Large Study: Taking vitamins from supplements does not offer mortality benefits, has potential risks
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MikePTY
Posts: 3,814 Member
A large study (well, technically, a review of a prior study) that reviewed the eating habits of over 30,000 people over the course of a decade, found no discernible benefits of taking vitamins in supplement form (either individually or from a multi-vitamin) with regards to reducing the risk of death. However, the study did find potential risks associated with high calcium supplementation as well as Vitamin D supplementation in people who don't have a vitamin D deficiency. However, vitamin intake from food was associated with a lower mortality risk. Before talking more in depth about the study, I wanted to get the disclaimers out of the way first:
Health and diet research is hard for a number of reasons, especially because most studies are observational, meaning that they can only identify associations, not causes. This limits them from making definitive judgement. So no study, this or others, should be taken as a gospel when it comes to their findings. But that being said, these observational studies still have values, especially if they correlate with other studies done into the same subject, as this one does (there has not been a clear established link between vitamin intake from supplements like there has been for vitamin intake from food).
Some excerpts from the article, which despite a click-baity headline, was a clear write up of it.:
You can read the rest of the article here: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/04/the-nutrition-study-the-30b-supplement-industry-doesnt-want-you-to-see/
It's important to note that this study was controlled for lifestyle and diet factors, so they tried as much as they could to isolate out just the observed impact of vitamin and mineral intake. That still doesn't necessarily illustrate causation, but it helps reduce some of the potential correlative errors.
So what to take away from this? I think it adds credence to the theory that you can't supplement yourself to good nutrition, and it is better to get vitamin and mineral intake from eating a diverse diet (diverse in the sense that it covers a broad base of vitamins and mineral). If someone hopes they can avoid eating these foods and that a multivitamin a day will make up for it, they may not get the benefits they are seeking. It also shows that there should be care taken when oversupplementing, as it can have risk factors associated to it.
It's important to note that this study didn't examine the benefits of taking supplements to cure a specific deficiency, but rather the taking of supplements in general.
The study also has several limitations, including relying on people to remember the foods that they eat (and honestly report them). Also, it’s an observational study, only able to pick out correlations, not prove that nutrients cause any observed harms or benefits.
Health and diet research is hard for a number of reasons, especially because most studies are observational, meaning that they can only identify associations, not causes. This limits them from making definitive judgement. So no study, this or others, should be taken as a gospel when it comes to their findings. But that being said, these observational studies still have values, especially if they correlate with other studies done into the same subject, as this one does (there has not been a clear established link between vitamin intake from supplements like there has been for vitamin intake from food).
Some excerpts from the article, which despite a click-baity headline, was a clear write up of it.:
The study, published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, is yet another to find that taking supplemental vitamins and minerals—either individually or in multivitamins—offers no discernible benefits in terms of reducing risks of death generally or death from cardiovascular disease and cancers, specifically.
Moreover, the study didn’t just find a lack of benefits from supplements. It also found potential harms. Getting high doses of calcium (1,000 mg or more per day) from supplements—but not from foods—was linked to higher cancer mortality risks in the study. Likewise, people taking vitamin D supplements who didn’t have vitamin D deficiencies may have higher risks of all-cause mortality and death from cancers.
When the researchers picked apart effects of individual micronutrients, they found that adequate intake of vitamin K and magnesium linked to a lower risk of all-cause mortality. Also, vitamin A, vitamin K, zinc, and copper were associated with a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease. But these benefits were restricted to intake only from foods—not supplements.
You can read the rest of the article here: https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/04/the-nutrition-study-the-30b-supplement-industry-doesnt-want-you-to-see/
It's important to note that this study was controlled for lifestyle and diet factors, so they tried as much as they could to isolate out just the observed impact of vitamin and mineral intake. That still doesn't necessarily illustrate causation, but it helps reduce some of the potential correlative errors.
So what to take away from this? I think it adds credence to the theory that you can't supplement yourself to good nutrition, and it is better to get vitamin and mineral intake from eating a diverse diet (diverse in the sense that it covers a broad base of vitamins and mineral). If someone hopes they can avoid eating these foods and that a multivitamin a day will make up for it, they may not get the benefits they are seeking. It also shows that there should be care taken when oversupplementing, as it can have risk factors associated to it.
It's important to note that this study didn't examine the benefits of taking supplements to cure a specific deficiency, but rather the taking of supplements in general.
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I remember hearing about these kinds of studies on the Dr. Dean Edell radio show. He actually advised not to supplement unless directed to do so by a doctor for deficiencies. And he said this coming from a background where his parents were in the vitamin manufacturing business. He said it’s best to get all your nutrition from foods whenever possible. It’s like we always want to take things to an extreme... “vitamins are good for us so more must be better!” without taking into account the unwanted side effects. I miss his radio show, he wasn’t like these new entertainment doctors at all, he never sold out and actively encouraged critical thinking, I learned a lot from Dr. Dean!
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Any research ends with .com is not worth reading. I take multivitamin daily and it's highly advisable for childbearing age women to prevent fetal neural deffects. I use this site and I follow the rule of moderation and variety and still I lack iron and calcium and other vitamins and minerals, so multivitamin truly helps with those deficiencies.
Also, our body suprisingly only can absorb calcium 500mg at one time. There's so many rules about taking vitamin that I cannot remember, like one mineral can prevent another mineral from absorption if you take them both.
Anyhow, daily multivitamin should not be discourage. And besides, most of our foods now, like bread, cereal and salt, is fortified to prevent a lot of illness. I am not a bread or cereal eater, and to those who don't. It's smart to take multivitamin.12 -
Daisy_Girl2019 wrote: »Any research ends with .com is not worth reading. I take multivitamin daily and it's highly advisable for childbearing age women to prevent fetal neural deffects. I use this site and I follow the rule of moderation and variety and still I lack iron and calcium and other vitamins and minerals, so multivitamin truly helps with those deficiencies.
Also, our body suprisingly only can absorb calcium 500mg at one time. There's so many rules about taking vitamin that I cannot remember, like one mineral can prevent another mineral from absorption if you take them both.
Anyhow, daily multivitamin should not be discourage. And besides, most of our foods now, like bread, cereal and salt, is fortified to prevent a lot of illness. I am not a bread or cereal eater, and to those who don't. It's smart to take multivitamin.
This doesn’t describe the OP’s post, which is a popular website’s summary of scholarly research published in a professional, peer reviewed journal. The summary includes a link to the original scientific publication. It is not accurate to call it simply “research [that] ends with .com.”11 -
Well this sucks for journal publishers such as Oxford University Press, Sage Publishing, Nature, Routledge, Springer, Wiley, Elsevier, De Gruyter, Taylor & Francis...I could go on, trust me, I could.Daisy_Girl2019 wrote: »Any research ends with .com is not worth reading. I take multivitamin daily and it's highly advisable for childbearing age women to prevent fetal neural deffects. I use this site and I follow the rule of moderation and variety and still I lack iron and calcium and other vitamins and minerals, so multivitamin truly helps with those deficiencies.
Also, our body suprisingly only can absorb calcium 500mg at one time. There's so many rules about taking vitamin that I cannot remember, like one mineral can prevent another mineral from absorption if you take them both.
Anyhow, daily multivitamin should not be discourage. And besides, most of our foods now, like bread, cereal and salt, is fortified to prevent a lot of illness. I am not a bread or cereal eater, and to those who don't. It's smart to take multivitamin.
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This confirms what I have always said - no benifit in a vitamin supplement unless you are supplementing a specific thing in response to a known deficiency.
I take ferrogradC in response to known borderline low iron levels ( the vitamin c helps absorption, saves having to take it with orange juice) and I know many people who are told to take vitamin D in response to low levels and osteoporosis risk.
But willy nilly just taking mega doses of vitamins - not a good idea.
( however a low dose daily multi vitamin probably ok if you really want to - but don't go any further)4 -
Daisy_Girl2019 wrote: »Any research ends with .com is not worth reading. I take multivitamin daily and it's highly advisable for childbearing age women to prevent fetal neural deffects. I use this site and I follow the rule of moderation and variety and still I lack iron and calcium and other vitamins and minerals, so multivitamin truly helps with those deficiencies.
Also, our body suprisingly only can absorb calcium 500mg at one time. There's so many rules about taking vitamin that I cannot remember, like one mineral can prevent another mineral from absorption if you take them both.
Anyhow, daily multivitamin should not be discourage. And besides, most of our foods now, like bread, cereal and salt, is fortified to prevent a lot of illness. I am not a bread or cereal eater, and to those who don't. It's smart to take multivitamin.
As noted, this isn't a fair understanding of the study review that OP was talking about.
If the concern is getting pregnant (not all women of child bearing age are concerned about accidental pregnancy), then the precaution ought to be prenatals, I'd think, as they have specific supplements important for early pregnancy that are not in just a multi. And I'd NEVER supplement iron without a diagnosed deficiency, as it can be dangerous (and seeing that you are low on MFP is not reliable at all, and doesn't mean deficiency).3 -
@apullum .com means commercial.. I learned making research paper with nutrition not to use any website that ends with .com. So yah, I stay away. Most of the journal that are publish with .com has hidden agenda. .gov or .edu I will consider reading and see below if the author received funding from the said products they are researching.14
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It's important to note that this study was controlled for lifestyle and diet factors, so they tried as much as they could to isolate out just the observed impact of vitamin and mineral intake. That still doesn't necessarily illustrate causation, but it helps reduce some of the potential correlative errors.
Very interesting -- I'll read it.So what to take away from this? I think it adds credence to the theory that you can't supplement yourself to good nutrition, and it is better to get vitamin and mineral intake from eating a diverse diet (diverse in the sense that it covers a broad base of vitamins and mineral). If someone hopes they can avoid eating these foods and that a multivitamin a day will make up for it, they may not get the benefits they are seeking. It also shows that there should be care taken when oversupplementing, as it can have risk factors associated to it.
Agree with all this (my assumption has always been that there's more in the foods that tend to be nutrient dense and associated with good outcomes than we have isolated and identified, so better to go with the food than rely on a multi). More specifically, I'm interested in the negatives about D supplementation (calcium too, but that seemed to be megadoses). I've always understood that D in winter in climates that tend to be sun-challenged (since it's hard to get adequate D in food) is a good idea. I don't actually comply most of the time, as I can't remember to take vitamins for some reason, but I always intend to. I do wonder if there might be something else (people who don't take it are more likely to be outside a lot which is good for you).
At any rate, it's pretty much spring, and plenty of light lately, so I can research it over the summer!2 -
The approach taken by holistic Doctors is merely one of "covering gaps". Multivitamins help fill in gaps that may be present in your current diet. This means you are using the vitamins as intended, as supplementsto an already diverse diet.
You also have to wonder who paid for these studies. Many of them were done so by Pharmaceutical companies. They don't want people to be healthy. They want them taking their drugs so they do these studies to bad mouth vitamins.
Ultimately a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is the best with a good deal of variety/color. The problem people face today is that they simply don't get enough or hate eating vegetables and fruit.10 -
I'm interested in the take on Vit D too. It's the one I feel has changed me. I don't ant to read the study because today I have enough to worry about...but is that covered in this?
My doctor told me years ago that vitamins were not necessary and I should stop taking them. She did recommend a Vit D. I'm in the upper U.S. and we don't get much sun. I really feel like Vit D was instrumental in combatting my seasonal depression.3 -
cmriverside wrote: »I'm interested in the take on Vit D too. It's the one I feel has changed me. I don't ant to read the study because today I have enough to worry about...but is that covered in this?
My doctor told me years ago that vitamins were not necessary and I should stop taking them. She did recommend a Vit D. I'm in the upper U.S. and we don't get much sun. I really feel like Vit D was instrumental in combatting my seasonal depression.
Without Vit D supplementation my level runs 15-20. Supplementing gets it up to 60 or so. But only the mega dose once a week seems to work. I guess this would be a case of supplementation being medically indicated. My levels are now "normal" but only stay that way with continued supplementing so...
Don't mind me, I'm just rambling now
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Daisy_Girl2019 wrote: »@apullum .com means commercial.. I learned making research paper with nutrition not to use any website that ends with .com. So yah, I stay away. Most of the journal that are publish with .com has hidden agenda. .gov or .edu I will consider reading and see below if the author received funding from the said products they are researching.
I am a professor. I publish academic papers as part of my job. I also teach my first year writing students to identify scholarly sources.
What you’re saying is not how academic research as a whole works, and is a poor way to evaluate the quality of research. Many reputable journals have websites ending in .com, and academic journals generally do not have .gov addresses (there are some exceptions). .edu is hosted at an educational institution and that publication may or may not be peer reviewed; it may just be a student or professor posting a paper on their own.
Additionally, this is still not relevant to OP’s post, which was a summary of a peer reviewed study published in a highly reputable journal. If you don’t trust the summary, the link to the original study was also available.19 -
The approach taken by holistic Doctors is merely one of "covering gaps". Multivitamins help fill in gaps that may be present in your current diet. This means you are using the vitamins as intended, as supplementsto an already diverse diet.
You also have to wonder who paid for these studies. Many of them were done so by Pharmaceutical companies. They don't want people to be healthy. They want them taking their drugs so they do these studies to bad mouth vitamins.
Ultimately a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is the best with a good deal of variety/color. The problem people face today is that they simply don't get enough or hate eating vegetables and fruit.
Um who do you think makes multivitamins? Many of them are made by pharmaceutical companies. This study doesn't bad mouth vitamins or make any recommendations on what people should do. It simply analyzes the data and draws conclusions about the link or lack there of between vitamin supplements and certain health outcomes. But one conclusion and individual could draw from the study is that rather than taking supplements, eating fruits and vegetables is more beneficial. So I'm not exactly sure how a study that could encourage people to buy less from pharmaceutical companies and get it from food is secretly backing their agenda. But I've never been great with conspiracy theories.6 -
cmriverside wrote: »I'm interested in the take on Vit D too. It's the one I feel has changed me. I don't ant to read the study because today I have enough to worry about...but is that covered in this?
My doctor told me years ago that vitamins were not necessary and I should stop taking them. She did recommend a Vit D. I'm in the upper U.S. and we don't get much sun. I really feel like Vit D was instrumental in combatting my seasonal depression.
Without Vit D supplementation my level runs 15-20. Supplementing gets it up to 60 or so. But only the mega dose once a week seems to work. I guess this would be a case of supplementation being medically indicated. My levels are now "normal" but only stay that way with continued supplementing so...
Don't mind me, I'm just rambling now
Interesting about the one mega dose. I don't even know if Vit D levels are something they routinely test for and I had started taking 2000iu daily before my doctor told me that. For the record, my doctor isn't God, she led me astray on more than one occasion. To thine own self be true I guess. I've been supplementing D for ten years. I take 1000iu daily now. Sometimes in the summer I skip it for weeks at a time. It is the only thing that made life worth living for me from October to May.0 -
cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »I'm interested in the take on Vit D too. It's the one I feel has changed me. I don't ant to read the study because today I have enough to worry about...but is that covered in this?
My doctor told me years ago that vitamins were not necessary and I should stop taking them. She did recommend a Vit D. I'm in the upper U.S. and we don't get much sun. I really feel like Vit D was instrumental in combatting my seasonal depression.
Without Vit D supplementation my level runs 15-20. Supplementing gets it up to 60 or so. But only the mega dose once a week seems to work. I guess this would be a case of supplementation being medically indicated. My levels are now "normal" but only stay that way with continued supplementing so...
Don't mind me, I'm just rambling now
Interesting about the one mega dose. I don't even know if Vit D levels are something they routinely test for and I had started taking 2000iu daily before my doctor told me that. For the record, my doctor isn't God, she led me astray on more than one occasion. To thine own self be true I guess. I've been supplementing D for ten years. I take 1000iu daily now. Sometimes in the summer I skip it for weeks at a time. It is the only thing that made life worth living for me from October to May.
I know vit d is in my annual bloodwork - does your doc do CBC and CMP?0 -
The approach taken by holistic Doctors is merely one of "covering gaps". Multivitamins help fill in gaps that may be present in your current diet. This means you are using the vitamins as intended, as supplementsto an already diverse diet.
You also have to wonder who paid for these studies. Many of them were done so by Pharmaceutical companies. They don't want people to be healthy. They want them taking their drugs so they do these studies to bad mouth vitamins.
Ultimately a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is the best with a good deal of variety/color. The problem people face today is that they simply don't get enough or hate eating vegetables and fruit.
Um who do you think makes multivitamins? Many of them are made by pharmaceutical companies. This study doesn't bad mouth vitamins or make any recommendations on what people should do. It simply analyzes the data and draws conclusions about the link or lack there of between vitamin supplements and certain health outcomes. But one conclusion and individual could draw from the study is that rather than taking supplements, eating fruits and vegetables is more beneficial. So I'm not exactly sure how a study that could encourage people to buy less from pharmaceutical companies and get it from food is secretly backing their agenda. But I've never been great with conspiracy theories.
You beat me to it regarding who makes vitamins. Also, what about other companies making supplements? they're not in it for the kindness of their hearts.
This study is important because it gives you a very big (sample size and diversity) picture of real world practices, albeit difficult to interpret, but it tells you more about the general population than a clinical trial would.2 -
The approach taken by holistic Doctors is merely one of "covering gaps". Multivitamins help fill in gaps that may be present in your current diet. This means you are using the vitamins as intended, as supplementsto an already diverse diet.
You also have to wonder who paid for these studies. Many of them were done so by Pharmaceutical companies. They don't want people to be healthy. They want them taking their drugs so they do these studies to bad mouth vitamins.
Ultimately a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is the best with a good deal of variety/color. The problem people face today is that they simply don't get enough or hate eating vegetables and fruit.
Um who do you think makes multivitamins? Many of them are made by pharmaceutical companies. This study doesn't bad mouth vitamins or make any recommendations on what people should do. It simply analyzes the data and draws conclusions about the link or lack there of between vitamin supplements and certain health outcomes. But one conclusion and individual could draw from the study is that rather than taking supplements, eating fruits and vegetables is more beneficial. So I'm not exactly sure how a study that could encourage people to buy less from pharmaceutical companies and get it from food is secretly backing their agenda. But I've never been great with conspiracy theories.
You beat me to it regarding who makes vitamins. Also, what about other companies making supplements? they're not in it for the kindness of their hearts.
This study is important because it gives you a very big (sample size and diversity) picture of real world practices, albeit difficult to interpret, but it tells you more about the general population than a clinical trial would.
Yup everyone from big pharma to big ag to family farms and natural news websites and holistic doctors are out to make a buck. That they are doesn't discount the value of what someone is doing. It has the value it has or doesn't have regardless of that. If we discount things in general because somebody would profit off the result then we pretty much have to discount everything.1 -
deannalfisher wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »I'm interested in the take on Vit D too. It's the one I feel has changed me. I don't ant to read the study because today I have enough to worry about...but is that covered in this?
My doctor told me years ago that vitamins were not necessary and I should stop taking them. She did recommend a Vit D. I'm in the upper U.S. and we don't get much sun. I really feel like Vit D was instrumental in combatting my seasonal depression.
Without Vit D supplementation my level runs 15-20. Supplementing gets it up to 60 or so. But only the mega dose once a week seems to work. I guess this would be a case of supplementation being medically indicated. My levels are now "normal" but only stay that way with continued supplementing so...
Don't mind me, I'm just rambling now
Interesting about the one mega dose. I don't even know if Vit D levels are something they routinely test for and I had started taking 2000iu daily before my doctor told me that. For the record, my doctor isn't God, she led me astray on more than one occasion. To thine own self be true I guess. I've been supplementing D for ten years. I take 1000iu daily now. Sometimes in the summer I skip it for weeks at a time. It is the only thing that made life worth living for me from October to May.
I know vit d is in my annual bloodwork - does your doc do CBC and CMP?
Yeah on the CBC, I don't know what CMP means. But I don't get a breakdown of every reading...like Vit D or other micronutrients. Maybe I have to specifically ask.
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cmriverside wrote: »deannalfisher wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »cmriverside wrote: »I'm interested in the take on Vit D too. It's the one I feel has changed me. I don't ant to read the study because today I have enough to worry about...but is that covered in this?
My doctor told me years ago that vitamins were not necessary and I should stop taking them. She did recommend a Vit D. I'm in the upper U.S. and we don't get much sun. I really feel like Vit D was instrumental in combatting my seasonal depression.
Without Vit D supplementation my level runs 15-20. Supplementing gets it up to 60 or so. But only the mega dose once a week seems to work. I guess this would be a case of supplementation being medically indicated. My levels are now "normal" but only stay that way with continued supplementing so...
Don't mind me, I'm just rambling now
Interesting about the one mega dose. I don't even know if Vit D levels are something they routinely test for and I had started taking 2000iu daily before my doctor told me that. For the record, my doctor isn't God, she led me astray on more than one occasion. To thine own self be true I guess. I've been supplementing D for ten years. I take 1000iu daily now. Sometimes in the summer I skip it for weeks at a time. It is the only thing that made life worth living for me from October to May.
I know vit d is in my annual bloodwork - does your doc do CBC and CMP?
Yeah on the CBC, I don't know what CMP means. But I don't get a breakdown of every reading...like Vit D or other micronutrients. Maybe I have to specifically ask.
Comprehensive metabolic panel. My doctor doesn't do one unless I ask or we're trying to find the cause of some specific issue. I always ask for a copy of my results because I'm nosy
I assume if you were deficient in anything they'd be telling you.
The mega dose Vit D I take is 50k iu once per week (Saturdays, except I'm rubbish at remembering so get maybe 3 weeks out of 4). It seems to be enough to keep my levels up but by no means off the charts.0
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