You're late and don't have time to cut the fruit or wash it. lettuce before going to work. In your race out the door, you stop at the pantry to buy a protein bar or a toaster. Not exactly textbook nutrition, but no big deal, you remind yourself. You have previously taken a multivitamin.
This multivitamin may seem like a defense against a rushed, nutrient-poor breakfast. ABOUT third adults take them, and many doctors recommend them for some children and other specific groups.
But a few recent ones research have found what are multivitamins don't really improve health consequences – with some exceptions – and pills with too much “Nutrition” can even backfire. Here's what you need to know about multivitamins: When they're most likely to help, hurt, or do nothing at all.
Multivitamins vs nutrition
A daily multivitamin is probably won't be your savior. The basics of healthy behavior are your greatest asset in avoiding disease. “Diet, exercise and other healthy lifestyle habits make the biggest difference,” says Howard Sesso, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School who has studied the health effects of people taking multivitamins.
So-called “broad spectrum” multivitamins combine a wide range of micronutrients, typically about 13 essential vitamins such as A, C and D, and up to 15 minerals such as calcium, magnesium and zinc. Other multivitamins focus on smaller amounts of nutrients for specific needs, such as bone or skin health.
But humans have evolved to get nutrition from real food, which has great advantages over pills. First, food packets of fat improve absorption. Many healthy foods also contain complex antioxidants such as polyphenols, which help preserve vitamins inside the body when they perform their good deeds. The tablets may also contain polyphenols, but shelf life and bioavailability depend on the type of polyphenols and what else is added to them.
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“Eating a balanced diet is the key for most adults to getting essential micronutrients that promote healthy development, disease prevention and overall health,” says Stephanie Lopez-Neiman, a registered dietitian and assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Research showing clear benefits of multivitamins is sparse. In 2022, the US Preventive Services Task Force came to the conclusion there is insufficient evidence to justify recommending their use for disease prevention in healthy people who do not have specific nutritional requirements.
When Sesso studied male doctors taking daily multivitamins for more than a decade in a large, carefully controlled study, he found they did not help prevent heart disease or early death, but were associated with some reduction in cancer incidence and cataract.
Last year, NIH researchers found that taking a regular multivitamin did not improve life expectancy in nearly 400,000 healthy adults. However, the researchers noted that several other research showed certain advantagesand more research is needed to understand how these pills affect certain groups of people.
Who might benefit from this?
One such group is older people. “We know that some nutritional deficiencies are more likely to develop in older people,” Sesso says. The most common examples are vitamin B12 And vitamin D.
In 2024 trial In a study of nearly 5,000 older adults, Sesso and his colleagues found that taking multivitamins resulted in improved memory and delayed cognitive aging by two years. Broad-spectrum multivitamins contain essential vitamins and minerals that “target multiple biological pathways to support cognitive health,” Sesso and his co-authors write.
In the same study, but with an even larger group of older adults, those who took multivitamins were also less likely to develop lung cancer, but no benefits were observed for other cancers or heart disease. Some of Sesso's research, including this trial, receives funding from companies, but he designs the studies without company involvement. He now plans to study how these findings might apply to young people.
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Another group that may benefit are people with nutritional deficiencies, although such deficiencies not common in the US, explains Sesso. They are more likely among those who follow a low-calorie diet, have poor appetite due to chronic illness, or have limited access to healthy foods. Adults experiencing food insecurity may have better health results when they take multivitamins.
Strict vegetarians or vegans may not get certain vitamins and minerals. For them, “taking a multivitamin may be helpful,” Lopez-Neyman says. She adds that multivitamins can also help pregnant women. They advised take multivitamins due to a higher risk of deficiencies in nutrients such as folic acid and iron.
Multivitamins may be helpful during periods of chronic stress and sleep deprivation, such as heavy work or school stress. These circumstances can interfere with preparing nutritious meals, and stress can undermine your immune system. Theoretically, multivitamins can help with both problems. “If you're struggling to maintain a varied diet for six months or longer, now is a good time to consult your doctor or dietitian,” says Raede Basiri, assistant professor of nutrition and food studies at George Mason University.
Multivitamins and children
Pediatricians may recommend multivitamins for children because their bodies are constantly developing, “requiring a constant supply of essential nutrients to maintain physical and mental performance,” Lopez-Neiman says.
However, she adds that the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend multivitamins for children who eat well enough. This mostly because packaged foods fortified with vitamins and minerals increase micronutrient intake. “Their bodies have to learn to get what they need from food,” Basiri says. “It's been like this for thousands of years.”
Exceptions are vitamin Despecially for babies, and some minerals such as iron and calcium. Both children and adults of all ages are at risk of not getting enough of these essential nutrients.
Specialized multivitamins
Talk to doctors or nutritionists to find out more. They may order tests to look for any deficiencies, in which case a broad-spectrum multivitamin may help. They may also recommend specialized multivitamins containing only those nutrients that address a specific deficiency, in addition to dietary changes.
Regular specialty multivitamins contain vitamin B12, which may have low levels, especially in vegetarians. Lopez-Neyman rarely eats meat, and her doctor suggested she take a multivitamin with B12, B6 and folic acid.
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Strong evidence shows that multivitamins that combine beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, copper and zinc delayed progression from macular degeneration after the condition has been diagnosed.
Risks of Multivitamins
Many of us grew up striving for a 100 percent score on every test, but scoring too high when taking multivitamins comes with risks—diminishing the benefits or causing harmful side effects. Whether you take a comprehensive or specialized multivitamin, talk to your doctor or dietitian about your individual nutritional needs. You may not always need tablets that provide the recommended daily allowance of each vitamin and mineral.
“We don't want to eat 100% of everything,” says Christy Bock, a pediatric nutritionist in Washington, D.C. Even at lower percentages, many nutrients strengthen each othercollaborating within the body to potentially provide 100% of your needs. “Nature works together in certain patterns,” Bock says. “The same thing happens with vitamins and nutrients in food.”
Bock adds that too much of one nutrient can undermine the benefits of others. For example, getting more than 100% calcium daily may interfere with the beneficial effects of iron, she says.
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Excess nutrients can accumulate and become toxic over time. In particular, fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K accumulate in the body's tissues, increasing the likelihood that they will reach toxic levels, Bock explains. For example, high doses of vitamin E, say 1200 milligrams, can lead to side effects like diarrhea, weakness or blurred vision, Lopez-Neyman says.
Parents should be wary of gummies that contain artificial additives as they encourage children to eat them like candy, leading to risk of overdosesays Basiri.
How to Decide Whether to Take a Multivitamin
Many of us turn to multivitamins because we're too eager to cook healthy meals. But doctors and nutritionists can help you reconsider this assumption. According to Basiri, batch cooking and portable healthy snacks provide adequate nutrition while reducing time.
If you still need a broad-spectrum multivitamin, look for one that is certified by NSF, USP, or ConsumerLab.com, or at least use a reputable, familiar brand.
Whether or not you should take a multivitamin depends on personal preference. According to his own research, Sesso began taking a daily multivitamin after he turned 50, in addition to eating a healthy diet. “Lifestyle is the first line of defense,” he says. He always takes multivitamins with meals because it helps the body recognize and use them better, he says.
Others may want to carefully consider whether a multivitamin actually provides the most benefit for their situation. For example, for most people, increasing the number of hours of sleep will improve their health more than any pill. “What variable in your life is most important to identify?” – says Bock. “Multivitamins may be helpful in some circumstances, but they are not always the answer.”
