Half of all American adults—including 70 percent of those age 65 and older—take a multivitamin or another vitamin or mineral supplement regularly. The total price tag exceeds $12 billion per year. Multivitamins are often targeted to specific subgroups such a as women, women over 50, pregnant women, men over 50, etc. In common, most of these multivitamins contain a number of B-complex vitamins, Vitamins A, C, D and D, calcium, magnesium, biotin, folate and others. Vitamins are often touted to reduce heart risk, lower the risk of cancer, improve our immune systems, strengthen our bones and many other positive impacts on our bodies.
How true are these claims? Well, here are study results:
- An analysis of research involving 450,000 people, which found that multivitamins did not reduce risk for heart disease or cancer.
- A study that tracked the mental functioning and multivitamin use of 5,947 men for 12 years found that multivitamins did not reduce risk for mental declines such as memory loss or slowed-down thinking.
- A study of 1,708 heart attack survivors who took a high-dose multivitamin or placebo for up to 55 months. Rates of later heart attacks, heart surgeries and deaths were similar in the two groups.
So, concerning any benefits to the heart, brain functioning and cancer risk, multivitamins appear to be a waste of money.
Pregnant women should probably take folate as studies do show less neurological damage in infants. Also, women that lose blood monthly would benefit from iron replacement. Vitamin D and calcium help bone strength and Vitamin D has been shown to improve immune function.
Based on the above, it certainly does not seem to be the case that you will prolong your life by taking a daily multivitamin but specific components may be helpful in health optimization. I will continue to take my Centrum Men’s over 50 but I am probably pissing away not only the extra vitamins my body does not absorb but also the $$$ spent on the multivitamin.
