Are MULTIVITAMINS bad for you?

i've heard mixed reviews. some docs say they do nothing.

i take a prenatal everyday for my nail and hair.

This is from the Mayo clinic website:

Multivitamins — Are they the best thing for you?
By Jennifer Nelson, M.S., R.D. and Katherine Zeratsky, R.D.43 comments postedRead commentsPost a comment
Do you take a multivitamin? Or a single vitamin, mineral, or combination supplement? If so, you are in the company of tens of millions of U.S. adults.

Why do you take them? Most people say it makes them feel healthier or they believe it will prevent chronic diseases, or colds and flu. But you may be surprised to know that what is in your bottle and on the label is not strictly regulated. And there is no system in place to collect reports of adverse affects.

Over the past few years there has been increasing evidence that multivitamins and single or combination type vitamin/mineral supplements may not provide the health benefit sought by you, the consumer. In some cases the opposite or no beneficial effects have been reported.

Alarming to think that vitamin or mineral supplements could actually cause more harm than good. An example of this is the use of beta carotene by smokers actually increased the incidence of lung cancer. This is echoed by a recent study out of the University of Washington that reports the use of multivitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and folate did not reduce the risk of lung cancer.

It is not all bad news though; there are studies to support the use of folate (folic acid) prior to and during pregnancy in the prevention of neural tube defects in the developing fetus. And history has proven that vitamins and minerals play a critical role in our health — the reason we know about the benefits of vitamins and minerals in food is because of the major discoveries in disease prevention such as vitamin C and scurvy and thiamine, a B vitamin, and beri beri (a wasting type disease).

This may leave you wondering if those vitamin mineral supplements in your medicine cabinet are doing what they should or even worth your money.

Let's look at this way — do you eat a well balanced diet? If so, you may not need a multivitamin and if you take one as a "safety net" know that you may exceed what your body needs or can use.

Are you concerned about a chronic disease? If so, making changes in your diet and exercise habits, not smoking and following through with recommended screenings by your physician are more likely to benefit your overall health picture.

Consider your current state of health, talk to your doctor and/or dietitian, and weigh the possible benefits and risks of a multivitamin and mineral supplement for you.

I take them because my diet is lacking in some essential nutrients, but there are some vitamins such as vitamin A that are poisonous in extremely large doses. How large? I don't know.

http://www.multivitaminguide.org/

Check out that website. It will tell you which vitamins absorb better. Not all multi-vitamins are created equal. So....get your money worth and health perks by choosing the right vitamins!!

I take them everyday. It's my only real source of vitamins and minerals

I take individual liquid vitamins and supplements spaced out during the day, instead of a multivitamin. For instance, iron and calcium tend to bind together, so it's best to take them with a few hours apart from each other. I prefer taking the selected vitamins that fit my individual needs. In my case, it's vitamins B12, D, calcium citrate, Floradix iron and herbs and a vegan DHA supplement.

My doctor seems to think they are fine. She recommended that I take a multi everyday. I'm also severely deficient in vitamin D, so I take a separate vitamin D supplement as well. So far, I haven't had any problems.

I take a women's daily vitamin but I try to 'eat the rainbow' and have as many fruits and veggies per day that I can. For people like me that are small boned it's important to prevent osteoporosis (runs in my family) by getting that vitamin D from supplements and the sunshine (that kind of vit D is better for the body, experts suggest 30 minutes per day)

I think you should get your blood checked and have the dr suggest what you need to supplement. I take a multivitamin I get kidney stones so the dr checks my blood tells me what I am lacking. I have consistently been low on Vitamin D and iron. I take those 2 supplements.

I think you should get your blood checked and have the dr suggest what you need to supplement. I take a multivitamin I get kidney stones so the dr checks my blood tells me what I am lacking. I have consistently been low on Vitamin D and iron. I take those 2 supplements.

VERY good advice. Having a full physical with blood work is a great idea before beginning any kind of supplement routine.

You're body is pretty good at discarding what it doesn't want - you're body will normally only absorb what it needs to and flush out the rest - hence eating too much vitamin C can give you the s***s

I don't know , but I was taking a women's multi-vitamin and keep breaking out in rashes and had elevated liver enzymes. I stopped taking it and everything is back to normal finally several months later. I will not take any more!

I stopped taking a women's one-a-day when the 100% iron stopped me up for 4 days. I gained 6 lbs in 4 days because I couldn't "eliminate". Now that I'm eating healthier, I find that I do not need the vitamin. I do take 1 vitamin c a day because I already know I do not get enough of that. If you choose to take a vitamin, just make sure it's not 100% on everything.

plug in a typical day's diet at nutritiondata.com, you can find out where you're lacking.

That's a decent way to evaluate your diet, but to know what your body is lacking you'd need a blood test. It's not wise to assume that every vitamin contained in the food you eat gets absorbed.

I agree, especially with respect to vitamin D.

You're body is pretty good at discarding what it doesn't want - you're body will normally only absorb what it needs to and flush out the rest - hence eating too much vitamin C can give you the s***s

But calcium will deposit itself in different parts of your body like Kidney Stones. There are some vitamins and minerals your body can not flush out effectively so you need to be careful.