Americans have been taking multivitamin and mineral supplements since the early 1940s. Today, millions of Americans try to boost their health by taking a daily multivitamin, with one of the most popular being Centrum vitamins.Pfizer was actually sued over false claims about Centrum vitamins in 2012 by the consumer watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest. They were forced to pull their false claims about the multivitamin surrounding breast and colon health, as well as other controversial language they stuck on their bottles that claimed certain health-promoting benefits (1).
Pfizer’s Centrum brand of vitamins are also touted as being “complete” multivitamins, when in fact, no supplement or multivitamin can provide your body with everything you need in a day. To be fair, our food supply isn’t as rich in nutrients as it once was, so it is important to consume plenty of plant-based foods as well as certain minerals that are depleted in the food supply (such as magnesium).
Centrum Vitamins Debunked
If you’re buying your vitamins from one of the largest pharmaceutical companies around, then I wouldn’t trust it. In fact, the dosages of most of the nutrients in Centrum are negligible, and not even close to therapeutic levels. The nutrients in the vitamin are also cheap, and in forms that are not easily absorbed by the body.
A lot of vitamins on the market (including Centrum) are also made with dangerous fillers, some of which come from chemicals used to make coal, line tin cans, and propel jets. Centrum contains at least three preservatives and several colour additives, along with various additives and chemicals that are carcinogenic and toxic to your health (2).
Here are some of the poor absorbing minerals and vitamins found in centrum:
1. Magnesium as Magnesium Oxide: non-chelated form of magnesium, and incredibly low-quality. It is the least absorbable and cheapest form of magnesium
2. Iron as Ferrous Fumarate: this iron type can make you incredibly constipated, and can be dangerous to individuals who are already taking in too much iron from a meat-eating diet.
3. B Vitamins: the concentration found in Centrum is so low, that they would have little impact on energy levels (which they claim to promote).
4. Vitamin E as DL-Alpha Tocopherol: synthetic form of vitamin E, which is linked to prostate cancer risk and other diseases (3).
5. Nickelous Sulfate and Tin: humans don’t really need to supplement with nickel or tin – so this is a pointless addition.
6. Calcium as Calcium Carbonate: the least absorbable form of calcium on the market. Only a small percentage is absorbed by our body.
Other fillers and binders found in Centrum:
1. Magnesium Stearate: prevents other ingredients from sticking to the mechanical equipment. It is a formaldehyde-forming agent (4), and inhibits the immune response in cells (5).
2. Corn Starch: a binder, likely made from GMO-corn, which has many negative side effects.
3. BHT: a chemical preservative that has been linked to liver, thyroid, lung, and kidney toxicity, and has been shown to promote tumours and other ailments (6).
4. Gelatin: sourced from bovine and poultry, which makes them unsuitable for vegans and vegetarians.
5. Soybean Oil: another GMO product that undergoes hydrogenation – a process that has been linked to cancer, heart disease, and other diseases (7).
6. Sodium Benzoate: deprives cells of oxygen, breaks down the immune system, and causes cancer (8).
7. Sodium Aluminosilicate: keeps dry foods from clumping, and also contributes to kidney failure, and cancer (9).
8. Artificial Colours: contains colouring agents derived from coal tar, as well as colourings like Yellow 6 Lake, which have been banned in other countries.
9. Maltodextrin: suppresses the growth of good bacteria in the gut, which can increase intestinal inflammation.
Synthetic Vitamin Forms
Synthetic vitamins are not natural. They are isolated or synthetic nutrients that simply don’t work as they should. Synthetic forms of fat soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K are particularly dangerous, because they build up in your fatty tissues, and become toxic.
These synthetic vitamin forms should be avoided, when at all possible (10):
– Vitamin A: Retinyl Palmitate
– Vitamin B1 (Thiamine): Thiamine Mononitrate, Thiamine Hydrochloride
– Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): Riboflavin
– Pantothenic Acid: Calcium D-Pantothenate
– Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine): Pyridoxine Hydrochloride
– Vitamin B12: Cyanocobalamin
– PABA (Para-aminobenzoic Acid): Aminobenzoic Acid
– Folic Acid: Pteroylglutamic Acid
– Choline: Choline Chloride, Choline Bitartrate
– Biotin: d-Biotin
– Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid): Ascorbic Acid
– Vitamin D: Irradiated Ergosterol, Calciferol
– Vitamin E: dl-alpha tocopherol, dl-alpha tocopherol acetate or succinate