Eli Reshef, MD

The Website of Eli Reshef, MD

  • Home
  • About
    • Dr. Reshef’s Bio
    • Why Choose Reshef?
  • FAQ
  • Educate Me!
    • Ectopic Pregnancy
    • Endometriosis
    • Egg Donation
    • Fibroids
    • Infertility
    • Insemination (Artificial)
    • In Vitro Fertilization
      • The IVF Journey
    • Male Factor Infertility
    • Menopause
    • Menstrual Disorders
    • Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (POCS)
    • Recurrent Pregnancy Losses
    • Unexplained Infertility
  • Contact
    • Directions
  • Links
You are here: Home / Science and Research / A Scientist Debunks The ‘Magic’ Of Vitamins And Supplements

A Scientist Debunks The ‘Magic’ Of Vitamins And Supplements

July 23, 2013 By Eli Reshef

by Jonathan Hamilton, July 23, 2013 6:26 AM, NPR

A pediatrician who spent years defending childhood vaccines against the likes of actress/activist Jenny McCarthy has launched an assault on megavitamins and dietary supplements.

“If you take large quantities of vitamin A, vtamin E, beta carotene [or] selenium you increase your risk of , risk of heart disease, and you could ,” says , a researcher at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Many large studies in recent years have shown that vitamins and dietary supplements rarely help and often hurt, Offit says. Yet a huge number of people still believe that these products will improve their health. So, Offit says, he decided to challenge the false beliefs of “the church of vitamins and supplements.”

Offit made the remarks during an appearance in Washington, D.C., Monday to promote his latest : Do You Believe in Magic? The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine.

Offit, an infectious disease specialist and the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine, is best known for publicly challenging groups that claim there is a link between childhood vaccines and autism. That effort often pitted him against actress Jenny McCarthy, who for anti-vaccine groups.

One big problem with dietary supplements is a 1994 law that from the tighter scrutiny the FDA applies to its regulation of medicines, Offit says. So the makers of a garlic supplement can say that it “supports cardiovascular health” even though a government study found that garlic supplements didn’t lower cholesterol. Meanwhile, Offit says, patients clearly benefit from a range of FDA-approved statin drugs that actually do what garlic supplements claim to do.

Dietary supplements are often advertised as “natural,” Offit says, even though that term can be misleading. For example, almonds are a natural source of vitamin E. But you would have to eat 17 pounds of almonds to get the amount of vitamin E in a single capsule sold by one supplement maker, Offit says. “So how is this a natural thing to do?”

Offit says doctors are partly to blame for the growing popularity of high-dose vitamins and other dietary supplements. Rather than pushing back against patients who want to take them, he says, doctors have acted like waiters at a restaurant, simply asking, “What would you like?”

Many hospitals also include unproved dietary supplements in their list of medicines available to patients, Offit says. But he says his own institution, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, plans to remove nearly all supplements from its list later this month.

Offit says his attack on dietary supplements has generated a steady stream of hate mail. But he says it’s not as harsh as the hate mail he used to get from people who believe vaccines cause autism. “This is more, I’m ‘a liar and a shill for the pharmaceutical industry,’ ” he says, “not, ‘You’re going to hell.’ ”

Offit has some strong defenders, though, including former President Jimmy Carter and Carter’s wife, Rosalynn. They sat in the front row at Offit’s appearance in D.C. And during a question and answer session, the former president rose to tell Offit: “You’ve been a hero around our house for a long time.”

Related

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Meet Dr. Eli Reshef

The other day, another physician asked me if I had to start all over again, would I still become a physician and would I still choose Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility as my sub-specialty. I answered with a resounding “yes”. I feel very fortunate to get up every morning looking forward to going to work. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to help people every day, that is every day, including weekends and holidays. Read More About Me Here-

Dr. Reshef's Most Popular Posts

  • Latest
  • Popular
  • Point of View: Big downside to premature return to “normal”
  • Thousands of eggs, embryos possibly damaged at Ohio hospital
  • YOUR EMBRYOS ARE SAFE!
  • Employers Who Wish to Retain Staff Should Consider Having Infertility Benefit
  • Older Men’s Sperm: Worse for the Wear?
  • Today Week Month All
  • OKC Doctor: Planned Parenthood defunding would curtail reproductive care options
  • There is no "baby deadline" test!
  • What You Really Need to Know About Egg Freezing
  • Vitamin D Deficiency- Is There Really a Pandemic?
  • Older Men’s Sperm: Worse for the Wear?
Ajax spinner

Post Archive

  • May 2020
  • March 2018
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • February 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012

Contact Dr. Eli Reshef

  • We love people, not bots. Please select "Yes, I am Human" from the drop down below.

Recent Posts

  • Point of View: Big downside to premature return to “normal”
  • Thousands of eggs, embryos possibly damaged at Ohio hospital
  • YOUR EMBRYOS ARE SAFE!
  • Employers Who Wish to Retain Staff Should Consider Having Infertility Benefit
  • Older Men’s Sperm: Worse for the Wear?
  • Subfertility May be Harbinger of Disease Later in Life
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • YouTube

Eli Reshef, MD

3433 NW 56th Street, Suite 210-B
Oklahoma CIty , OK 73112
Phone: (405) 945-4701

Post Calendar

March 2021
M T W T F S S
« May    
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

Copyright © 2021 · Eli Reshef, MD. All Rights Reserved.