TORONTO — Taking multivitamins or other commonly consumed vitamin and mineral supplements won’t actually provide you any health benefits, but they won’t harm you either, a new study finds.
Researchers from the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital conducted a review of 179 studies on popular vitamin supplements that were published between January 2012 and October 2017. Studies covered a vast spectrum of supplements, including vitamins A, B1, B2, B3 (niacin), B6, B9 (folic acid), C, D and E; and mineral supplements β-carotene; calcium; iron; zinc; magnesium; and selenium. Multivitamins that contained a wide variety of the vitamins and minerals were also reviewed.
The research team concluded that the most commonly consumed supplements — multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium, and vitamin C — had no effect on a person’s risk of suffering a heart attack stroke, heart disease, or early death.
“We were surprised to find so few positive effects of the most common supplements that people consume,” notes Dr. David Jenkins, the study’s lead author, in a statement. “Our review found that if you want to use multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium or vitamin C, it does no harm – but there is no apparent advantage either.”
The only supplements that showed any benefit among the studies were folic acid or B-vitamins that contained B6, B12, and folic acid, which could lower one’s risk of heart disease and stroke. Folic acid alone showed a 20 percent lowered risk of stroke. Conversely, the review found that niacin and antioxidants had a “very small” effect that could potentially raise the risk of death from any cause.
The authors say it’s best to stick to a healthy diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables which naturally provide our bodies with vitamins and minerals.
“In the absence of significant positive data – apart from folic acid’s potential reduction in the risk of stroke and heart disease – it’s most beneficial to rely on a healthy diet to get your fill of vitamins and minerals,” says Dr. Jenkins. “So far, no research on supplements has shown us anything better than healthy servings of less processed plant foods including vegetables, fruits and nuts.”
Jenkins says it’s important that people be aware of what types of supplements they’re taking and to always consult a doctor, particularly if they have any specific deficiencies.
“These findings suggest that people should be conscious of the supplements they’re taking and ensure they’re applicable to the specific vitamin or mineral deficiencies they have been advised of by their healthcare provider,” adds Jenkins.
According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, in 2012, it was estimated that 52 percent of the population were taking supplements.
The full study was published in the June 5, 2018 edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. It was funded by the Canada Research Chair Endorsement, Loblaw Cos. Ltd., and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.
I don’t recall any multivitamin claiming their products prevent any heart conditions. The study concluded with specific conditions unrelated to what supplements are for. If they expect efficacy conclusions to be relevant, maybe study what is applicable to the product?
Supplements come in 3 flavors of absorption, metallic, chelated and colloidal. Metallic absorption is around 5-10% very little benefit. Chelated absorption is only slightly better. Colloidal vitamin supplements provide maximum benefit through absorption. This assumes a proper diet and exercise regime. The story above covers none of this and is therefore garbage.
Flintstones or One a day ?.. Useless propaganda.
The title of your article is a misrepresentation of what the study actually concluded, calculated, no doubt, for the purpose of increasing readership and, therefore, marketing revenue. What this study actually concluded was, “Since the 2013 to 2014 assessment and report of the USPSTF (7), the most notable finding was the effect of folic acid in reducing stroke and CVD, with significance driven by the 5-year 20,000 Chinese CSPPT RCT, which was supported by the reduction in stroke seen in RCTs of B-complex vitamins in which folic acid was a component.” and “Nevertheless, inclusion of the CSPPT in the meta-analysis of folic acid and CVD risk resulted in a 22% reduction in CVD risk with an NNT of 111. For comparative purposes, the NNT for statin use was 72 in the 2016 report of the USPSTF (76). Furthermore, supplementation with B-complex vitamins that included folic acid was also reported to reduce stroke in RCTs as far back as 2010, with the publication of the VITATOPS (Vitamins to Prevent Stroke) trial (42).”
I acknowledge the study concluded that certain supplements in particular folic acid did not reduce the cause of all deaths, which would include things like head trauma, some cancers, spinal meningitis, and the like. Hardly a commentary on the value supplements.
If it were not so obvious that you are primarily interested in increasing readership then you are in facts and the truth, I’d spend some time providing you dozens (or hundreds if I was paid for the time it would take) to peer-reviewed, RCT studies which refute the conclusions of this study.
Unlike the company, which profits from the sale of boxed and canned goods and pharmaceuticals, all of which are bad, who provided the major backing for this study, I have no financial interest in my comments.
Medical writers make a good living being paid to trash other segments of the health community to steer people away from certain types of products or actual brands. It is absolutely shameless behavior. There is no real way to know which stories are secretly funded thru seemingly harmless, non-profit front organizations.
Says Big Pharma Mouthpieces who profit from your continued sickness.
All the comments here are full of crap!!
LOL, I have said this for years. its all bullshit. I do tell my female patients to take iron and calcium or drink milk. I do tell my male patients to take zinc. The rest is all bullshit.
My doctor laughs at me and my vitamins but—–he says I’m the healthiest septuagenarian he has ever seen and will live to see 100.
He wanted me to take steroids and inhalers for my COPD (from living a lifetime with smokers), I chose to take NAC (N-acetyl cysteine) capsules instead. Works wonders.
He wanted me to take this, that and another for my severe joint pain and to get a hip replacement. I take MSM (methysufonylmethane) plus turmeric instead. Bingo. Come on, Doc, is that snake oil? Is it a placebo as my doctor suggests?
If it IS a placebo, then so be it…..it works and there are zero negative side effects.
Wake up, Fella.
(P.S. Taking iron and calcium is not always advisable. Just saying.)
Study done in Canada means nothing.
Louis Bromfield was a well known novelist before WWII. He moved from France when the war was coming, to Pleasant Valley in Ohio. He had studied Agriculture at Cornell. The land was worn out and worth almost nothing, not even producing enough to pay the taxes on it.
Yes, he had a lot of money to throw around from his successful novels, but decreed the place had to pay for itself. Not only did he make the farm pay for itself, with such things as spreading mineral supplements on it – which eliminated certain diseases in his animals. But, he also reported that in states with high mineral content in the soil a high percentage of men passed the military mental and physical test. And, states with low mineral contents had very low pass rates for their young men.
I studied Agriculture in high school. When we studied care and feeding of animals, we spent a lot of time on nutrition, including minerals and vitamins in their diets. There are diseases which can be cured by vitamins. The most obvious example is ringworm in cattle, cured by injections of Vitamin A. But, overall veterinarians spend a lot of time studying nutrition of animals.
Yet, the minute we talk about humans, suddenly nutrition is meaningless. Nonsense. Which is why I have often said half the time in my life when I went to a doctor, I’d have been better off with a vet.
Read his books, Pleasant Valley, and Malabar Farm for more details.
Always follow the money…..funded by people who have a vested interest in keeping people sick…
Okay, great, so the vitamins have no effect on the risk of heart disease or stroke. There are other reasons to take vitamins, you know. I was suffering from severe joint pain, especially in my shoulders. the doc did a blood test, and determined I was severely deficient in vitamin D. Ever since I’ve been taking it I’ve been fine.
MSM–(methylsulfonylmethane) works great, too. AND cleans out your liver.
COMING SOON: “But, WE just happen to have something that our researchers say does work! It’s our new brand of supplements called [fill in the blank] available soon at a store near you!”
Typical nonsense study based upon removing a particular nutrient from a controlled group’s diet without otherwise standardizing the intake of other nutrients, and without carefully documenting differences in preexisting health conditions of the members of that control group. #FlawedScience
In my personal experience, two noteworthy experiments produced significant and repeatable results:
1) About 5 years ago, after having suffered multiple colds and allergies each year for many years, I changed my intake of Vitamin C from what was in my multivitamin (about 500mg) to over 6000mg per day. I have not had a cold or allergy attack since. And I am now over 64 years old.
2) About 3 years ago, I used to have occasional heart palpitations with occasional irregular heartbeats (atrial fibrillation.) Upon doing a detailed audit of my diet, I found my potassium-to-sodium ratio to be around 1:1, or for each gram of potassium, I was consuming a gram of sodium. Ideally, the ratio, at a minimum, should be around 2:1, or 2 grams of potassium for each gram of sodium. In my diet, I had already eliminated added salt (sodium chloride – NaCl) years before, so I was surprised my ratio was so low. Anyway, since potassium is an essential positively charged electrolyte, it stood to reason that my body did not have enough positive charges to consistently trigger a regular heartbeat. So when I felt my heart fluttering and confirmed the irregular heartbeat (about 3-4 missing or extra beats per minute), I immediately took 400 mg of potassium as a supplement. Within 15 minutes, the episode passed and my hearbeat was as smooth and regular as it should be. Of course, without changing my diet, the irregular heartbeat returned periodically, and in each case, I immediately took 400 mg of potassium – which worked every time. And when I did not take the potassium, the irregular beat would continue for hours, much to my discomfort.
So of course, after having proved it to myself, I have changed my diet to include more fresh vegetables (an excellent, natural source of potassium) and also supplemented it with additional potassium such that my potassium-to-sodium ratio is consistently above 3:1, and I have no longer had any episodes of heart palpitations/atrial fibrillation – which was also confirmed by my physician – ever since.
So pardon me if I do not buy into this nonsense about supplements and nutrients having no effect on human health. No doubt, the prescription drug industry would like to rid themselves of their competition!
JMHOAU
new studies find:
FAKE NEWS comes in the
form of generic, unsubstantiated,
nonspecific statements from
unqualified, agenda driven
“journalists”!
….now this you can take to the bank…..
Well well well. Then by this account, all ob/gyn or family planning personnel will not be pushing those pesky pre-natal vitamins anymore. After all, those are supplements and according to the article, they provide very little advantage.
Pure, unadulterated bullshit from Big Pharma. They don’t want you to use supplements to gain control of your health. They want lifelong customers, not cures.
Who is in the Truther Movement Who finances their Operations without Soros etc money? Infowars. This could also be motivated to cut the Funding of Infowars. Rothschild 500 Trillion isn’t from the Supplement Business.
obviously you need
some high quality supplements
to help you think clearly…. http://www.infowarsstore.com !
Take Brain Force and help yourself U No?
Some supplements work wonders. Most supplements are synthetic and your body doesn’t respond well to them. Use high quality supplements made from real plants and get ready to experience some positive differences in your life.
https://youtu.be/zFxpz6IA8hM
I read this as saying that taking multivitamins have no “positive effect” on reducing heart failure, stroke or early death. What? I thought the purpose of a multivitamin, which I take, was to provide needed vitamins and minerals that are not provided in the daily diet. They just keep you even. Almost no one eats just the right amount and variety of food to provide all the daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. Multivitamins keep you even. Sounds good to me.