Doctors say to stop using multivitamins, they're a waste of money

Two new studies and an editorial in the latest edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine decry the use of vitamins and ask that patients stop wasting their money on them.

According to New York Daily News, doctors don't really see any positive effects from the use of vitamins.

Senior deputy editor of the journal, Dr. Cynthia Mulrow, noted that people are most often "looking for a magic pill," but there isn't such one. Instead she suggest that people exercise and eat right. Most of all people shouldn't waster their money on "these pills."

The studies looked into whether multivitamins helped with heart disease, cancer and memory skills. At most they might slightly help men against cancer risk, but not much else. A memory study that took place over 12 years found no difference between those taking the placebos and those on the vitamins.

Dr. Gevasio Lamas of Mount Sinai Medical Center told Reuters Health, "As of now, there is no need to be taking multivitamins and multiminerals to prevent heart disease and there is extensive evidence on that."

The Los Angeles Times reports that there were also more negative outcomes from multivitamins. Those who participated in trials with doses of vitamin E, beta-carotene and higher doses of vitamin A had an increased chance of an early death.

The five doctors involved in the editorial said, "The message is simple: Most supplements do not prevent chronic disease or death, their use is not justified, and they should be avoided."

image: Wikimedia Commons

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