Time to kick the multivitamin habit, studies suggest: Don't help prevent disease, might cause harm.

[salvorhardin]

If you're like many Prevention readers, multivitamins have been a key part of your daily routine since... well, forever. As recently as 2002, no less an authority than the Journal of the American Medical Association recommended that "all adults take one multivitamin daily." We at Prevention have suggested them to you dozens of times over the years as well. And many doctors and nutritionists still urge a multivitamin to any "less-than-perfect eater" to compensate for dietary shortfalls.

But today, a tsunami of scientific data has resulted in a reversal in thinking among many experts in the health and nutrition community, including Miriam Nelson, PhD, director of the John Hancock Research Center on Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity at Tufts University. "The multivitamin as insurance policy is an old wives' tale, and we need to debunk it," she says.

The sea change is supported by two massive studies. The first, a review of 63 randomized, controlled trials (the gold standard research method) on multivitamins, published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, found that multis did nothing to prevent cancer or heart disease in most populations (the exception being developing countries where nutritional deficiencies are widespread). In the second paper, published last year, scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center followed 160,000 postmenopausal women for about 10 years. The researchers' conclusion: "Multivitamins failed to prevent cancer, heart disease, and all causes of death for all women. Whether the women were healthy eaters or ate very few fruits and vegetables, the results were the same," says the lead author, Marian Neuhouser, PhD.

Maybe you never expected your multi to prevent breast cancer or head off a heart attack. Maybe you just felt that taking one would make you healthier by boosting your immunity or energy level. But research on those benefits is equally discouraging, especially in specialized groups on which you'd expect them to have an impact. For instance, a British review of eight studies found no evidence that multis reduced infections in older adults. Another study found that the vitamins didn't improve fatigue among breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy. And inner-city schoolchildren who took a multi did not perform any better on tests or have fewer sick days than students who didn't take one.
Full article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39616169/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition

The article goes on to suggest that for people aged 50 or older who eat a relatively balanced diet, that you might still want to take supplements for Vitamin D, Omega-3, and calcium. However, I think it should be noted that the research is equivocal for calcium supplements at best, Omega-3 supplements have been pretty well shown not to do anything and we're still unsure about Vitamin D supplements although it's looking like most people do not get enough exposure to sunlight so they might be a good idea.

[madmax]

1. Paging Jon Stewart ...

;) :evilgrin:

[Demeter]

2. Baloney

I'm not functional without the B's. Cannot produce or eat enough to stay on the sunny side of life.

[salvorhardin]

3. We're not talking about outliers

Obviously there's always going to be people who need supplements for medical conditions. You may well be one. However, the vast majority of people just don't need them, and they don't even particularly help sick people (unless they're suffering from a nutritional deficiency).

[Warpy]

4. Agreed, they only give you expensive urine in a pleasant color

I took huge doses of folic acid when I was on chemo drugs, but not since then. Since I tend to hibernate in winter, I take vitamin D. Since I'm old, I take calcium. That's it, folks, and I used to sell all the pills in a health food store so I know all the propaganda.

I also know there's nothing you can do to dissuade a committed pill head. At least the vitamins are likely less toxic than the stuff they see advertised on TV that only their doctors can prescribe.

[aquart]

13. Same here. Need the heavy Bs.

And B12 is a seriously helpful substance.

[snagglepuss]

18. Actually scientists are now cautioning people about folic acid.

There is no debate that pregnant women need supplementation however most people are getting way to much since it is now being added to so many foods like bread. Getting too much is a problem since it speeds up cell division. This information can be found in established credible medical journals and sites.

[truedelphi]

17. Same here. And on a day when my sinuses are suffering, I love those

Emergency C packets. They really do the trick.

I very much believe in Linus Pauling and his research on Vitamin C.

[mike_c]

5. right now I think vitamin D is the only exception for healthy adults...

...and that's because most of us demonstrably do not get enough sun exposure-- nor should we, at least over the course of most modern human lifetimes. It was different as humans evolved-- we lived outdoors, naked or mostly naked, in the full tropical sun, and we died of other causes LONG before cancer could become an issue for most. Today, vitamin D supplementation is probably necessary, even for most healthy adults. But most milk is D fortified, at least in this country, so if you're a milk drinker, that might be enough to do the trick. It isn't for me-- I monitor my vitamin D levels and they're chronically low unless I supplement.

For most other vitamins, a healthy diet is all that's necessary.

One other possible caveat not addressed by the current study, however, is emerging data that B vitamin supplementation might indeed provide some level of protection from dementia in elderly adults. The jury is still out on that one, however.

[hlthe2b]

6. vit D, calcium for many, and EFA-rich fish oil supplements

[mike_c]

8. just to clarify, calcium is a mineral nutrient, not a vitamin...

...and essential fatty acids are primarily membrane components and direct metabolites. Neither are vitamins, which are the subject of these studies. There are LOTS of essential nutrients that humans should include in their diets, but they're not all vitamins.

[hlthe2b]

9. Oh, please... I was discussing what supplements are still valid

Come on, mike_c. You know better than that. Obviously, essential fatty acids are not vitamins either.

[mike_c]

10. sorry, no snark intended....

I didn't glean that meaning from your response (which admittedly was pretty brief). My apologies.

[hlthe2b]

11. No snark here either.... am still tired post-election I suppose

;)

[salvorhardin]

7. I concur

And I'm starting to think, as one of the whitest men on Earth who avoids the sun as much as possible (I will burn in under five minutes), that Vitamin D supplements are probably a good idea for me. The scientific consensus is pretty well coming round to us needing more Vitamin D than we used to think.

I was aware of the Vitamin B studies but they're so preliminary I didn't mention them.

[pansypoo53219]

12. my mom was a medical records/cancer person

and said it can feed tumors. every other day better. i do B complex the other day. take my omegas cause i don't do fish. and D. i think i should got back to the 'generic' store brand.

[SheilaT]

14. Sometimes when I read the posts

from people who absolutely swear by some supplement or another, and I reflect on how phenomenally healthy I am, I wonder if I'm some sort of completely weird outlier, or just what.

I didn't even bother with multi-vitamins when I was pregnant, relying on my eating a reasonably healthy diet to pull me and the babies through. Seemed to work. And now, I eat a reasonably healthy and balanced diet, don't smoke, am trying to cut back on my alcohol intake, recently took up taking morning walks. Never take flu shots. It's probably been thirty years or more (I'm 62) since I actually got flu. I am the healthiest person I know. That's just me.

I also am bothered by reports that come out touting some incredibly wonderful result from eating some particular food, or taking some special supplement. Invariably the fine print is that there is some very small improvement in whatever is being measured, but probably not enough to warrant a complete change in lifestyle. Meanwhile, it's a real good idea to eat, as best you can, a variety of wholesome and fresh foods, get a little exercise, for God's sake don't smoke and try not to drink too much. Oh, and wear a helmet if you ride a motorcycle. And other stuff like that.

The truth is that there is no one single Wonder Food or Magic Supplement. Nor, for the most part, are any foods poison. Other that things individuals have violent allergies to. But I keep on hearing people demonize specific foods -- potatoes are the best example -- as if they contain absolutely no nutritional value whatsoever. I must point out that the Irish did extremely well for several centuries on a diet that was almost entirely potatoes until the Famine.

[2Design]

15. I am finding the 50+ advantage from 1 a day is working

I use a Divine Rod type thing - I hold the vitamins and if my body moves forward it is good and back it is not going to help me - not everyone can do this successfully - I do notice a difference in my every day being - the regular 1 day or even just the 50+ did not give me a positive response thing - try it

I use Nature Made supplements for the other because I get the most positive responses from them. I always use B+ complex because it is good over all for mental and physical health

Been using Triple Flex for movement and it has been great for movement

Just my experience and my way of finding out what works

The cancer is probably all the chemicals used in growth hormones and stuff used in the growing process that wasn't there the first half of last century. Our governments and FDA are not protecting us and won't - they do all the wrong things and are being bought off like the rest of the corporatists.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[flamingdem]

19. Get your Vitamin B levels and D levels tested to know if you need them

I always took multivitamins religiously. Now I don't. Somehow my body just let me know - not needed. BUT my D levels were minimal so I take 2000 a day. And I take 500 C because I still believe in that, right or wrong.

So much money wasted on fancy health food store multis... only good thing is perhaps it helped my low Vitamin D all those years.