Multivitamins Do Nothing

According to the largest study ever done on multivitamin users, there is no apparent health benefit to those horse pills.

The largest study ever conducted in post-menopausal women has found “convincing evidence” that multivitamin use has “little or no influence” on the risk of common cancers, cardiovascular disease or dying from any cause in post-menopausal women. The research involved 161,808 American women, age 50 to 79, who are part of the ongoing Women’s Health Initiative, the largest study of women’s health. A total of 41.5 per cent of the women used multivitamins. The most popular was a multivitamin with minerals. The women were enrolled in the trial between 1993 and 1998. After an average eight years of followup, researchers found no evidence multivitamins either increased or decreased the risk of cancers of the breast (invasive), colon/rectum, endometrium, ovary, kidney, bladder, stomach or lung. They also found no significant effect on the risk of heart attack, stroke and blood clots in the veins. There was also no association between multivitamin use and total mortality.

The same article notes this:

In November, researchers who have been following 15,000 male doctors for 10 years reported that vitamin E and C supplements have no effect on the risk of heart attacks, stroke, cardiovascular death, cancer or congestive heart failure in middle-aged and older men. They did find an increase in hemorrhagic stroke with vitamin E use.

Meanwhile this $8B annual ripoff industry rolls on.