As a scientist, I am somewhat skeptical of many claims related to multivitamins and natural supplements. They are not well-regulated and recent studies have shown that many supplements do not even contain the ingredients listed in the packaging. If you are nutritionally deficient, you are more likely to improve your health by consuming foods that contain missing nutrients than by taking a vitamin. Any website that suggests that most people need to take several types of vitamins or supplements is not providing accurate information. There is a lot of pseudoscience in the world of nutritional supplements, so I would recommend using Pubmed or .gov or .edu sites and avoiding .com sites. You can also search for "pseudoscience" and whatever you're interested in to check for accuracy.
I agree with the first part of your message, but not the second. Suggesting that government websites are more trustworthy after decades of governmental boosting of wheat flour and margarine and demonising of healthy fats is no more helpful than telling people to believe what manufacturers of nutritional supplements want to sell them. I do not want to start a debate about science versus pseudoscience in nutrition - people have incredibly strong beliefs about these things, someone might get hurt. But please do not imply that you do not need to keep using your critical thinking just because it is a gov or edu website as opposed to a com website you are looking at.
And there is such a thing as wide spread nutritional deficiencies in first world countries, or there would be, if the were no quiet supplementation going on.
Yes, most every office worker or full time student in the northern hemisphere should take extra vitamin D, at least over the winter, This is how Scandinavians, Finns and Icelanders have kept healthy for centuries - cod liver oil. It's a supplement. The more natural the source, the better, but it is really hard to boost vitamin D intake and production with a modern lifestyle. I wish I could get out of the office more during short winter days, but I can't. I know we should eat more fresh fish, but good sources for wild caught fresh sea food (as opposed to corn fed farm fish) are hard to find far from the coast.
Yes, most people in landlocked areas are iodine deficient. That's why traditional dress in landlocked Europe includes so called goiter bands - almost every one had one, because almost everyone had a goiter. It's not so prevalent today because of iodized salt, a supplement almost everybody takes in without even thinking about it. Most of us in landlocked areas would have goiters without it.
Perfectly agree with the advice to just eat the fresh food with the nutrients, whenever you can. I wish I had a good source for raw sauerkraut for choline and lactobacillus intake, or had the time and grit to make it myself - almost everything you can buy is pasturized and artificially soured with vinegar. In the absence of a good source and time to be a perfect homemaker, my family will take it as a supplement.
