People who smoke or drink in excess can protect themselves from the harmful effects by taking multivitamin pills.
The answer is False. Multivitamin supplements cannot "protect" the body from the negative effects of smoking or alcohol. Although both of these harmful habits may affect the body's need for additional vitamins, these needs can be easily met by making wise food choices.
Taking a multivitamin with calcium is the best way to prevent osteoporosis.
The answer is False. Osteoporosis is a complex disease that involves many factors including gender, body size, race, smoking, exercise levels, estrogen levels, heredity and inadequate calcium intake. Therefore, simply taking a calcium supplement will not prevent osteoporosis.
People under a great deal of emotional stress should take a "stress" multivitamin.
The answer is False. Emotional stress does not increase nutrient needs. Therefore, people do not need to take a "stress" multivitamin.
Multivitamin pills give you extra energy.
The answer is False. Multivitamin pills do not provide any additional energy. Energy comes from three food sources in the form of calories: fat, protein and carbohydrates.
Multivitamin pills with extra zinc will improve your sexual prowess.
The answer is False. Multivitamin pills with zinc have never been proven to improve sexual performance or to work as an aphrodisiac. There is no scientific basis to this claim at all.
Multivitamin pills with large quantities of vitamins A, C and E will prevent cancer.
The answer is False. There is no scientific proof that multivitamins with higher dosages of vitamins will prevent cancer.
Competitive athletes and people who are physically active need to take extra vitamins and minerals to meet the extra demands of their exercise.
The answer is False. Competitive athletes and people who are physically active usually are less likely to need a multivitamin. Since they require more energy due to the increased demands of their exercise, they are consuming more calories and along with those calories, more vitamins and minerals.
A multivitamin can make up for poor food choices.
The answer is False. Multivitamins may supply some of the vitamins and minerals a person needs, but nothing can replace a healthy, well-balanced diet.