Wake up at 7:50 a.m., run to 8 a.m. class. Grab waffle sticks at Putnam's, head to next class. Buy Doritos from vending machine while at work. After club meeting, head to dining hall for pizza, tater tots and mountain dew. Go home, go to bed and then repeat.
Most students survive on a tight schedule, a tight budget and little to no time to prepare nutritious food. An easy solution (or at least a good start) for many students is to take a dietary supplement each day.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition's Dietary Supplement Pyramid offers a simple guide for optimizing a healthy diet. They recommend making multivitamins first priority, followed by calcium supplements, antioxidants, special needs vitamins and botanicals.
Some experts say dietary supplements are merely an expensive ruse while others say they are a necessary component of a healthy existence, leaving confusion about which is right. Can taking a multivitamin do more harm than good?
Mary Platek, an exercise and nutrition science professor, says that it is absolutely safe to take a multivitamin but that consumers should keep a few things in mind.
Students should check the labels of the vitamins they are taking. If a product supplies more than the 100 percent daily amount for a particular nutrient, then they are taking too much and the excess will only be excreted.
More isn't always better, says Janice Cochran, a nutritionist at the Health and Wellness Center. The fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K can become toxic in the body if too much of them are consumed. Water-soluble vitamins however, don't have the same risk for toxicity.
"Our bodies will excrete excess water-soluble vitamins, so there is less of a risk of toxicity with these vitamins," Cochran said.
While there can be minor risks involved in taking multivitamins, some students have seen success from including them in their diets.
At the beginning of last semester Jess Sullivan, a freshman pharmacy major, was always getting sick. She began taking a daily multivitamin to help boost her immune system.
"I didn't get better right away, but I'm better now and staying better," she said.
Freshman nursing major Paige Loewy said that she too takes a multivitamin to prevent becoming sick.
"It's a habit my mom had me into, plus I don't eat very well," she said.
According to Cochran, multivitamins can fit into anyones budget. A month's supply can cost anywhere from $2 to $6.
"A more expensive vitamin may have extra ingredients, though some of those ingredients may be in such small amounts there's no effect," Cochran said.
Price inflated supplements may also have very small amounts of herbs in them, Cochran added.
The best manufacturers of multivitamins aren't always the most expensive, says Platek. Generic brands are just as reliable as their expensive brand name counterparts.
Cochran says its best to stick with the established companies and to avoid the internet-based supplements. She recommends Consumer Labs for their quality control practices.
Taking a multivitamin isn't the be-all and end-all for adequate nutrition, however. Tyler Simmons, a freshman industrial engineering major, used to take multivitamins but now consumes his vitamins the old fashioned way.
"I took them during high school for sports. But I don't take them now, because I get my vitamins from food," he said.
Poor dietary habits can result in nutrient deficiencies, Cochran said, but if a person cannot or will not improve their diet, then a multivitamin won't help as much as it could. A multivitamin can only do so much.
"A person who probably doesn't need a multi vitamin is a person who eats a varied diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, (and) eats adequate protein," she said.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
