Health & Wellbeing

Massive meta-study finds most vitamin supplements have no effect on lifespan or heart health

Massive meta-study finds most vitamin supplements have no effect on lifespan or heart health
Another large-scale study has found if you are otherwise healthy then vitamin supplements do not do much other than deliver expensive urine
 Another large-scale study has found if you are otherwise healthy then vitamin supplements do not do much other than deliver expensive urine
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Another large-scale study has found if you are otherwise healthy then vitamin supplements do not do much other than deliver expensive urine
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 Another large-scale study has found if you are otherwise healthy then vitamin supplements do not do much other than deliver expensive urine

A massive umbrella study, encompassing 277 clinical trials, into the effects of nutritional supplements and dietary interventions has concluded almost all vitamin and mineral supplements play no role in protecting from cardiovascular disease, or extending one's lifespan.

The new study gathered data from a large number of randomized clinical trials examining 16 vitamin supplements and their associations with general mortality and cardiovascular conditions such as heart attack or stroke. Almost all the supplements reviewed, including multivitamins, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin B6, and vitamin D, showed no association with either increased or decreased risk of death or heart disease.

Only three specific interventions displayed associations of any statistical significance. Unsurprisingly, the most relevant result was the finding that low-salt diets reduced heart disease and death by around 10 percent in healthy subjects. Both omega-3 and folic acid supplements showed small beneficial effects, but the researchers ranked these interventions as of a low impact.

"Our analysis carries a simple message that although there may be some evidence that a few interventions have an impact on death and cardiovascular health, the vast majority of multivitamins, minerals and different types of diets had no measurable effect on survival or cardiovascular disease risk reduction," explains Safi Khan, lead author on the new research.

The only supplement intervention that actually increased mortality or cardiovascular risk was calcium and vitamin D supplements. When taken alone these two supplements showed no health risks or benefits, but taken together they showed a 17 percent increased risk of stroke. This conclusion was generated from 20 trials looking at the effects of the combined supplements.

This is not the first large-scale meta-review to conclude vitamin supplements are essentially useless in healthy adults. Two 2018 studies using similar umbrella review strategies, came to much the same conclusions. Both of those studies concluded that if you are a healthy adult, with no specific diagnosed deficiency, then vitamin and mineral supplements will not confer any extra health boost, or longevity bonus.

The researchers behind this new study point out over half of all Americans take some kind of dietary vitamin supplement every day, making the industry more than US$30 billion a year. Senior author on the research, Erin Michos, suggests if you are eating a good diet and are otherwise generally healthy then you simply do not need to be taking vitamin supplements.

"The panacea or magic bullet that people keep searching for in dietary supplements isn't there," says Michos. "People should focus on getting their nutrients from a heart-healthy diet, because the data increasingly show that the majority of healthy adults don't need to take supplements."

It is important to note that these broad meta-studies do not encompass patients with identified deficiencies that may need vitamin supplementation. It is also important to note these types of umbrella reviews are only looking at ultimate mortality or general cardiovascular outcomes, so there certainly could be more specific health benefits to be gained from some supplements that these kinds of studies are not set up to identify. Having said that, mortality is a decent metric to review general efficacy from, because it is reasonable to assume any specific benefit from a supplement should ultimately reflect in better health, and subsequently a longer life.

In the end, the main takeaway from this growing body of convincing research is that if you exercise, eat well, and are living an otherwise healthy life, then you probably won't get any additional benefit from vitamin supplements. For most people, all these costly vitamin and mineral supplements result in is expensive urine.

The new research was published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine

25 comments
25 comments
MarkGatti
is it just me or does something smell off around here . wonder who funded this 'research ' . i have no doubt after a life time observing the health industry [as opposed to the sickness industry ]. that yes most cheap supplements achieve very little [ though they have carefully ignored any placebo effect ].Some definitely do ,I have seen studies showing for every dollar spent on supplements 4 dollars are saved on state medical costs . There is a reason why westerners are getting sicker ,cancer and heart disease were rare 100 years ago .Now near 50% are diabetic ! , just because !!?? . The majority are eating food that is far removed from real whole foods eaten 100 years ago ,before ,factory farming ,super fertilizing ,GMO ,pesticides,feedlot, antibiotic force feed cattle and dairy, and chooks. ,chlorination ,vaccination ,pasteurization ,fluoridation , irradiation etc . I think any one not taking at least a green barley as a broad spectrum mineral and vitamin addition is not being responsible . trust me the financial desire for drug companies and their training establishments to teach health just isn't there .I have seen to many people cure them selves or go to natural health practitioners and get well from any of the big health challenges,to have any doubt we can get real health ,and keep it, through 'enhanced diet ' and good lifestyle, ,but not with the standard diet ,I mean 10 years ago mainstream medicine was pushing a carb based diet !? how did that turn out !?. As organic [ genuine sustainable soil science based ] unprocessed and raw a diet as possible ,ideally self grown , with lots of healthy fats ,fasting , and carefully researched quality supplements can be added , observe and test effects for yourself ,no one is the same ,except maybe in disliking wasting our money .
Nobody
The biggest problem with supplements is the fact that many people mega dose on them. I think that low doses of certain vitamins can help but beware of supplements that claim to cure every disease.
fb36
"It is important to note that these broad meta-studies do not encompass patients with identified deficiencies that may need vitamin supplementation. "
What if, people w/ vitamin deficiencies are the majority of public?
HighlanderJuan
I no longer trust polls, surveys, or studies. Anything that emanates from big government, big media, or big universities has shown the American people that it/they are suspect of disinformation, promoted to achieve an agenda.
If one believes Joel Wallach (ND, DVM), and I do, 90% of all human illness is caused by some sort of nutritional deficiency. And, in 2019, our regular store bought foods do not provide us with the right kind of nutrients to keep us healthy.
I take about 2 dozen nutritional supplements every day, and while being in my late 70s, I am still healthy, fairly straight thinking, and I don't get sick. Having said that, I have talked with seniors who still smoke and who do NOT take supplements, and they look aged and suffer from on illness or another. That's my own survey.
The B.S. that supplements do not help humans remain healthy is probably being propagated by some pharmaceutical organization, and is meant to justify people buying and using high priced drug company products.
Go online and watch and/or listen to 'Dead Doctors Don't Lie.'
RangerJones
I am 70 years old take some supplements and aspirin everyday and have for over 30 years. I have not been to a doctor in over 40 years ( stitches ). I feel great, still teach martial arts 3 days a week, and work occasionally. I do no exercise excepting the teaching. I play golf around 24 times/year. I pretty much eat whatever I want. It's all gravy now and I have not paid a doctor $0.10. I do pay about $95./month on supplements and never been more alive. Have heard all this before and many other accusatory cancer agents that were most all reversed. There's a lot of things called-"scientific" these days that are basic manipulation attempts. All I might recommend to anyone would be to learn a bit more about absorption using your common sense.
PanJammi
I would call this Fake News.
If you follow the Agenda 21 agenda you can clearly see where depopulation is one of the highest priorities for them.
As a personal testimony Niacin has given me a huge reduction in total cholesterol in addition to using Selenium. For them to claim that vitamins and minerals do not play a role in heart disease is highly suspect. Then when they said minerals do not play a role in longevity in a person's life I knew it was FAKE NEWS!
Let's take a trip down memory lane. Back in the 1960s cerial had listed on their boxes 96 minerals and vitamins. Today it's only 24 and sometimes less. What changed since then?
The point is what they use to say in the 60s for the most part was true but everything they say today is a lie for a very malicious attempt to reduce the human population down to a manageable 500 million. This according the the Georgian Guide Stones or as other calls it the Luciferarian 10 commandments.
Wake up people the attack on you wealth, health and well being is in full swing.
Username
Just because they don't prolong life or help with heart problems doesn't mean "supplements are essentially useless in healthy adults" That's a ridiculous jump in logic. It is possible they help with general health or other specific conditions. I'm guessing meta studies compound every sub studies' flaws into worthless data
Douglas Bennett Rogers
In the 70s and early 80s I took 2 g/day of vitamin C to reduce colds. I decided it wasn't working and quit. My feet started swelling one at a time and my gums started bleeding. Around 2015, I started taking 2 g/day again and my gums and feet got a little better. My feet had already improved a lot from going gluten free. I also take Super Beta Prostate, which keeps me in bed for 7 hour most of the time. I also take CLA, krill oil, DHEA, probiotics, Calcium UC II, and caffeine tablets when exercising.
Cwolf
Correlational studies are inexpensive to do, but lack methodological rigor.
The USDA says nutrient levels in foods have declined due to farming practices and that the average diet is 60% processed food. How do you eat a "healthy" diet when the food is deficient?
The CDC NHANES says deficiencies are widespread.
Military research says, for example, 25% of women and 9% of men enter iron anemic (which gets worse on the military diet). Lappe found 20% of women entered with poor bone status.
Wagner et al studied vit D and birth complications. When they ran data by dose, they found no effect. When they ran data by serum level they found a significant effect. Obviously, the same dose has a different effect on a 75 pound woman and a 250 pound man.... or folks with existing deficiencies or replete.
So, if you have a mix of folks with various deficiencies/sufficiencies and different lifestyle, diets, and sizes, how do you reasonably measure one pill will have an effect across that mix?
Why don't researchers do it right? Doing it right would require a very large budget.... which is difficult to get.
misty45
The most valuable thing I was taught in university is that when looking at any study follow the money. These so called umbrella studies are retroactive looks at previous research whether valid or flawed. So bad research concludes in total as bad research particularly when the money is from the drug industry.
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