Taking a multivitamin has become a part of many people’s daily routine, especially considering the elements students like us face in college. Being in such close quarters and living in a dorm room has definitely taken its’ toll on many student’s health, and some people might suggest taking a multivitamin to support their immune system and overall health. Unlike individual vitamin capsules or supplements, multivitamins contain many different vitamins in one supplement. “Basic commercial multivitamin supplement products often contain the following ingredients: vitamin C, B1, B2, B3, B6, Folic Acid (B₉), B12, B5 (pantothenate), H (biotin) A, E, D3, K1, potassium iodide, cupric (sulfate anhydrous, picolinate, sulfate monohydrate, trioxide), selenomethionine, borate (s) zinc, calcium, magensium, chromium, manganese, molybdenum, betacarotene, and iron.” But this poses a question, are these over the counter multivitamins really helping our overall health? Furthermore, are these vitamins essential for preventing health problems currently and later on in life?

Doctors Eliseo Guallar, Saverio Stranges, Cynthia Mulrow, Senior Deputy Editor; Lawrence J. Appel, and Edgar R. Miller III report in the Annals of Internal Medicine on studies conducted by several researchers and specialists in which they used random control groups and placebos. The three studies were conducted to research the use of vitamin supplements in “preventing the occurrence or progression of chronic diseases.” Each study was based off of different factors such as whether the subjects were healthy, the age of the subjects, and men and women with previous myocardial infarction. By using subjects from all demographics with different medical backgrounds, it provides a wide range of data to gather a conclusion.

In one study conducted by Grodstein and his coworkers, 5947 men who were 65 years of age or older were evaluated on the effects of a daily multivitamin in the prevention of cognitive decline. This study uses a large sample size which makes the study credible and able to generalize the data. The sample size has two groups, a group of placebo vitamins, and a control group actually taking a multivitamin. The study concluded that, “there were no differences between the multivitamin and placebo groups in overall cognitive performance or verbal memory”. The findings were consistent with the hypothesis that “…of 12 fair – to – good quality trials hat evaluated dietary supplements, including multivitamins, B vitamins, vitamins E and C, and omega – 3 fatty acids, in persons with mild cognitive impairments or mild dementia” a daily multivitamin did not improve cognitive function over a course of 12 years.

Nature’s Way Adult Multivitamin Gummies

The next study conducted was on 1708 men and women with previous myocardial infarction who were participating in Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy. In this study they are testing the benefits of a “…high dose, 28-component multivitamin supplement…” The study followed up after 4.6 years and found that there was no difference worth noting in “…recurrent cardiovascular events with multivitamins compared with placebo.” This study has a 95% confidence interval which ultimately means there is only a 5% possibility that these results were due to chance. So, considering the wide range of men and women and the extensive period of time, a 5% possibility of chance is not that detrimental to the findings of the study which leads us to believe that the study was conducted correctly and the results are credible. But, this trial was limited due to nonadherance and dropouts which may cause some speculation.

This next study is more applicable in daily life assuming that people are getting nutrients directly from their diet. Fortmann and his colleagues reviewed trial evidence so they could better recommend vitamin supplements for “primary prevention in community-dwelling adults with no nutritional deficiencies.” This means that they are getting enough nutrients from their daily diet, and really have no need for vitamins other than prevention.  After reviewing studies of more than 400,000 randomly assigned people taking multivitamins, “… authors concluded that there was no clear evidence of a beneficial effect of supplements on all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, or cancer.” These factors are hard end points, as we learned in class.

To counteract the above studies, Fox News states that most people cannot get the vitamins and minerals needed through food consumption alone. According to the January 2015 edition of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, around 40% of adults do not get enough vitamin A, C, D, E, calcium and magnesium. Since these findings, one might suggest that a multivitamin is needed for disease prevention and overall health maintenance. Along with overall health, a study published in Postgraduate Medicine says that, “68,000 cancers per year would be prevented with daily multivitamin use.” The study only uses men as subjects. I think that this is a flaw in the study because men and women have different hormone levels and health factors, so the study should not be strictly limited to men. How could they be sure that women would produce the same results as men? Although the study did show that taking a multivitamin daily decreased cancer risk by 27% among men with a history of cancer and by 8% of men never having the disease, I believe that this study is limited due to the use of just men as subjects. The results could have varied if women were included in the study.

Taking the evidence away from the first set of studies which concluded that taking multivitamins has no benefits and could also actually cause harm to some individuals “… U.S. adults from 30% between 1988 to 1994 to 39% between 2003 to 2006, while overall use of dietary supplements increased from 42% to 53%.” The industry of multivitamins continues to grow, and in 2010 it reached a sale of $28 billion. It is a common misconception that multivitamins are needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle which causes consumers to continue to spend money on an unneeded product, resulting in an inflated industry. To refute the study concluding that vitamins ARE beneficial, the concluding factors of the first study were that multivitamins are not beneficial in the treatment or prevention of hard end points such as chronic diseases, heart conditions, or cancers. It was also found that, “B-carotene, vitamin E, and possibly high doses of vitamin A supplements are harmful.” So, yes taking a multivitamin may be part of people’s daily routines, but they are not essential or the best way to maintain overall health and prevention. A healthy balanced diet should be the main factor in successful vitamin consumption. In the end, it all comes down to the risk factors of taking a daily multivitamin. The ratio is 1 over 1 considering it is one person whose choice it is to take the vitamin, and the comparison of the number of people in the study who the multivitamin had no effect on. It ultimately is concluded that taking a multivitamin will not benefit a person, so if it is something a person wants to do, that is their prerogative and decision if it is worth the risk.