 Many Americans like Michael Huffham take multivitamin or supplement pills for a number of reasons. A little health routine I always do. It's part of my diet, stuff like that. You know, because every day, as a college student, I can't get all those vitamins all the time. More accurately, in 2012, more than half of all Americans took some form of vitamin supplement. But experts believe that the average healthy individual doesn't even need those vitamin pills. So many people think they look to vitamin pills because they need energy. And really, when you get energy from food, specifically carbohydrates, protein, and fat that's in foods. In fact, a number of studies have determined whether supplement pills are actually beneficial. The only real reason why people should be taking these pills is if their diet is inadequate in any way. Jones-Algie Blake, a clinical associate professor at Boston University, suggests that older people and pregnant women are some common people who rely on supplement pills for the right reasons. Some people that actually may need one is just the vast majority of, say, young people who are eating a well-balanced diet and are not restricting their calories could probably get rid of all their needs without taking a supplement. Michael Cantor, store owner of Cambridge Naturals, agrees with Salgie Blake. He and his employees don't want their customers to rely solely on vitamin pills for a healthy diet. We only call them supplements. We don't believe people should live on them. People should be thoughtful about which ones they're taking. People should do some research. Americans spend billions of dollars a year on vitamin pills. In 2010, Americans spent $28 billion on this ever-expanding industry. And by 2011, they were spending up to $30 billion. And healthy people who take a daily vitamin pill could be wasting their money. Now, there are 12 major vitamins, and ingesting too much of a certain vitamin or vitamins can lead to overdoses, which can be extremely unsafe in all cases. You've got to be careful because summer is good, but more may not be better. In fact, more may be downright dangerous. Some of the vitamins, like the fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin A and vitamin D, could be taken to the point where they become toxic, and that's not good. In addition to vitamins A and D, vitamin C is a popular vitamin that people tend to overuse, thanks to the myth that it cures the common cold. However, no studies prove that that's true. And although the build-up may not be as toxic, it can lead to other body issues, including GI stress. So here you are, taking a lot because you have a common cold, and then you end up with GI distress, and you're questioning, gee, I'm not so sure, I'm ahead of the game here. In 2011, numerous studies showed how dangerous vitamins can be in a healthy individual. In October 2011, a study at the Cleveland Clinic found that men who took too much vitamin E had increased risks of prostate cancer. Another study at the University of Minnesota that same month found that women who took supplemental multivitamins died at higher rates than those who didn't. However, cancer doesn't think that vitamins are as dangerous as studies show, but regardless, he still does encourage his clients to get their vitamins the natural way through food. Vitamin supplements are actually quite safe. There are very few reported cases of their being problems. Even in some cases where they say they didn't work, they weren't using the right kind, the right dose, the right sources. We never look at these as the answer, people should eat food. Now deciding whether to take a multivitamin or a supplement pill should be an individual decision because everybody obtains and absorbs vitamins and minerals differently. But if you're not sure whether you should be taking these pills, you should contact your physician or register a dietitian. In Boston for BETV, I'm Maria Martino-Lech.