你需要了解的關於維生素的問題

New studies and claims about vitamins are published daily, and many seem to contradict each other. What does an average consumer really need to know about vitamins?
跟維生素有關的新研究和聲明每天都公佈出來，而且很多都自相矛盾。一般人真正要維生素的什麼呢？

“The fairly simple answer is, not much,” says Paul Thomas, EdD, RD, scientific consultant with the National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements. AlMost everyone can benefit from taking a supplement with calcium because most people don’t get as much as they need through their diets — 1,000 mg a day for adults, increasing to 1,200 mg after age 50. Thomas notes that some vitamins become especially important at certain times in a person’s life. Pregnant women or women who may become pregnant should be certain to get enough folate, or folic acid, a B-complex vitamin — 600 units a day, rather than 400. And as you age, you should probably take a daily supplement to get additional B12, he suggests.
“非常簡單的答案是，不需太多。”美國國立衛生研究院飲食補充辦公室科學顧問教育學博士兼註冊營養師Paul Thomas說。幾乎每個人都可以從服用鈣補充品中受益，因爲大部分人沒有從飲食中獲得足夠的營養——成人每天1000毫克，50歲之後增加到1200毫克。Thomas指出，一些維生素在人生中某些時候會變得非常重要。懷孕女性和即將懷孕的女性應吸收足夠的葉酸，或維生素B——每天600個單位，而不是400個單位。他還建議，隨着年齡的增長，還應該服用日常補充劑獲得B12.

“You don’t have to become an expert or learn all the intricacies of all the vitamins — because you can't,” adds Dr. Thomas. There’s simply too much information to try to remember.
“你不需要成爲一名專家或者學習所有維生素的複雜知識——因爲你不能。”Thomas博士還說。只是有很多要記住的信息。

What you need to do is eat a healthy diet, selecting recommended foods based on the USDA guidelines. Because few of us consistently eat a well-balanced diet, Thomas says taking an over-the-counter multivitamin, even a store brand, is a good idea. “It’s sort of like an insurance policy that covers all your bases,” he explains.
你所要做的是健康飲食，挑選美國農業部指南建議的食品。因爲極少數人堅持均衡飲食，Thomas 說，服用非處方維生素，即使是商店品牌也是一個好主意。“這有點像一份覆蓋你全身基本部位的保險單。”他解釋。

Vitamins and Healthy Living: Not as Easy as A, B, C, and D
維生素和健康生活：不像ABCD一樣簡單

Maintaining a balance of the vitamins we need is important yet tricky. While vitamins work together in the body to ensure our health — the most obvious being the way vitamin D aids in absorbing calcium — the interaction between vitamin supplements and prescribed medications can cause health problems. For example, calcium can interact with some pharmaceuticals, limiting the body’s ability to absorb the prescribed medication. So whenever your doctor gives you a new prescription or changes one, it’s important to discuss all of the vitamin and mineral supplements you’re taking to avoid any potential problems.
保持我們所需維生素的平衡是很重要卻又很棘手。雖然維生素在體內一起發揮作用保證我們的健康——最明顯的是維生素D幫助吸收鈣質——維生素營養補充品跟處方藥的相互作用會引發健康問題。例如，鈣會跟一些藥物發生相互作用，限制身體吸收處方藥的能力。所以，當醫生給你開新的藥方或改變藥方時，談談你正在服用的維生素和礦物質補充品，避免潛在的問題是很重要的。

Vitamins and Healthy Living: Is Taking More Better?
維生素和健康生活：服用越多越好嗎？

For people who have a healthy diet, taking a multivitamin according to package directions won’t trigger a vitamin overdose. But Thomas warns, “You run into trouble if you take vitamins and supplements where the dose is very large.”
對於那些擁有健康飲食的人，根據包裝說明服用複合維生素不會引起過量服用。但是Thomas警告：“如果你服用大量維生素和補充品，你就會陷入困境。”

Some people take large amounts of supplements — hundreds or thousands of times more than the recommended amount — to treat or prevent illnesses or diseases, in effect treating vitamin supplements like drugs. “That’s different from taking them to get the recommended amount,” Thomas cautions.
一些人通過服用大量補充品（超過建議數量的許多倍）來治療和預防疾病，實際上把維生素營養補充品當成藥物服用。“這跟通過服用維生素來獲得建議的量不同。”Thomas告誡。

Using supplements as therapy should be done only with a doctor’s guidance, as side effects and complications can and do occur. As an example, Thomas points to niacin, or B3, which in very high doses can harm the liver. However, in many cases niacin is a good drug for reducing statin levels, he adds.
把補充劑用於治療只能在醫生的指導下進行，因爲副作用和併發症可能並真的會發生。例如，Thomas指出的，大量服用尼克酸（B3）會危害到肝臟。然而，他還說，很多情況下尼克酸是降低抑制素水平一種很好的藥物。

Even some very familiar advice isn’t yet proven medical theory, Thomas notes: “When you look at the use of large doses of vitamin C (to combat colds), the evidence to date is kind of murky.”
雖然一些很常見的建議還沒有證明的醫學理論，但是Thomas指出：“當你觀察大量服用維生素C，迄今爲止的證據是很不明確的。”

To evaluate any supplement as a medical treatment, consider the body of evidence supporting any health claims and seek information from a pharmacist, dietitian, or your family doctor. “The folks who sell supplements probably aren’t the best sources of information,” Thomas says.
爲了評價任何補充品用於治療的方法，考慮證據的主旨是支持任何健康聲明並從藥劑師，營養學家或家庭醫生那裏尋求信息。“銷售補充品的人羣很可能不是信息的最好來源。”Thomas說。