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“will taking multivitamins increase mortality?”

studies have shown that taking multivitamins increases the risk of death by 4%, so you should never take them again.

this statement is a misreading of the research.

although the study mentioned that multivitamins are associated with an increased risk of death, from the current research, there is only a correlation and no causal relationship between the two. for people with vitamin deficiencies, the benefits of appropriate supplementation with multivitamins outweigh the risks, so there is no need to worry about this.

in recent years, people have paid more and more attention to health, and various multivitamin supplements have gradually become indispensable health products in people's lives.

but recently there are claims on the internet that the latest research has found that taking multivitamins every day increases the risk of death by 4%, which can lead to early death. stop eating blindly, multivitamins are an iq tax, and so on.

will taking multivitamins really increase mortality and lead to early death? can i still take multivitamins?

is it true to take multivitamins?

will it increase mortality?

this statement cannot be said to be "made up out of thin air". it comes from a recent study by the national cancer institute of the national institutes of health.

the study screened data on more than 390,000 people from three large population-based cohort studies in the united states, including the national institutes of health-aarp diet and health study (nih-aarp) cohort and the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian (plco) cohort. cancer screening trial cohort and agricultural health study (ahs) cohort. ultimately, over 20 years of follow-up, a cumulative total of 164,762 participant deaths were recorded. of these, 49,836 died from cancer, 35,060 from heart disease, and 9,275 from cerebrovascular disease.

an analysis of multi-supplement use in these groups found that compared with non-users, daily multivitamin use was associated with a 4% increased risk of all-cause death, a 4% increased risk of cardiovascular death, and a 2% lower risk of cancer death. %, and was associated with a 6% increased risk of cerebrovascular death.

this is why it is said online that multivitamins increase the risk of death by 4% and lead to premature death. many reports on the internet therefore say that "taking multivitamins can actually increase mortality" and "lead to early death."

so, is this true?in fact, this is a wrong interpretation of the research results.

first, this was an observational study, and it only found that taking a daily multivitamin was associated with a 4% increased risk of all-cause death.however, correlation ≠ causation does not lead to the conclusion that "taking multivitamins will increase the risk of death by 4%."

when we discuss a study, we must consider the number of samples on the one hand, and the characteristics of the research sample on the other. the samples of this study are mainly elderly people in the united states, and their eating and living habits may be different from ours.

secondly, this study itself is not intended to prove that taking multivitamins will increase mortality. through further comprehensive analysis, the final conclusion of the study is actually: multivitamins (mv) usewas not associated with reduced mortality. lower all-cause mortality risk in the first.)

in other words, taking multivitamin supplements does not reduce mortality. why should we emphasize this point? because many people in the united states take multivitamins, thinking that they are very healthy and can prolong life (and may even "not eat well" or "not see a doctor" because of this), one of the purposes of this study is probably to dissuade such people.

in fact, you shouldn’t be too surprised by this research! because there have been constant controversies about multivitamins abroad, and there are many studies, the conclusions are “somewhat good and some bad”, and there are some restrictions.

for example, a report in 2022 pointed out that vitamin and mineral supplements have little benefit in preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and death, and even excessive supplementation of some vitamins can increase the risk of cancer! in 2013, scientists published an article titled "enough, stop wasted money on vitamin and mineral supplements," which concluded that there is no benefit to healthy people taking vitamin supplements.

so the question is, what counts as "oversupplementing"? who counts as “healthy people”? next, let’s have a brief chat based on the situation.

what do you think about multivitamins?

i believe what everyone is most concerned about is: am i deficient in vitamins? can i take a multivitamin?

first,if you are really deficient, or even if you are suffering from a deficiency, it is beneficial to take appropriate dietary supplements.

judging from the dietary nutrition data of the chinese population in recent years, the number of people lacking certain nutrients is not small., for example, data from 2015 show that more than 50% of adults have intakes of retinol (va), thiamine (vb1) and vitamin c that are less than the average requirement, and the intake of riboflavin (vb2) and calcium is insufficient. the population proportions exceed 85% and 95% respectively.

from this perspective,taking multivitamin supplements appropriately will do more good than harm for most people.

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but,it must be emphasized here that the more dietary supplements are not, the better.in fact, any nutrient has two sides. lack of it is bad for health, but eating too much can also cause health problems.

the supplementary dose of nutrients should be based on the reference intake of dietary nutrients for chinese residents. excessive supplementation may not necessarily increase health benefits, but may cause negative effects and even increase the risk of disease. for example, if you supplement too high a dose of vitamin c every day (adults should not exceed 2,000 mg per day), it may cause adverse reactions such as kidney stones, as well as uncomfortable symptoms such as nausea and diarrhea; if pregnant women take large doses of vitamin a every day in the early stages, their delivery the risk of deformed children increases. many studies have found that vitamins and minerals may be harmful to health, and the main reason is that they take too high a dose.

in addition,dietary supplements are not medicines and cannot treat or prevent diseases. do not give up necessary medicines or medical treatment because of superstition.

many people rely on taking dietary supplements to treat illnesses, but there is no scientific basis for this. dietary supplements should be used to supplement dietary deficiencies and should not be used as a substitute for a balanced diet. it is safe to take dietary supplements such as multivitamins and minerals normally and can also improve the nutritional level of people with micronutrient deficiencies. however,there is currently no evidence to support taking dietary supplements to prevent or treat chronic disease.

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it should also be emphasized here that you should not take many supplements at the same time (especially those that can supplement multiple nutrients at the same time), otherwise the total intake of certain nutrients may exceed the standard, which may be detrimental to health.

these people are advised to take supplements

some special groups, such as women preparing for pregnancy/pregnancy, the elderly, people with osteoporosis, people with vitamin b12 deficiency, patients with gastrointestinal diseases or obesity surgery (bariatric surgery), etc.they are more likely to be deficient in micronutrients or have relatively high micronutrient needs, so they can also take multivitamin dietary supplements.. if you belong to the following groups of people, you can take multivitamin dietary supplements appropriately:

1. women who are preparing to become pregnant. a daily supplement of 400 micrograms of folic acid is needed to reduce the risk of certain serious birth defects in the fetus.

2. women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. it is necessary to increase certain nutrients, especially dha, folic acid, iron, iodine, etc.; if the intake of calcium-containing foods is not rich, calcium supplementation is also required.

3. menopausal women. in order to reduce the loss of calcium from bones, in addition to eating calcium-rich foods, you can also take appropriate calcium supplements.

4. dieters. since excessive diet control (such as dieting to lose weight) can lead to insufficient nutrient content in food, it is recommended to take multivitamin and mineral supplements, of course, preferably under the guidance of a doctor and a nutritionist.

5. vegetarians. if you consume almost no dairy products and animal foods in your daily diet, you need to supplement with additional calcium, iron, vitamin b12 and vitamin d.

6. newborns. during periods of rapid growth and development, vitamin d is often insufficient. vitamin d supplementation may have a positive effect in preventing premature birth and low birth weight in newborns.

7. the elderly and adults with little exposure to sunlight. vitamin d supplements may be needed. it is also recommended that adults over 50 years of age get vitamin b12 from rich sources of food or supplements.

8. special patients. for people or patients under certain special conditions, such as gastrointestinal diseases or obesity surgery (bariatric surgery) patients, due to low nutrient absorption, excessive nutrient consumption or loss, it is difficult for ordinary diet to meet their needs, and the use of nutritional supplements should be considered. supplements. however, it is best to choose under the guidance of a doctor and nutritionist.

9. for people in special environments or occupations, such as plateaus, high temperatures, low temperatures, low sunshine, high-intensity exercise and physical activities, it is necessary to use nutrient supplements according to the nature of their work. supplementation can be done under the guidance of a nutrition professional (nutritionist, nutrition expert or doctor).

looking in the "ballad" mirror

in fields related to nutrition, seemingly "contradictory" conclusions often appear. if we are confused about this, we can read credible popular science content. on the one hand, we must pay attention to whether the conclusion is "correlation" or "causality"; on the other hand, we must also consider how similar the situation of the research sample is to our own. of course, if this is a bit troublesome, we can also just keep in mind the principle of "nutritional balance" and refer to the current version of the "dietary guidelines for chinese residents" to plan our diet reasonably.