While we all want to be well and feel fit and fabulous, if you think swallowing a supplement means instant good health, think again. It’s not that simple. In fact, while some may be valuable for particular conditions, they may not be helping us at all.

It is best to get vitamins and minerals from eating a variety of healthy, unprocessed foods and most of us will be able to meet all our nutritional needs through the food we eat.

In Australia we have recommended daily intakes based on the best available international nutritional science. This includes safety margins for upper intake levels. All vitamins and minerals have the potential to cause harm if taken to excess. The NHMRC set Nutrient Reference Values for the upper safe limit - click on the PDF (1.35Mb) to check before you take a supplement.

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