THERE is a pill to help you sleep, to boost your mood and even to control your hunger. If you believe the advertising, a decent diet and exercise is no longer enough. And one in five Australian adults do believe - feeding a $1.8 billion vitamin industry that health experts claim is creating a new generation of "worried well" who turn to tablets to fix their problems or prevent new ones.
Vitamin companies are spending up big to convince us of their celebrity credentials, even flying talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres out here to spread their message.
The lithe silhouette of actor Nicole Kidman is the latest in an army of "ambassadors" being used to sell vitamins here and overseas.
Many elite athletes - from cricketers to AFL stars - endorse a vitamin brand.
While Jennifer Hawkins uses her beauty queen image to spruik Bioglan products, Michelle Bridges' athleticism powers Nature's Way pill sales and Ian Thorpe stays in shape with Blackmores.
But the question is: Do the pills match the pitch?
Vitamin giant Swisse made headlines this week for changing the name of its "Appetite Suppressant" product to the new "Hunger Control" after a review by the Therapeutic Goods Administration found the presentation of the original product "unacceptable".
Swisse has previously had a brush with the medicines' watchdog over allegations its slogan "You'll feel better on Swisse" breached an advertising code.
But Swisse chief executive Radek Sali dismisses claims the vitamin industry is more about spin than substance, pointing to more than 15,000 clinical studies on complementary medicines carried out by independent scientists and published in peer-reviewed journals.
Mr Sali defends the use of celebrity "brand ambassadors" who are paid for their services, saying they cost no more to hire than an actor, but are more authentic because they use the products they endorse.
The TGA requires each ambassador to sign a statutory declaration to say they use and gain benefit from the product.
Before a company can advertise complementary medicines, they must also obtain TGA approval and comply with its advertising code, which states ads must be truthful and not misleading.
Ricky Ponting promotes Swisse Vitamins. Picture: Phil Hillyard
Despite these safeguards, public health experts say the industry plays on consumer anxiety about modern life and is based more on marketing than science.
Melbourne GP and author Bernie Crimmins said the industry created the perception a normal diet couldn't give us what we need.
"I think it is the worried well that take a lot of these vitamins based on flimsy evidence," Dr Crimmins said.
"I think the urine flowing down our sewer pipes to Werribee is perhaps overly nutritious and expensive."
Even children are a target. Sales of children's vitamins rose more than 50 per cent in four years, while obesity levels grew and more children failed to eat enough fruit and vegetables.
Movie tie-ins and pro-biotic chocolate balls are marketed to children as young as two.
"Children could grow up expecting that taking a pill is the norm," Dr Crimmins said.
"Effectively to them it is really a lolly, so I don't think that behaviourally it is a good thing to do."
La Trobe University School of Public Health adjunct associate Professor Ken Harvey said products could contain 50 or more ingredients, often in small amounts, many of which were of dubious value.
Popular "value-adding" trace doses of herbs or extracts with specific claims include Siberian ginseng, "power herbs", "super greens" and milk thistle.
Research by consumer champion Choice found that some companies were blatantly repackaging the same vitamin as a specialised product for different ages and genders to maximise sales.
While men and women do need different levels of nutrients in different life stages, the products were only marginally different.
Associate Prof Harvey said companies could get away with this type of marketing because the regulatory system lacked scrutiny of claims and had ineffective penalties for advertising violations.
"Their promotion often relies on multi-million dollar celebrity endorsement and plays on consumer anxiety about modern life, such as lack of time to eat properly, pollution and stress," associate Prof Harvey said.
The peak body for over-the-counter and complementary medicines - Australian Self-Medication Industry (ASMI) - maintains vitamins and supplements have a legitimate place in the wider health system.
ASMI executive director Dr Deon Schoombie agrees supplements do not replace a balanced diet, but says they do play a role in the health and wellbeing of those with vitamin or mineral deficiencies.
"It's fine to argue Australians should be getting their essential nutrients from a healthy diet, but we know from official statistics that 90 per cent of Australians are not eating the required level of fruit and vegetables," he said.
Read more: A barrage of marketing using big-name celebrities has Australians popping more pills than ever | News.com.au
Vitamin companies are spending up big to convince us of their celebrity credentials, even flying talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres out here to spread their message.
The lithe silhouette of actor Nicole Kidman is the latest in an army of "ambassadors" being used to sell vitamins here and overseas.
Many elite athletes - from cricketers to AFL stars - endorse a vitamin brand.
While Jennifer Hawkins uses her beauty queen image to spruik Bioglan products, Michelle Bridges' athleticism powers Nature's Way pill sales and Ian Thorpe stays in shape with Blackmores.
But the question is: Do the pills match the pitch?
Vitamin giant Swisse made headlines this week for changing the name of its "Appetite Suppressant" product to the new "Hunger Control" after a review by the Therapeutic Goods Administration found the presentation of the original product "unacceptable".
Swisse has previously had a brush with the medicines' watchdog over allegations its slogan "You'll feel better on Swisse" breached an advertising code.
But Swisse chief executive Radek Sali dismisses claims the vitamin industry is more about spin than substance, pointing to more than 15,000 clinical studies on complementary medicines carried out by independent scientists and published in peer-reviewed journals.
Mr Sali defends the use of celebrity "brand ambassadors" who are paid for their services, saying they cost no more to hire than an actor, but are more authentic because they use the products they endorse.
The TGA requires each ambassador to sign a statutory declaration to say they use and gain benefit from the product.
Before a company can advertise complementary medicines, they must also obtain TGA approval and comply with its advertising code, which states ads must be truthful and not misleading.
Ricky Ponting promotes Swisse Vitamins. Picture: Phil Hillyard
Despite these safeguards, public health experts say the industry plays on consumer anxiety about modern life and is based more on marketing than science.
Melbourne GP and author Bernie Crimmins said the industry created the perception a normal diet couldn't give us what we need.
"I think it is the worried well that take a lot of these vitamins based on flimsy evidence," Dr Crimmins said.
"I think the urine flowing down our sewer pipes to Werribee is perhaps overly nutritious and expensive."
Even children are a target. Sales of children's vitamins rose more than 50 per cent in four years, while obesity levels grew and more children failed to eat enough fruit and vegetables.
Movie tie-ins and pro-biotic chocolate balls are marketed to children as young as two.
"Children could grow up expecting that taking a pill is the norm," Dr Crimmins said.
"Effectively to them it is really a lolly, so I don't think that behaviourally it is a good thing to do."
La Trobe University School of Public Health adjunct associate Professor Ken Harvey said products could contain 50 or more ingredients, often in small amounts, many of which were of dubious value.
Popular "value-adding" trace doses of herbs or extracts with specific claims include Siberian ginseng, "power herbs", "super greens" and milk thistle.
Research by consumer champion Choice found that some companies were blatantly repackaging the same vitamin as a specialised product for different ages and genders to maximise sales.
While men and women do need different levels of nutrients in different life stages, the products were only marginally different.
Associate Prof Harvey said companies could get away with this type of marketing because the regulatory system lacked scrutiny of claims and had ineffective penalties for advertising violations.
"Their promotion often relies on multi-million dollar celebrity endorsement and plays on consumer anxiety about modern life, such as lack of time to eat properly, pollution and stress," associate Prof Harvey said.
The peak body for over-the-counter and complementary medicines - Australian Self-Medication Industry (ASMI) - maintains vitamins and supplements have a legitimate place in the wider health system.
ASMI executive director Dr Deon Schoombie agrees supplements do not replace a balanced diet, but says they do play a role in the health and wellbeing of those with vitamin or mineral deficiencies.
"It's fine to argue Australians should be getting their essential nutrients from a healthy diet, but we know from official statistics that 90 per cent of Australians are not eating the required level of fruit and vegetables," he said.
Read more: A barrage of marketing using big-name celebrities has Australians popping more pills than ever | News.com.au
