Price’s research into the regulation of dietary supplements reveals the forces that created the present situation: Why there is no FDA approval process for supplements, and why they do not need to be tested for safety or efficacy. Public interest and confidence in vitamins has led to a similar relationship with supplements of all kinds according to the author, there are some 85,000 different dietary supplements on the market. The larger story, however, is about the thousands of dietary supplements that are widely marketed even though very little is known about them. She also makes clear that there is still much uncertainty about what these chemical entities actually do and how much of them our bodies require. The author provides a history of the discovery of vitamins (the word was not even coined until 1912) and of the finding that certain diseases-e.g., scurvy, pellagra and rickets-are caused by vitamin deficiencies. However, freelance journalist Price has produced a book much broader in scope than the title indicates. A catchy title that captures our obsession with vitamins and our belief that getting plenty of them will ensure our good health.
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