you get too much A or E? Find out at BBC Health Ask the Doctor, and read about supplement misconceptions at The Truth About Vitamins. Another handy guide is the vitamins and minerals chart from Changing Shape. Invite a nutritionist to do a presentation on the subject.

L’chaim! The National Health Museum answers questions of the week with highlights from a variety of sources. Some really relevant subjects can be found at A Nutritional Punch (addresses the new government dietary guidelines), Multivitamins and Food Supplements (the safety and efficacy of nutritional supplements); School Lunch (are they really good for you?). Each page includes good discussion questions.

Visit these Science Friday Kids’ Connection pages: Developing New Medicines: Herbal Supplements and Safety (May 5, 2000, Hour Two), Oct 4 2002 Hour One: Diet and Nutrition, Nov 15, 2002, Hour Two: The Hungry Gene

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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