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.
Not sure I believe this because twice now I’ve run into a B vitamin problem and the Doc gave me some B’s to take and last time the regimen did get my B’s up to a proper level.
Years ago the VA prescribed one of those drinks, like Boost, in order to get me going again after losing a lot of weight, strength and other stuff, over having visited the heartbreak hotel.
If things are in perspective and you follow good advice from your doctor the supplements work, they worked for me anyway. At the moment I’m getting better each day with the docs and nutritionists advice all via The Veterans Administration, good on the VA.
After everything was back in order the doc told me I didn’t need all that stuff. Took a few months.
Nutritional.deficiencies occur because you are lacking those nutrients in the food you consume.
If you quit taking them completely you will become deficient again.
You now need a maintenance dose, before you were on a therapeutic dose.
Do you find any errors in my logic?
What about your doctor’s logic?
Searchin, I listen to a lot of advice and the maintenance dose sounds about right. I don’t want to take a lot of stuff. The food thing is different and I think the idea is that I eat more fruits, veggies, good bread, beans, some meat. She also but Chia on the food list…that’s bird food, but I’ll try it.
Thanks for the tip.
Okay so there you have it, folks. There is officially no health benefit to FOOD. You can just quit eating now and survive on pharmaceuticals.
The nasty fact is big pharma is buying supplement manufacturers least they lose a dime.
Those supplements could be poisoned to create more money by treating another disease caused by our criminal healthcare system, that treats the patient by harvesting their financial future and retirement savings.
These so-called “studies” are “Fake News”. The studies when performed use inferior made, poor quality supplements and vitamins; they use them in improper, useless doses and the tests are designed to produce the desired results.
Why do “they” do this? I do not know but I do know that as a grandparent with children and grandchildren who have been dosed with high quality vitamins and nutritional supplements, we are extremely healthy. My children and grandchildren never have missed more than one day from work or school in years.
I think these are smaller subsets of info that gradually suggest nationalized healthcare
and gov guidelines are the only reliable info to follow
Should take folate, not folic acid. Folic acid is a synthetic. Folate is natural.
Don’t get too excited about these ‘studies’. Scientists and researchers are no longer able to tell the difference between facts, theories, assumptions, opinions and lies. They pass off a lot of stuff as ‘facts’, when they are actually something else. When the U.S. American Medical Assoc. decreed that iodine was toxic, based on one, single, falsified ‘study’ with faked results, soon afterward there began a steep increase in thyroid problems, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate problems. Funny thing: iodine is needed by every cell in the body, and the first parts that grab hold of it are… you guessed it: the thyroid, breasts, uterus, ovaries and prostate glands. For more info, google ‘Abraham Wolff-Chaikoff Effect — crying wolf’. Dr. Guy Abraham and other doctors did their own controlled and completed studies, and found the original results false. But did the AMA change their ruling on iodine? No. But the medical profession DID make a bundle of money hacking off women’s breasts, ripping out their uteri and ovaries, chopping out and frying thyroid glands, and doing the same with prostate glands for the last almost-fifty years. Oh, your doctor said you get enough iodine in salt? How odd… it was doctors that told us to reduce our salt intake, wasn’t it?
Strange, don’t bother taking supplements but, eat foods that have the same nutrients?
Then, either supplements in any form are good or it’s a waste to take sups or foods
rich in vitamins and mins!
Two minutes ago on a recorded version of ABC news David Nuir said Vitamins A and D, among others, deduce the chance of heart disease. Are we a f”ed up society or what?
sorry to say but this is another attempt to discredit nutritional supplements in lieu of largely ineffective or dangerous medications …. and it is all false …. i personally saved my own life at least twice after being diagnosed with pneumonia and acute asthma … i am severely allergic to most antibiotics and the medications i can take either did not work (on one antibiotic the infection spread to the second lung) or had hideous side effects (as in the asthma steroids) – upon research I discovered that vitamin A is crucial to lung and skin health … my problem was that I never took enough vitamin A to prevent any of these illnesses – I have a history of sinus and lung infections that never really healed …. upping my vitamin A to 45,000 iu per day (yes, the ‘experts’ say that this is toxic and dangerous) cleared up my pneumonia within a few days even after the antibiotics I can take became ineffective and one outpatient clinic doctor recommended I go directly to the ER …. i went home and got the vitamin A hi dose which saved my life …. no ER or additional antibiotics were necessary ….
The FDA needs to take immediate control over ALL food industry and mandate appropriate healthy food portions to every citizen. Anyone caught deferring from the system plan should immediately be thrown in prison.
Once I saw Fakebook was involved it has to be true
Linus Pauling’s work on Vitamin C alone makes me laugh at this article. I love Big Pharma Marketing wing….they’ll say anything to keep you sick and dependent on their killer pills
Big Pharma has 1 HUGE fear….Outbreaks of Good Health. Psst…..Big Pharma and sadly your Doctors are in business….your piss poor health is their $$. Think. …”First do no harm” is laughable today
Damn, I’ve been living on a strict regimen from a song from the late 60’s “Livening on reds, vitamin E and cocaine”. I’m 87 and still jogging 5 miles a day!