Over half the population of adults in North America take a multivitamin supplement to actively maintain their healthy lifestyle and prevent early onset disease… or so they think. Mostly however, this notion has only been supported by a small body of research, whereas most studies have shown that overall, multivitamins provide no such benefit. Regardless, the vitamin and supplement manufacturing industry generated over $35 billion in revenue in 2021 in the US alone, has grown by an average of 2.4% annually over the past five years, and is projected to increase by 2.2% by 2022. So, let’s take a quick look into the role of vitamins in overall health, and the research that has been conducted to evaluate the health benefits that are promised from such a successful and growing supplement industry.
The repeated warnings as a child to “eat your vegetables” and “stop eating junk food” continue to hold true throughout adulthood, and for good reason. Vitamins and minerals have critically important roles in the body such as regulating proper immune functioning, bone development, wound healing, energy conversion, and overall cellular function. Importantly, many of these vitamins and minerals are not produced by the body, and therefore we are required to obtain them from the foods in our diet. In fact, failing to have the proper vitamins and minerals from your diet leads to the development of diseases such as scurvy (vitamin C deficiency), rickets (vitamin D deficiency) and even blindness (vitamin A deficiency). A healthy and balanced diet therefore includes a mixture of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and protein: all providing essential vitamins and minerals that are required for healthy and disease-free living.
A multivitamin is a pill that contains appropriate levels of many essential vitamins and minerals that are required for proper bodily function and is often taken daily as a supplement in addition to your diet. However, many of these vitamins are attained naturally in our everyday diet, and in large quantities at that. For example, one cup of orange juice contains over 200% of the daily recommended vitamin C. Unlike other components of food such as carbohydrates and cholesterol, excess consumption of vitamins appears to have no adverse health effects, and therefore the potential benefits outweigh the negligible risk of multivitamin supplementation.
Interestingly, while multivitamins are marketed towards health and disease prevention, the available research supporting these claims is limited. For example, researchers explored how multivitamins contribute to the prevention of heart disease and cancer, evaluating 24 clinical trials of single vitamin supplements and three clinical trials of multivitamin supplements. Interestingly, their results showed that single vitamin or multivitamin supplementation had no significant benefit in reducing cardiovascular disease or cancer, evaluating over 400,000 participants.
Additionally, when assessing how multivitamins impact cognitive functioning and mental decline, research following nearly 6,000 participants over the course of 12 years showed that multivitamin supplementation had no impact on improving overall mental functioning or reducing risk for mental decline, such as memory loss.
Interestingly, potential benefits of multivitamins have been shown in women both before and during pregnancy, as nutrient deficiency has been linked to restricted growth, low birth weights, and skeletal deformity. However, many of these studies have been conducted in developing countries where participants are more likely to be malnourished, presenting a potential challenge when applying these findings to women with more western diets.
Overall, while the verdict is still out on whether multivitamin supplements provide true health benefits, taking a daily multivitamin supports the practice of a healthy diet and offers a low-risk and low-cost option to ensuring balanced nutrient acquisition in situations where diets fall short. And while they may not be the golden ticket to a clean bill of health, considering multivitamins in your diet is definitely food for thought.
Image by Bruno /Germany from Pixabay
