Study: No health benefits in Multivitamins

HEALTH NEWS - Half of Americans take vitamin and mineral supplements to maintain the health of their bodies. Many health experts believe that multivitamins are very beneficial for health. But, the question is; Is it true that all the vitamins in supplement form actually make you healthier? Considering there are some studies that carried out by the researchers found no health benefits.

“We believe that the case is closed -- supplementing the diet of well-nourished adults with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might even be harmful,” concluded the authors of the editorial summarizing the new research papers, published Dec. 16 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.*

After reviewing the evidences from any finding of the new trials, the researchers concluded that the mineral or vitamin supplements do not have clear benefits and are likely to be injurious to health. We don't know whether such conclusion can upset the trust of people to the benefits of multivitamin, Do they will keep taking it or not? Or What about the health practitioners who gave a recommendation to consume a daily supplement, Do they will pull back their advice? Well, it seems will be a fairly long debate.

However, the conclusion has come from observations in studies that can be accountable and aimed to prove following issues:

Multivitamins are not proven to reduce cardiovascular disorders

The first study  conducted by the Journal of the American Medical Association has involved 350,000 people who believe that vitamin supplements can prevent chronic diseases.  In addition, the researchers reviewed 24 studies aimed at finding evidence that can be used to renew the vitamin treatment guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

Turns out, the review did not find evidence that vitamin supplements can prevent the risk of heart disease. While the two other experiments found a small and very limited benefit to reduce cancer risk.

“In the absence of clear evidence about the impact of most vitamins and multivitamins on cardiovascular disease and cancer, health care professionals should counsel their patients to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet that is rich in nutrients,” the Task Force concluded.*

Multivitamins can not slow down cognitive decline

To find the truth of the people's assumption that multivitamins can improve their cognitive, the researchers did a second study, which involved 5.950 male doctors aged 65 years to consume either a daily multivitamin or placebo for 12 years. And the results of the study showed multivitamin takers don't get any influence on their cognitive health compared to placebo takers.

Multivitamins do not have a role in the prevention of heart attack

In a third study, researchers reviewed around 1,700 people who have a risk of heart attack,and then they were randomized to receive daily high-dose multivitamins and minerals or placebo for 5 years.
The researchers found a finding that showed no significant difference in the rate of heart attack or stroke, but the conclusion for that matter should be taken with caution, since some participants have stopped taking vitamins early.

Based on three studies above, then it's pretty obvious to be considered whether vitamin and mineral supplements are really helping improve the quality of our health. Suppose all these conclusions are true, then it means we have been wasting of money to buy multivitamins.

“The ‘stop wasting your money’ means that perhaps you're spending money on things that won't protect you long term,” editorial co-author Dr. Edgar Miller, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.*

“What will protect you is if you spend the money on fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, low fat dairy, things like that ..exercising would probably be a better use of the money.”

We don't know what will happen to the sellers of multivitamins, after researchers released the results of those studies. Are their sales will plummet?

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*Cited from cbsnews.com
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