Do Vitamin Supplements Increase Energy?

by Simeon Margolis, M.D., Ph.D.
"Vitamins for more energy!" shout the Web sites and media advertisements for vitamins. What this marketing copy fails to tell you is that energy comes from the calories contained in the foods we eat, not from vitamins.

It is true that some of the B vitamins are converted inside the body to substances called coenzymes, and that coenzymes activate enzymes crucial to the production of energy from the breakdown of the carbohydrates, fats, and proteins we eat.

But if you're basically a healthy person and eat a balanced diet, you shouldn't need supplements of B vitamins (or any other vitamins) to increase energy production from the foods you eat.

That said, a vitamin supplement could certainly be valuable for people who eat poorly because of ill health, loneliness, poverty, or alcoholism.

The moral of this story: If you are healthy but feel the need for a boost in energy despite eating a reasonable diet, don't look to vitamins to do the trick. Instead, think about the possibility that some physical or psychological problem is sapping your energy.