Interstellar and women in science - warning spoilers!

I saw the new blockbuster Interstellar this weekend. I didn't really care for the talk of love transcending time and space, all the 'them' talk, and a bit of scientific errors discussed elsewhere. Other than these small flaws, I really liked the movie overall and even more I loved the treatment of women in science in this movie, and I'm not the only one!

In #Interstellar: Of the leading characters (all of whom are scientists or engineers) half are women. Just an FYI.

— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) November 10, 2014

The movie starts out with this ex-pilot Cooper stuck in the life of a farmer who gets a life altering opportunity to go pilot a mission outside our solar system and save the world. His young daughter he left behind eventually trains under the mission supervisor and basically becomes a physicist. Murph and Brand work together to solve the problem of relativity and eventually, as with any training relationship, she outgrows him and realizes his shortcomings. She then becomes the focal point of the movie and she ultimately saves the world! I LOVED this twist! Looking back, you realize that the movie starts and ends based on her timeline, not his. What's more, the narration throughout told through clips of elderly people, includes the old Murph we see at the end of the movie. She is really the central character, not her dad. This fact becomes obvious when Cooper returns and finds the space station named 'Cooper'. He seems honored for a moment and remarks that it is named after him. The guide quickly corrects him - the station has been named in honor of his daughter!

Are multivitamins really THAT bad?

There has been a recent backlash against the use of multi-vitamins in America. Several of the arguments make sense, but I'm afraid that with provocative titles like "Don't take your vitamins" and "Stop Wasting Money on ... Supplements" this backlash will actually lead to people who could use a daily multi-vitamin or with legitimate vitamin deficiencies becoming convinced that their pills are just a waste of money. Below are some arguments against multi-vitamins and other supplements and my criticism of these arguments. It's just my two cents and I suggest before giving up on anything based on a couple of harsh articles, do your own research on the topic and do what works for you!

1) Vitamins don't actually improve your chances of not getting cancer, dementia or heart disease. While there is a scary number of youtube videos with stories of warding of cancer with specific supplements of certain vitamins, I highly doubt anyone gives their kids the standard Flintstone multi-vitamins to ward off cancer, dementia or heart disease? In fact, the average American takes daily multi-vitamins to keep their energy levels high and to help them feel healthy. Yes, it would be nice if this actually led to staying healthy, but cancer is VERY complex and a daily vitamin or even a specific supplement will not be enough to alleviate a genetic predisposition to cancer. That being said, several of these studies go on to say that there are exceptions to this, specifically in calcium supplements, Vitamin D supplements, and in people at risk for vitamin deficiencies, such as patients with celiac disease or during pregnancy. One common deficiency in the US is Vitamin D, especially since sun absorption is blocked by sunscreen with deficiency linked to several diseases, such as Dementia. I personally have a diagnosed Vitamin D deficiency (doesn't hurt that I live in San Francisco!) as do several members of my family and I can report a remarkably improved energy level since supplementing. If I get cancer later in life, I won't attribute it to cutting back on my vitamin D!

I agree that the lack of evidence of multivitamins combating cancer, stroke, heart disease and dementia is compelling. But, this argument does not apply to some individual supplements or to patients who have a diagnosed deficiency. Also, several supplements have strong scientific evidence of being useful, such as folic acid during pregnancy, and calcium for women over 50 or those with osteoporosis.

2) Vitamins have quantities that are so large that they are a complete waste and sometimes lead to overdosing, or in the words of Sheldon Cooper, expensive urine! This is a point I agree with, partially. With the individual content of certain nutrients in multivitamins being so high, you end up peeing the contents out within 30 minutes. That definitely doesn't feel like money well spent. In fact, there are several problems with high quantities of individual vitamins in multivitamins. First, your body can only absorb so many vitamins and minerals in one sitting. For example, you can only absorb half of your daily calcium intake at a time, which is why when taking independent supplements, you take it twice a day. In a multivitamin with 2-3 times your recommended daily allowance, the remaining bits will be filtered out by your kidneys (hence the iridescent urine!). Second, there is the issue of overdosing. While there is very little evidence that you can OD on Vitamin C or B12, it may be an issue for iron, beta carotene, and folic acid. Third, there is the problem that the multi-vitamin approach includes vitamins that inhibit each others uptake, such as calcium, iron, and zinc, which should not be taken together, reducing the overall effectiveness of the multivitamin.

My answer to these problems has been to switch from pill to gummy multivitamins. I find that gummies are easier for me to take because I hate swallowing pills. Though, I find gummies typically have less than 100% of you daily dose for several vitamins and even lacks some, such as iron. I also have added individual supplements for vitamins such as calcium and vitamin D. For the calcium it allows me to get closer to the full recommended dose by taking it twice a day (though if you split you multivitamin dose you might be fine) and for the vitamin D it gives me above the recommended dose because of my deficiency. If you don't want to take your vitamins like a child, you can split your dose in half and take it twice a day.

3) Money is better spent on fruit, vegetables and exercise - all shown to have better impact on your health. I agree, but the evidence actually shows that most people who are conscientious enough to take daily vitamins generally have healthier lifestyles. They are not taking them because it's easier than going to the gym, as some articles suggest. It is more like an "insurance policy against an imperfect diet" explains Dr. Oz, who also disagrees with the harsh multivitamin criticism (though that doesn't mean we agree on everything!). I personally try to get 2-3 daily doses of fruits and veggies, but I can honestly say after tracking my healthy diet for several months, I never got above 50% of my required iron and calcium intake. In my case, I am lactose intolerant which explains the difficulty getting enough calcium. Though, I have recently found a bowl of cereal with Almond milk to solve this problem. However, the iron from cereal may not be as digestible as we have been led to believe. In fact iron supplements warn against calcium intake within 2 hours as it reduces the absorption of iron, meaning cereal is probably the worst food to iron fortify! Nonetheless, given the average monthly cost of vitamins can range from $20-$50, I would say a gym membership and a weekly trip to the farmer's market would be a better investment if that isn't already part of your lifestyle. In fact for some vitamins such as Vitamin E, food absorption is much higher.

Bottom line: Do your own research and reach your own conclusion. But don't throw out your bottles of multivitamins just yet and certainly don't use it as a replacement for a healthy lifestyle! And buyer beware - it won't cure cancer!