Drinking multivitamins is useless?

More than half of adults in the United States use multivitamin, a functional food that is full of vitamins, minerals and essential nutritional elements for humans. However, a new study published by the American Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that you should avoid buying and using multivitamin.

"Multivitamin production and dietary supplements are based on word-of-mouth stories such as: People often say 'I drink this stuff, and I feel better'. These stories are often spread. But when you test the reality, there are no signs that they have long-term benefits, functional foods cannot reduce the risk of death, the risk of stroke or heart attack , " said Dr. Edgar Miller, professor of Pharmacology and Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins College of Pharmacy, Maryland, USA.

Article titled "Enough: Stop wasting money on vitamins and supplements" co-author Dr. Edgar Miller, based on three studies of the effect of multivitamin on the ability to prevent Preventing heart attacks and cancer, reducing cognitive ability in men over 65. All three studies were also published in Annals of Internal Medicine this week.

The first study analyzed 27 other studies, with a total of 450,000 participants. This study shows that multivitamin cannot prevent cardiovascular disease or cancer.

Not only that, this study also concluded that taking multivitamin can not reduce the likelihood of death. Even smokers who drink beta carotene only increase their chances of developing lung cancer.

The second study was conducted on 1700 patients with heart attacks. They were given 3 multivitamin or 3 placebo doses, 2 times a day for 5 years. However, because more than 50% of patients stopped taking the drug, the authors could not make any specific conclusions about the effect of the vitamin at all.

With such high cessation rates, "analysis is very difficult , " Dr. Miller said, but still concluded that multivitamin has no secondary or more serious anti-heart effect.

The third study followed 6,000 men age 65 or older, receiving multivitamin or placebo for 12 years. Both the multivitamin group and the placebo group were tested for cognitive ability, but the results did not show any difference.

However, Professor Gladys Block, a lecturer in Nutrition and Epidemiology at the University of California Berkeley, has shown that those involved in cognitive ability tests are doctors with no health problems. both.

"These are all people with good nutrition, very clear awareness of health," Professor Block said. According to the professor, all three studies were not representative of the US population.

Professor Block has spent a lot of time researching Vitamin C in reducing health risks, and thinks that most Americans are lacking in nutrients. Because most Americans don't eat well, they lack the necessary vitamins and minerals.

"You can't get these microbes from Coca and Twinkies," said Professor Block. "Two-thirds of Americans are obese, and a quarter of people over five have two or more conditions, so this is a population that we can hardly call" healthy ".

"And there's always a small group of people who are using a problematic substance. Therefore, multivitamin is a way to overcome our poor diet."

Cara Welch, vice president of the Nutrition Products Association, fully agrees with Professor Block:

"In this age, with the way of life of many of us, people do not have enough time to have a proper diet, and even if you have a proper diet, you still have may be lacking in substance ".

The American Nutrition Products Association is currently the association representing manufacturers and retailers of the largest nutritional products in the United States. The vitamin and functional foods industry currently has a turnover of $ 12 billion annually, and according to researchers, multivitamin is their most popular product.

"Multivitamin can solve the problem of lack of substance for humans , " Welch said. "We do not think that multivitamin is the solution to all illnesses, as this study suggests."

Dr. Miller disagreed with the notion that new studies do not apply to a large population."They do not choose people who have a good or bad diet. You can say that people who are selected to have a normal diet in the US. Drinking supplements will not overcome a diet. Bad nursing ".

However, he also acknowledged that some people need to use functional foods:

"There are some cases where we prescribe supplements for supplements, such as people with absorption problems, or to avoid neural tube damage during pregnancy .".

In addition, he said that current Vitamin D has not been evaluated. This vitamin can help strengthen bones. Omega-3 fatty acids such as DHA and EPA have not been tested effectively.

According to Dr. Miller, studies will probably not alter any medical standards at all, and focusing on eating science and training is still paramount to health. This is also something that Professor Block agrees: "Let's eat more vegetables" , she advised.