HQ Team
June 27, 2024:The ongoing debate about the perceived benefits or non-benefits of vitamin supplements has another study that emphasises their nil benefits.
The study, with around 400,000 subjects, found zero benefit from multivitamin use in helping people live longer
The Vitamins & Minerals market is globally experiencing significant growth after the COVID-19 pandemic. The global market witnessed an increase of around 6% in 2020. India is third in revenue generated in this market, with $2100 million behind China and the United States. It is said that a third of American adults use multivitamins, despite studies finding no apparent benefits from their intake.
The study lead Erikka Loftfiled, with the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI), said that people “without a history of major chronic diseases, we did not find evidence to support improved longevity among healthy adults who regularly take multivitamins.”
Her team published its findings June 26 in the journal JAMA Network Open.
The team analyzed data from three prospective studies involving 390,000 adults (aged 60 and above) with an average 27 years of follow-up.
The researchers gathered data on the participants’ multivitamin use.
Over the long period of follow-up, almost 165,000 of the participants died. About 50,000 deaths were attributed to cancer, about 35,000 deaths were caused by heart disease and 9,275 deaths were linked to strokes.
The team, however, found no link between the use of multivitamins and a person’s odds of dying within the study period.
In fact, “we found that daily multivitamin use vs nonuse was associated with 4% higher mortality [death] risk,” the researchers noted.
The researchers took into account the subjects’ race, ethnicity, education or dietary quality and found that these in no way affected the results.
Previous studies
This study follows several studies that have proved the inefficacies of the use of vitamin supplements. The NCI team noted that there are “several studies that reported no benefit of multivitamin use for reducing risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer or mortality.”
A research published recently by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital — affiliated with the prestigious Harvard University — warned vitamin D and omega-3 supplements do not play any role in preventing a physical decline in the ageing.
Another study published in the British Medical Journal in 2020 found that multivitamin benefits are all in the head. Of the 20,000 participants, nearly 5000 reported popping multivitamins regularly and felt their health was 30 per cent better than those with no intake. But regular examination revealed that they were at no less risk of developing chronic diseases than others. People who took the pills just felt that they were healthier (in their heads).
Risk Vs benefit
Doctors note that multivitamins do benefit some people in some conditions in some amounts. However, scientists are yet to figure out the optimal amount of vitamins each person needs due to each individual’s metabolic and physical differences.
But most multivitamins are a hotch-potch of nutrients that aren’t based on clinical research, and some combinations are counter-productive and harmful. The testing standards for supplements in the market are not stringent, and even the most popular brands fail to pass the minimum standards test.
A study by researchers at the University of Missouri reveals that a popular vitamin supplement nicotinamide riboside or NR, and a variant of B3, may cause brain cancer.
The message to the public on multivitamins might slowly be getting through: “In the U.S., multivitamin use declined by 6% from 1999 to 2011,” Loftfield’s noted.
The team stressed that “we cannot preclude the possibility that daily multivitamin use may be associated with other health outcomes related to aging.”
The study was published in JAMA network.
