I’ve been taking a daily multi-vitamin for about the past 6 months.
I don’t seem to be running any faster, jumping any higher or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
To be honest, I notice absolutely no difference from pre-vitamin days to now.
I started taking them because it seemed like a good thing - like many people, I don’t have a glass of orange juice every morning and I cannot remember the last time I had broccoli for lunch.
Still, my question is:
Is there any scientific proof/evidence that swallowing a multi-vitamin tablet every day is really good for me?
it might help you if you had criminal tendencies
Good luck finding any decent answer to this. I’ve been trying for ages, and indeed once posted a similar question here.
Basically, it goes like this. Among people who you would think ought to know the answer (e.g. professional nutritionists, health & fitness experts, fitness trainers, dieticians etc.) you will find little or no consensus except to say “No amount of vit pills can be as good for you as a properly balanced, nutritious diet”. So far, so obvious.
Otherwise, you’ll hear three things:
- useless. May as well flush them down the toilet.
- can’t hurt, and may do some good if you’re training hard and missing some nutrition.
- yes, they’re a worthwhile ‘top-up’ just to make sure you’re not missing anything essential.
Who’s right? Who knows?
I’ve looked into this before and what I found is that most people with a normal balanced diet do not need vitamin suppliments, but it doesn’t hurt to take one as “insurance” to make sure you’re getting everything you need.
“They’re PEOPLE” lol
It basically is insurance to make sure you get everything you need. Too much of certain vitamins can be harmful but taking a basic multi vitamin once a day won’t hurt.
Vitamins can cause problems if there is an interaction with prescriptions. I take Zocor to lower blood cholesterol. My doc said not to take niacin while I am on that Rx.
I don’t know what other reactions there could be, but I am sure there are some.
All doctors I’ve talked to have said something along the line of, “If you eat a balanced diet, taking vitamins is a waste of money.”
I agree that you will live fine without vitamin supplements, which is all most doctors will say. The question is whether there is any extra benefit in taking vitamin pills. There have been many studies, some positive
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_318000/318083.stm
http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/supplements/vite.html
some negative
http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/articles/nutrition/supplements_8/
my readings on the subject is that vitamin B and E supplements are useful, vitamin A possibly harmful for some conditions, and C fairly neutral (assuming you have a good diet)
However, note that the “harmful” studies were of long term smokers. Vitamins may well protect against some cancers developing (acting as an antioxidant). However, once a cancer has started (e.g in a precancerous state in a long term smoker), it will do probably nothing, or might even “fuel” the cancer. Also smoking damage is more through direct interactions with cancerous chemicals, for which vitamins will have no effect.
I realize that it is only circumstantial evidence, but they have sure helped me. I have the worst immune system in the world (for someone without AIDS I guess), up until about a year ago I got sick (cold or flu) on average of once every two months (give or take, more in the winter though). I began taking multivitamins a little over a year ago and I have gotten sick for a total of 1 day the entire time I was taking them (a mild 24 hour flu). Perhaps it’s just psychological but they’ve helped in some way, I haven’t caught anything from my roommate (who was sick a lot during the winter) or from anyone at work (quite a bit of ilness makes the rounds at my office as well). Take what you will from that, just my own anecdotal experience.
drew, you should say “it seems like they have helped me.” For every anecdote, there’s an equal and opposite anecdote. Real studies that have been done on this same question have generally found no evidence that vitamins keep you from getting infectious diseases.
I don’t have time to pull in alot of cites - maybe one-, but let me give you some anecdotal advice first, based on a common theme that comes through with all 'supplement" related questions. I’ve been there to support many fitness nuts in various competitions, and we know a ton about nutrition, but this issue we resolved eons ago:
Vitamins, minerals and antioxidant supplements do virtually nothing compared to the nutrients that are absorbed when you consume them in food. This is especially true for antioxidants (protectors of the cells), such as vitamin E, C and beta carotine. These are virtually useless as antioxidants unless consumed from natural food sources.
Some supplements are actually more food based than others, and they have more bang for the buck. Like Soy based proteins supplements, and seaweed based vitamin supplements.
The most worthless sources of nutrition are multi-vitamins.
I would recommend a visit to http://www.walford.com/ who is a real scientist working at UCLA. While some info about his double blind experiments might be buried in there, the clear theme that has developed is that nutrition (vitamins and minerals especially) are valuable when absorbed in your low cal food diet.
There may be some evidence elsewhere that shows that the vitamins are ABSORBED, but this hardly proves they do anything after absorbtion.
Dr. Walford is showing that a nutrient rich diet based nutrition in a low cal setting is the way to fly. His experiments with animals on vitamin supplements shows they are worthless.
While absorbed, they don’t seem to do much when separated from a real food source.
Take the tomato: It’s vitamins are worthless when not part of the actual tomato. The tomato, rich in vitamin C, makes supplemental vitamin C worthless. The tomato is an antioxidant tool a a whole, not just the vitamin C part.
Dr. Walford has been doing life studies, double blind experiments, and has the animals to demonstrate it. He has peers doing the same thing and his research is unmatched in this field.
Now that’s the kind of referral you want.
Two review articles on this topic were published in the 19 June 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The abtracts can be viewed for free at:
“Vitamins for Chronic Disease Prevention in Adults Clinical Applications” at
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v287n23/abs/jsr20001.html
“Vitamins for Chronic Disease Prevention in Adults” at
http://jama.ama-assn.org/issues/v287n23/abs/jsr20000.html
Thank you all!
Those were the kind of articles and information I have been trying to find! (You’d think with this multi billion dollar, world-wide business in multi-vitamins there would be more, and easier to find, information.)
I think the upswing is that I will continue to take my multi-vitamins as there is little evidence of them doing harm, and they might even lower my chances of getting certain cancers and heart disease. Sounds like pretty good odds to me -
but if anyone runs across any other information to the contrary, let me know!
the latest study shows no useful effects. Oh well back to the drawing board
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_2096000/2096672.stm
scm1001, thanks for the update.
First off, if I looked like Dr Jane Armitage in that article, I would not be making any public claims as to what one should eat for good health…she looks like she died yesterday!
Secondly, like all the other articles, I am aware that eating regular vegetable and fruits is of course better for you…but in my OP I admit that I do not do that on a regular basis - hence my question about using a multi-vitamin.
I am still amazed at the total lack of concensis on something that is universally sold, and recommended by doctors, as GOOD for you.
Again, I appreciate the update, but it hasn’t changed my mind…I will continue to take these tablets until the bottle is empty (about another three months I would guess).
Maybe by then I will find a more definative answer.
Hey, but there’s more consensus on spelling.
[sub](De-irkification notice: this has been a gentle and respectful correction offered freely for your benefit and in the friendly, non-patronising spirit of this Board’s main mission).[/sub]
Silly DMark: that’s because being able to “leap tall buildings in a single bound” comes from being born on high-gravity planet where everyone’s very evolved. This would mean you’re Superman.
But you’re taking vitamins. Taking Super-Vitamin 2X turns you into the Blue Beetle (“Here’s your vitamin 2X! Good for you, but DEATH to the forces of crime!”), which would allow you to punch through walls.
Glad I could clear this up.
Fenris
There is a lot of hazy information out there. Some folks say that research (I’ve no cite at my fingertips, alas) shows zinc and Vit. C being scarfed up by stress and smoking, thus creating a need for supplements. I generally eat a fairly balanced diet, but sometimes I eat stupidly for a day or two.
My wife went to a meeting where the guest speaker (guest hawker, actually) was pushing a line of pricey vitamins. The speaker was a university prof who quoted a radiologist friend. The radiologist allegedly said she often could read the word CENTRUM in abdominal x-rays. At home, I broke a Theragran-m multivite in half and dropped the halves in a cup of warm water. In a short time, there was a little mound of powder at the bottom of the cup. In other words, a university prof was besmirching her own credibility and that of a radiologist just to make a buck. Fie!
Dear ianzin:
My spelling sucks. I once (briefly) temped for the producer of the US National Spelling Bee. A personal nightmare!
AskNott:
Thanks for that info…somewhere I had read that these tablets often go through the body in one piece. Glad to hear your “experiment” seems to disprove that.