‘Benefits’ of vitamins all in head of the worried well

Regular multivitamin and mineral users feel better than non-users but are not in ruder health, shows US research

Self-prescribed multivitamin and multimineral supplements do not lead to better health outcomes — except in the heads of the ‘worried well’, US research suggests.

Based on data from more than 21,600 US adults, those who regularly took non-prescribed, OTC supplements (4933 of participants) did not experience better clinical outcomes than those who did not, according to a study from Harvard University in Massachusetts.

A history of chronic conditions including asthma, diabetes, cancer and chronic heart disease was similar among users and non-users of the supplements.

And those who took vitamins and minerals were just as likely to have experienced health conditions such as chronic pain, digestive or neurological issues, recurring headache and memory loss within the past 12 months, the researchers reported in BMJ Open.