by Matt Weik, BS, CSCS, CPT, CSN
The other day, I read a study that challenged the notion that taking daily multivitamins for longevity did nothing. Surely, this was a hit piece for targeting the supplement industry, right?
Or is it true that daily multivitamins don’t do anything to improve health and extend someone’s life?
In this article, we are going to dive deeper into the study I found and explain what it showed so that you can make up your mind on whether or not you want to take daily multivitamins.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to treat or diagnose any condition. It is recommended that you speak with your doctor before starting any exercise program, making changes to your nutrition plan, or adding any new supplements into your current regimen.
Why Would You Need Daily Multivitamins?
For starters, the American diet is junk. Processed foods, fast food, fried foods, too much sugar, the list goes on and on.
Many Americans are deficient in key micronutrients because they don’t eat a well-balanced diet made up of healthy foods like lean protein sources, vegetables, and fruits. Therefore, what they are left with are nutrient gaps.
In order to fill these gaps, many people look for daily multivitamins to help provide them with the missing vitamins and minerals from their nutrition.
Does it help?
Previous research has mentioned that daily multivitamins are a good idea to prevent deficiencies, but with some new research coming out, it questions if the juice is actually worth the squeeze in the big picture.
Are Daily Multivitamins Bunk?
A comprehensive research study has cast doubt on the widespread belief that taking daily multivitamins can extend your lifespan. In fact, the findings suggest a potential increase in mortality risk among regular users, which actually blew my mind.
The study was conducted by a team of American researchers and examined the health records of approximately 400,000 adults who were free from major chronic illnesses. The purpose of this study was to determine whether daily multivitamin consumption reduced mortality risk over a two-decade period.
Despite my own personal feelings and thoughts about daily multivitamins, the results indicated that multivitamin users had a slightly higher likelihood of dying during the study period compared to non-users. This led government researchers to conclude that using multivitamins to promote longevity lacks the scientific support we once thought it had.
To be honest, there are several parts of the study that have me questioning the legitimacy and if the study was simply a way to attack the supplement industry because we know big pharma hates supplements getting in the way of them owning every single person on the planet.
The multivitamin and dietary supplement industry is a significant market, with nearly half of UK adults and a third of US adults regularly consuming these products. However, despite their popularity, researchers have questioned the health benefits of multivitamins, with some studies even suggesting potential harm.
For instance, while natural food sources of beta-carotene have cancer-protective properties, beta-carotene supplements have been linked to increased risks of lung cancer and heart disease (a small percentage that researchers like to cherry-pick data and sensationalize it).
Similarly, iron, a common component in multivitamins, can lead to iron overload and elevate risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and dementia when taken in excess (again, cherry-picking data and exaggerating it).
What Did the Researchers Find?
The study, led by Dr. Erikka Loftfield and her team at the National Cancer Institute in Maryland, analyzed data from three major US health studies initiated in the 1990s. The research encompassed 390,124 generally healthy adults who were monitored for over two decades.
The findings revealed no evidence that daily multivitamins reduced mortality risk. Instead, a 4% higher mortality risk was observed among users in the initial years of follow-up.
Researchers speculate that this increased risk could be due to the potentially harmful effects of multivitamins or a tendency for people to start taking multivitamins when they develop serious illnesses.
Again, to chime in here, you can’t say daily multivitamins cause premature death compared to non-vitamin users when someone is already sick and dying. Also, I’d like to see the data and research that shows the harmful effects multivitamins can have when used as directed.
Dr. Neal Barnard, an adjunct professor of medicine at George Washington University, said that vitamins could be beneficial in specific cases, such as preventing scurvy (when’s the last time you actually heard anyone getting scurvy even when not using daily multivitamins?) or slowing age-related macular degeneration.
However, he emphasizes that multivitamins often promise more than they deliver and that the scientific evidence supporting their general use is lacking.
Again, I would like to see a legit and unbiased study comparing the use of daily multivitamins versus not using one. Right now, you can’t convince me that there’s a con to using one to help fill in nutrient deficiencies.
Instead of relying on multivitamins, experts recommend focusing on a healthy diet rich in a variety of nutrients, fiber, and limited in saturated fat and cholesterol. But as we all know and the research has shown, it’s nearly impossible to get 100% of your daily micronutrients through whole food options due to the volume of food needed. It’s just not possible.
Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and senior lecturer at Aston Medical School, mentioned that while vitamin supplements cannot fix an unhealthy diet on their own, they can help cover key nutrient gaps in specific situations, such as vitamin D supplementation in winter or vitamin B12 for vegans and vegetarians.
What Do I Think About Daily Multivitamins?
My stance on this hasn’t changed. I’m still going to use daily multivitamins as I can feel a difference in my body when I don’t take one.
Is a daily multivitamin something you should take? That’s very personal, and only you can make that decision. Take the information you have read in the past, consider the research I just presented you with, and make the decision on what you feel is best for you and your health.
If you feel better taking daily multivitamins (like me), you may want to consider keeping them. But only you and your doctor can make the final decision.
