Vitamin pill supplements have been a popular choice among many in the United States as an easy method to make sure they receive all the necessary daily vitamins. Although they serve this purpose, recent research explains why this might not actually impact the longevity of your life. Here is some of what Kelsey Costa, MS, RDN reported on the study for Medical News Today:
New research analyzing data from over two decades and nearly 400,000 participants in the United States suggests that long-term daily multivitamin use may not improve longevity in healthy adults. About 33% of adults in the U.S. take a daily multivitamin to support their overall well-being, assuming that it may help prevent disease and contribute to a longer, healthier life. Despite widespread use, previous studies have not found sufficient evidence to determine whether multivitamins actually benefit longevity. Aiming to address this research gap, researchers at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Cancer Institute analyzed long-term daily multivitamin use and mortality risk in three cohorts of healthy U.S. adults. They accounted for influential factors such as healthy diet and lifestyle and reverse causation, where individuals in poor health started using multivitamins. The new NIH study, published in JAMA Network Open, found no association between regular multivitamin use and a lower risk of death in healthy U.S. adults. However, multivitamins may still benefit specific individuals, and this observational study has some limitations, so don’t throw away your multivitamins just yet.