Does Regular Use of Multivitamins (MV) by Healthy Individuals Improve Health?  

A large-scale study with lengthy follow ups has found that daily use of multivitamins by healthy individuals is NOT associated with health improvement or a lower risk of death.  Healthy individuals who took multivitamins daily had the same risk of death from any cause than individuals who did not take multivitamins. Further, there were no differences in mortality from cancer, heart disease, or cerebrovascular diseases. 

Many healthy people in the world take multivitamins (MV) tablets daily on regular basis hoping that multivitamins will improve their health and reduce the risk of death. But do such people benefit? A new large-scale study with lengthy follow up has found that daily use of multivitamins is not associated with a lower risk of death.  

An analysis of data from 390,124 healthy adults from United States who were followed for over two decades has revealed that there is no association between regular multivitamin use by the healthy people and and risk of death or health improvement   

The results (adjusted for factors such as race and ethnicity, education, and diet quality) suggested that healthy individuals who took multivitamins daily had the same risk of death from any cause than individuals who did not take multivitamins. Further, there were no differences in mortality from cancer, heart disease, or cerebrovascular diseases.  

Findings of this study is significant because a sizeable proportion of healthy individuals in many countries use multivitamins on long-term with the primary aim of disease prevention. For example, in the case of USA, the proportion is about one-third of population. This study is significant also because an earlier study conducted in 2022 swas inconclusive in determining impact.  

The study could mitigate possible biases due to large size and availability of extensive data including from lengthy follow up however multivitamin use and risk of death need to be evaluated for those with nutritional deficiencies. Similarly, multivitamin use and other health conditions associated with ageing is an unexplored realm.  

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References:  

1. Loftfield E., et al 2024. Multivitamin Use and Mortality Risk in 3 Prospective US Cohorts. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(6):e2418729. Published 26 June 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.18729  

2. O’Connor E.A., et al 2022. Vitamin and Mineral Supplements for the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer. JAMA. 2022; 327(23):2334-2347. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.15650  

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