Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food

We think we know all about vitamins, but according to author Catherine Price, most of us know nothing about these thirteen invisible chemicals.  Over the century since they were discovered, vitamins have changed human destiny by preventing and curing many diseases.  Price's "Vitamania" points out that these micronutrients have also taken on a life of their own in the hands of marketers, affecting how we think about health, and the decisions we make about what we eat.

• Author Catherine Price is a journalist whose work has appeared in publications including The Best American Science Writing, the New York Times, Health magazine and Outside.

Here's Catherine Price discussing her research on vitamins and some surprising places it led her:

LINKS:

• Catherine Price's New York Times editorial on how vitamins hide the poor quality of our food

• Our bodies make vitamin D naturally. So why do Americans spend billions on supplements?

• From moral guidance to national security:vitaminshave always been used to sell food