Two Decades of Research Shows Where Multivitamins Fall Short

Key Takeaways

“Many adults in the United States take multivitamins with the hope of improving their health,” lead study authorErikka Loftfield, PhD, said in astatement. “However, the benefits and harms of regular multivitamin use remain unclear.”

For the new study, Loftfield and her team analyzed data from nearly 400,000 U.S. adults who agreed to be tracked for over 20 years. The study was published inJAMA Network Open.

The data for the study came from three large, geographically diverse prospective studies involving 390,124 people in the U.S. The participants were generally healthy, with no history of cancer or other chronic diseases.

In addition to no lowered risk of overall death, the study also showed that multivitamin use did not affect death from cancer, heart disease, or cerebrovascular diseases. The results were adjusted for race and ethnicity, education, and diet quality.

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Should You Ditch Your Multivitamin?

You probably didn’t expect multivitamins to help you live forever, and the fact that they can’t isn’t necessarily a reason to stop taking them. Loftfield said that despite finding multivitamins don’t reduce mortality risk in healthy adults, they may still be worthwhile for some groups, like people with nutritional deficiencies.

On average, adults under-consume vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and calcium-rich foods, saidVanessa King, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian in Oahu, Hawaii, and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. That means they lack vitamins like A, C, D, and E, as well as minerals like magnesium and potassium.

While whole foods are the best sources of these vitamins and nutrients, prenatal multivitamins are important for people who are pregnant and breastfeeding, King said. In addition, people may benefit from a multivitamin if they’re living with health conditions that impact nutrient absorption:

If you fall into one of these groups, King suggests asking your doctor about whether or not a multivitamin can benefit you and your specific health needs. The same goes if you’re 60 and older, since a 2023 study suggests multivitamins can protect memory as you age.

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“If you are thinking about taking a multivitamin, first think about what else you are putting into your body,” Michael Crupain, MD, MPH, a regent at large for the American College of Preventive Medicine and a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Verywell. Are you eating vitamin-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, fish, whole grains, nuts, and seeds? “Think about how can you eat more of the foods that have consistently been associated with living a longer, healthier life in study after study.”

What This Means For YouTalk to your doctor or a registered dietitian about whether and how you can try to get the bulk of your daily nutrients from foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and fish. For many people, a multivitamin isn’t necessary.

What This Means For You

Talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian about whether and how you can try to get the bulk of your daily nutrients from foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, and fish. For many people, a multivitamin isn’t necessary.

5 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Loftfield E, O’Connell CP, Abnet CC, et al.Multivitamin use and mortality risk in 3 prospective US cohorts.JAMA Netw Open.2024;7(6):e2418729. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.18729Reist E.Navigating a chronic kidney disease diet for individuals with cancer.J Ren Nutr. 2021;31(3):e1-e2. doi:10.1053/j.jrn.2020.11.003Balestrieri P, Ribolsi M, Guarino MPL, Emerenziani S, Altomare A, Cicala M.Nutritional aspects in inflammatory bowel diseases.Nutrients. 2020;12(2):372. doi:10.3390/nu12020372Kim J, Ahn CW, Fang S, Lee HS, Park JS.Association between metformin dose and vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with type 2 diabetes.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(46):e17918. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000017918Yeung LK, Alschuler DM, Wall M, et al.Multivitamin supplementation improves memory in older adults: a randomized clinical trial.Am J Clin Nutr. 2023;118(1):273-282. doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.05.011

5 Sources

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Loftfield E, O’Connell CP, Abnet CC, et al.Multivitamin use and mortality risk in 3 prospective US cohorts.JAMA Netw Open.2024;7(6):e2418729. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.18729Reist E.Navigating a chronic kidney disease diet for individuals with cancer.J Ren Nutr. 2021;31(3):e1-e2. doi:10.1053/j.jrn.2020.11.003Balestrieri P, Ribolsi M, Guarino MPL, Emerenziani S, Altomare A, Cicala M.Nutritional aspects in inflammatory bowel diseases.Nutrients. 2020;12(2):372. doi:10.3390/nu12020372Kim J, Ahn CW, Fang S, Lee HS, Park JS.Association between metformin dose and vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with type 2 diabetes.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(46):e17918. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000017918Yeung LK, Alschuler DM, Wall M, et al.Multivitamin supplementation improves memory in older adults: a randomized clinical trial.Am J Clin Nutr. 2023;118(1):273-282. doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.05.011

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Loftfield E, O’Connell CP, Abnet CC, et al.Multivitamin use and mortality risk in 3 prospective US cohorts.JAMA Netw Open.2024;7(6):e2418729. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.18729Reist E.Navigating a chronic kidney disease diet for individuals with cancer.J Ren Nutr. 2021;31(3):e1-e2. doi:10.1053/j.jrn.2020.11.003Balestrieri P, Ribolsi M, Guarino MPL, Emerenziani S, Altomare A, Cicala M.Nutritional aspects in inflammatory bowel diseases.Nutrients. 2020;12(2):372. doi:10.3390/nu12020372Kim J, Ahn CW, Fang S, Lee HS, Park JS.Association between metformin dose and vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with type 2 diabetes.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(46):e17918. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000017918Yeung LK, Alschuler DM, Wall M, et al.Multivitamin supplementation improves memory in older adults: a randomized clinical trial.Am J Clin Nutr. 2023;118(1):273-282. doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.05.011

Loftfield E, O’Connell CP, Abnet CC, et al.Multivitamin use and mortality risk in 3 prospective US cohorts.JAMA Netw Open.2024;7(6):e2418729. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.18729

Reist E.Navigating a chronic kidney disease diet for individuals with cancer.J Ren Nutr. 2021;31(3):e1-e2. doi:10.1053/j.jrn.2020.11.003

Balestrieri P, Ribolsi M, Guarino MPL, Emerenziani S, Altomare A, Cicala M.Nutritional aspects in inflammatory bowel diseases.Nutrients. 2020;12(2):372. doi:10.3390/nu12020372

Kim J, Ahn CW, Fang S, Lee HS, Park JS.Association between metformin dose and vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with type 2 diabetes.Medicine (Baltimore). 2019;98(46):e17918. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000017918

Yeung LK, Alschuler DM, Wall M, et al.Multivitamin supplementation improves memory in older adults: a randomized clinical trial.Am J Clin Nutr. 2023;118(1):273-282. doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.05.011

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