AGAINST SUPPLEMENTAL VITAMINS
Those against the avid use of vitamin supplements also use pathos to sway their audience to their position. But now, scientists and doctors tell the public that for many years, they have been tricked into thinking vitamin supplements are beneficial. Many claim the supplement business has been a business scam since the beginning and they pull down the false paradigm that was held so highly. The authority figures involved in the supplemental vitamin world use the rhetorics of fear and shameless ignorance to persuade and interest the public. A recent article by Jonathan Hamilton, “A Scientist Debunks The ‘Magic’ of Vitamins And Supplements”, discusses the harm associated with the regular intake of vitamin supplements. Hamilton discusses Dr. Paul Offit’s (a researcher at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) conclusions of vitamin supplements saying, “vitamins and dietary supplements rarely help and often hurt”. Dr. Offit goes on to use the rhetorics of religion when discusses the blind trust that countless people hold of supplemental vitamins, so “he decided to challenge the false beliefs of “the church of vitamins and supplements” (Hamilton). By calling the belief of vitamin supplements to be beneficial a church, he brings up the notion of humanism and rationalism. The “church of vitamins and supplements” is a product of humanism; people take vitamin supplements because they are told to by some authority figure and blindly cohere to such practices. In contrast, Dr. Offit relates the scientific evidence that points to the harmful effects of vitamin supplements rationalism; the study that looks for truth through reasonable, logical, and rational means. Therefore, if science points to the direction of negativity, then that is the truth, not the claims the church makes that receives blind faith. He is also rhetorically signaling his audience to question other institutions in their lives to figure out their reasons for certain beliefs. Dr. Offit points out the culprit of dietary supplement advertisements: the use of the word “natural” which can be misleading. He explains why: “For example, almonds are a natural source of vitamin E. But you would have to eat 17 pounds of almonds to get the amount of vitamin E in a single capsule sold by one supplement maker, Offit says. ‘So how is this a natural thing to do?’” (Hamilton). People naturally get vitamins from their food and although a person might not get enough, filling those gaps with vitamin supplements is still the opposite of natural. Dr. Offit brings to light the contradiction between the uses of something that is supposed to be “natural” and how natural it really is.
Dr. Offit also wrote his own article, “Don’t Take Your Vitamins”, to discuss some studies that have proven “large quantities of supplemental vitamins can be quite harmful indeed.” The New England Journal of Medicine published several studies linking vitamin supplements to cancer and even death – two of every person’s biggest fears. In one study, those men who were not given the placebo, but took a beta carotene placebo “for five to eight years were more likely to die from lung cancer or heart disease” (Offit). Another study was actually stopped when “they found that the risk of death from lung cancer for those who took the vitamins was 46 percent higher” (Offit). One study showed that “supplemental vitamins A, C, E and beta carotene, and a mineral, selenium, taken to prevent intestinal cancers, actually increased mortality” (Offit). Three other studied showed that the supplemental vitamin E actually increased the risk of heart failure, prostate cancer, and death. All of these trials, especially when read by a person all together, rhetorically work to convince the audience that supplemental vitamins are not the best thing. The studies are conducted by scientists who hold a high level of ethos in society. If studies are being held in recent times by authority figures who conclude that vitamin supplements are not healthy, then many people who believe in rationalism will believe it and abide by it as fear has been instilled in them.
Anna Miller elaborates upon the contradiction Dr. Offit brought up about the term supplemental vitamins have coined, natural”, in her article, “Popular but Dangerous: 3 Vitamins That Can Hurt You”. Miller brings to light that it is possible to get too much of a good thing and the consequences of it, regardless of whether the “thing” is natural or not. Miller mentions that the American mentality “more is better” does not apply to supplemental vitamins. She discusses, in detail, the harmful effects of too much vitamin E, vitamin A, and vitamin C and “prove you can, in fact, get too much of a good thing.” When something as popular as vitamins is labeled “dangerous”, doctors are using the fear as a rhetorical tool again, as people will start to worry and then slowly, the public will move away from it. In turn, the language rhetorically employs a free will take, as people will then take this mentality and possibly apply it to other habits in their life as well that they once thought was harmless. In a way, this mentality gives people a chance to start thinking for themselves; some things might be okay in excess, but others may not.
Dr. Offit also wrote his own article, “Don’t Take Your Vitamins”, to discuss some studies that have proven “large quantities of supplemental vitamins can be quite harmful indeed.” The New England Journal of Medicine published several studies linking vitamin supplements to cancer and even death – two of every person’s biggest fears. In one study, those men who were not given the placebo, but took a beta carotene placebo “for five to eight years were more likely to die from lung cancer or heart disease” (Offit). Another study was actually stopped when “they found that the risk of death from lung cancer for those who took the vitamins was 46 percent higher” (Offit). One study showed that “supplemental vitamins A, C, E and beta carotene, and a mineral, selenium, taken to prevent intestinal cancers, actually increased mortality” (Offit). Three other studied showed that the supplemental vitamin E actually increased the risk of heart failure, prostate cancer, and death. All of these trials, especially when read by a person all together, rhetorically work to convince the audience that supplemental vitamins are not the best thing. The studies are conducted by scientists who hold a high level of ethos in society. If studies are being held in recent times by authority figures who conclude that vitamin supplements are not healthy, then many people who believe in rationalism will believe it and abide by it as fear has been instilled in them.
Anna Miller elaborates upon the contradiction Dr. Offit brought up about the term supplemental vitamins have coined, natural”, in her article, “Popular but Dangerous: 3 Vitamins That Can Hurt You”. Miller brings to light that it is possible to get too much of a good thing and the consequences of it, regardless of whether the “thing” is natural or not. Miller mentions that the American mentality “more is better” does not apply to supplemental vitamins. She discusses, in detail, the harmful effects of too much vitamin E, vitamin A, and vitamin C and “prove you can, in fact, get too much of a good thing.” When something as popular as vitamins is labeled “dangerous”, doctors are using the fear as a rhetorical tool again, as people will start to worry and then slowly, the public will move away from it. In turn, the language rhetorically employs a free will take, as people will then take this mentality and possibly apply it to other habits in their life as well that they once thought was harmless. In a way, this mentality gives people a chance to start thinking for themselves; some things might be okay in excess, but others may not.