

Questions, whether it’s exactly how much we each require or what these thirteen Yet despite a century of scientific research (the word “vitamin” wasĬoined only in 1912), there is little consensus around even the simplest of What we don’t realize is that the experts themselvesĪre surprisingly short on answers. Outsource our questions to experts and interpret “vitamin” as shorthand for We believe that vitamins areĪlways beneficial and that the more we can get, the better-yet despite thisįamiliarity, few of us could explain what vitamins actually are. Vitamin-enriched bread, or a daily multivitamin. They can, whether in a morning glass of orange juice, a piece of Health-conscious Americans seek out vitamins any way In so doing, Vitamania both demolishes many of our society's most cherished myths about nutrition and challenges us to reevaluate our own beliefs.The startling story of America’s devotion to vitamins-and how it keeps us from Vitamania reveals the surprising story of how our embrace of vitamins led to today's Wild West of dietary supplements and investigates the complicated psychological relationship we've developed with these thirteen mysterious chemicals. Instead, we allow marketers to use the addition of synthetic vitamins to blind us to what else in food we might be missing, leading us to accept as healthy products that we might (and should) otherwise reject. The one thing that experts do agree upon is that the best way to get our nutrients is in the foods that naturally contain them. Yet despite a century of scientific research, there is little consensus around even the simplest of questions, whether it's exactly how much we each require or what these 13 dietary chemicals actually do.

Instead, we outsource our questions to experts and interpret 'vitamin' as shorthand for 'health.' We believe that vitamins are always beneficial and that the more we can get, the better -and yet despite this familiarity, few of us could explain what vitamins actually are. Health-conscious Australians seek out vitamins any way they can, whether in a morning glass of orange juice, a piece of vitamin-enriched bread, or a daily multivitamin. The startling story of our devotion to vitamins - and how it keeps us from good health.
