The mainstream press continues to bash the benefits of vitamins. Two recent stories, for example, question their usefulness: “Studies Say Vitamins Don’t Reduce Some Health Risks” (Los Angeles Times) and “Vitamin Pills: A False Hope?” (The New York Times).

We know better:

  • Many people—including those with HIV—suffer from deficiencies of basic nutrients. For us, vitamins and supplements can play a role in health.
  • Taken at too-low doses, vitamins and supplements have little impact (some studies use such doses).
  • Vitamins and supplements don’t replace drugs such as HIV meds--—they supplement them (that’s why they’re called…well, you know).

As George Carter, of the Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research in New York City, says: “A potent multivitamin/mineral should be standard of HIV care—to slow disease progression and help offset med toxicities.”