Multivitamins Ineffective in Cancer and Heart Disease Prevention

by Terri Potratz | February 10, 2009 at 10:49 am

413 views | 29 Recommendations | 11 comments

A new study has provided definitive proof that multivitamins do not protect older females from heart disease and cancer, two of the biggest killers of post-menopausal women.

An eight-year study looked at multivitamins, the most commonly used supplements which generate about $20 billion in revenue in the US per year, and found that the dietary aids did not lower the risk of cancer and heart disease - though luckily did not have an adverse effect either.

Multivitamin users were more likely to be white, live in the western United States, have a lower body-mass index, be more physically active and have a college degree or higher as compared to non-users. Multivitamin users also were more likely to drink alcohol and less likely to smoke than non-users, and they reported eating more fruits and vegetables and consuming less fat than non-users.

Though the results were definitive, these findings cannot necessarily be extended to men as only women were followed in the trial.

These findings are consistent with most previously published results regarding the lack of health benefits of multivitamins, Neuhouser said, but this study provides definitive evidence. "The Women's Health Initiative is one of the largest studies ever done on diet and health. Thus, because we have such a large and diverse sample size, including women from 40 sites across the nation, our results can be generalized to a healthy population." Since the study did not include men, Neuhouser cautions that the results may not apply to them.

A pharmaceutical professional claims that due to numerous variables within this study, the results are not actually definitive:

"There are a lot of variables associated with this study, and unless there is an actual randomized, controlled trial, we can't say anything," said Rajat Sethi, an assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences at Texas A&M Health Science Center Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy in Kingsville. "There have been a mixture of studies where vitamins indeed have indirectly shown benefit."

This point was also acknowledged by the head researcher in the multivitamin study:

"There was some hint that stress vitamins, which are mostly high doses of B vitamins, may have been protective for some forms of cardiovascular disease," Wassertheil-Smoller said.
And the study does come with other caveats, Wassertheil-Smoller said.

"Most of the women in the study probably did eat a fairly decent diet, meaning we don't yet necessarily know how vitamins affect women eating poorly," she said. "The other thing is we didn't measure other things about diet such as sense of energy and well-being."

Researchers all seem to agree that a balanced and healthy diet of nutrient-rich foods is more beneficial than taking supplements.

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generaldecay

at 10:55 on February 10th, 2009

Oh, blooming 'eck! I take a lot of supplements, but I do try to eat a balanced and nutritious diet as well. I'm not 'older' but I do want all this effort (and expense) to pay off!

Karenke4

at 11:07 on February 10th, 2009

I am taking vitamins as I read this. I too, hope they pay off in some way. I guess I never expected multivitamins to cure or ward off anything serious, but perhaps they will make you feel better along the way.

Roy C

at 13:01 on February 10th, 2009

The authors of the study have themselves said that the conclusions weren't so strong as has been reported.

Read the studies in the Journal of Preentive Medicine and you get a vastl different view.

Remember how Vitamin E did nothing? When you add Coq10 to the E, suddenly the results are definitive.

Right now nutritionists recommend 2000 IUs of Vitamin D. Heart patients are getting huge doses.

This whole story is propaganda from the orthodoxy of the medical establishment.

I will write up some stories about the FDA and folic acid to give you an example of just how bad the FDA and the medical establishment can get.

Amy Judd

at 13:41 on February 10th, 2009

I just started taking 1000 IUs of Vitamin D - so should I really be taking two of those pills? It seems almost too much

Roy C

at 14:18 on February 10th, 2009

Very good question. The so-called experts had given us dire warning about vitamin overdose.

I take 2,000 IUs now and have no symptoms. I will get back to you with some links, but if you look for the Life Extension Foundation (lef.com) and Vitamin Research Products, you can look through their excellent on-line libraries of articles derived from peer-reviewed journals on medicine, biochemistry and nutrition.

We make an enormous amount of Vit D in a few hours of good sunlight, more than 2,000 IUs. Many scientists now say that the reason we have cold season is not that we are locked up and breathe each other's germs so much as the winter deprives us of the opportunity to make copious amounts of D from sunshine.

Here is a good link from the Life Extension magazine: Why Is Flu Risk So Much Higher in the Winter? By Dale Kiefer

This link relates to heart disease and Vitamin D: Vitamin D’s Crucial Role in Cardiovascular ProtectionBy William Davis, MD

Amy Judd

at 15:59 on February 10th, 2009

Thanks so much for the additional information and links!

zoom_zoom

at 13:15 on February 10th, 2009

I took the vitamin photo in the bathroom.. why? Who knows. Glad someone got some use out of it. :P

zoom_zoom has contributed a photo to this story.

Roy C

at 13:27 on February 10th, 2009

I use big does of C and the zinc lozenges. I haven't missed a day of work in 5 years. I work long hours, and as soon as I catch something, I increase the dose.

Don't give me the "placebo" response. Never been proven to exist outside of pain pills and even there it is tenuous.

Barbara McPherson

at 16:40 on February 10th, 2009

There is a rapidly accumulating body of evidence that vitamin supplementation aids in maintaining peak health. My articles on Winning the Pain Game and Vitamin D an Oldie But a Goodie discussed some of the advantages of Vit. D. Prevention or lessening of Multiple Sclerosis symptoms and cancer are a couple. A diet with many fruits and vegetables is great as long as those fruits and vegetables are grown on non-depleted soils. Depleted soil = depleted plants

Brinna

at 23:01 on February 21st, 2009

There is a sneaky campaign going on to discredit and ultimately ban vitamins and natural supplements. On medline there was a doctor posted video asking other physicians to contact him if they have found patients with supplement/prescription drug interactions. Naturally, this was not about eliminating prescription drugs, this was all about eliminating supplements.

Think I am paranoid? Wyeth (big pharma) petitioned the FDA to ban the natural estrogen estriol (which women were flocking to after it was shown that synthetic hormone replacement was killing them). Wyeth had just patented and gotten FDA approval on their own "natural" version of an estrogen mix, which they started marketing. So, of course, the FDA complied to protect Wyeths bottom line, and as of January last year natural estriol (which had been obtainable through compounding pharmacies was banned).

Elite Health (not verified)

at 20:38 on June 14th, 2009

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