Three studies published Monday add to multivitamins’ bad rap. One review found no benefit in preventing early death, heart disease or cancer. Another found that taking multivitamins did nothing to stave off cognitive decline with aging. A third found that high-dose multivitamins didn’t help people who had had one heart attack avoid another.
“Enough is enough,” declares an editorial accompanying the studies in Annals of Internal Medicine. “Stop wasting money on vitamin and mineral supplements.”
But enough is not enough for the American public. We spend $28 billion a year on vitamin supplements and are projected to spend more. About 40 percent of Americans take multivitamins, the editorial says.
I am a guilty multivitamin consumer despite the fact that I’ve been hearing from medical professionals for years that it probably isn’t doing me any good. I have also heard the same thing from many of my friends who are a big more holistic in their approaches to health.
Maybe it’s time I start listening.
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