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Most popular vitamin and mineral supplements provide no health benefit, study finds
The most commonly consumed vitamin and mineral supplements provide no consistent health benefit or harm, suggests a new study led by researchers at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto.
Published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the systematic review of existing data and single randomized control trials published in English from January 2012 to October 2017 found that multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium and vitamin C -- the most common supplements -- showed no advantage or added risk in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke or premature death. Generally, vitamin and mineral supplements are taken to add to nutrients that are found in food.
"We were surprised to find so few positive effects of the most common supplements that people consume," said Dr. David Jenkins*, the study's lead author. "Our review found that if you want to use multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium or vitamin C, it does no harm -- but there is no apparent advantage either."
The study found folic acid alone and B-vitamins with folic acid may reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke. Meanwhile, niacin and antioxidants showed a very small effect that might signify an increased risk of death from any cause.
What about people who would otherwise eat an incredibly nutrient-deficient diet (e.g. junk food, rice, bread, pasta, french fries, hot dogs, etc.)?
Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals for CVD Prevention and Treatment (DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.04.020) (DX)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday May 30 2018, @02:50PM (2 children)
Big construction sites have those sani-cans, or Prota-potties, all over the place. Talk to any person who is responsible for dumping those things, he'll tell you about your multivitamins. He sees them every day, lying in the bottom of that sani-can. Maybe you get some of the nutrients from those things before they pass through. Maybe. Not really likely, though, because when he finds them, he can usually tell what brand they were.
I stopped buying the damned things when I learned that. Better to take your vitamins in liquid form, or gel, or maybe even ground up into some kind of food. Best, is to plan your diet to include all the vitamins, minerals, etc that you need.
Don't waste your money on those bottles of multivitamins. If you need a vitamin, shop around and find it in liquid form, then put a few cc of it on your salad, or in you drink. Or, just be a real man, and drink a month's supply straight from the bottle. That's what these rednecks in Arkansas would do, LOL!!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 30 2018, @07:15PM
Interesting "waste product analysis"...
Cautionary counter-indication-- Just because some pills/tablets make it through the whole digestive system unscathed does not necessarily mean that you should grind up or use liquid for *all* pills. Some meds need a capsule to make it through the stomach, and then dissolve in the small intestine where they can be absorbed. For example, this is part of the instructions for the Parkinson's meds that a relative is on -- under no circumstances open the capsule and take the powdered contents in liquid or mixed in pudding/yogurt/etc.
(Score: -1) by fakefuck39 on Thursday May 31 2018, @03:16AM
Well, this is simply false. I'm glad the medical information you trust is from the guy cleaning out shitcans. Are you the guy who kept arguing that Rubies are a metal? I'm pretty sure you are.