The West Australian Perth Now Click to open navigation
News
Breaking News
- Western Australia
- National
- World
- Technology
- Opinion
- Weather
Sport
- AFL
- Cricket
- Soccer
- Basketball
- Tennis
- NRL
- Rugby
- Motor Racing
- MMA
- Golf
- Netball
- Cycling
Entertainment
- Confidential
- Movies
- Best Short Film
- Television
- Music
- Reviews
- Books
- Competitions
Business
Breaking News
- Economy
- Markets
- Property
- Commercial Property
- Workplace Matters
Lifestyle
- Food
- Personal Finance
- Health
- Parenting
- Fashion
- Travel
- Home & Garden
- Relationships
- Stars
- Real Estate
Daily vitamin intake may not have any life-prolonging effects.
Credit: akirEVarga/Pixabay (user akirEVarga)
Taking multivitamins every day ‘makes no difference to how long you live’
Kate Pickles
Daily Mail June 27, 2024 12:35PM
Comments
Topics: Health & Wellbeing
Taking multivitamins will not help you live longer, according to a major study. Regularly taking the supplements, which promise benefits such as stronger bones and improved immunity, has no positive effect on longevity, the research found. In fact, using them daily was associated with a 4 percent higher mortality risk, the analysis involving almost 400,000 health adults found. The vitamins industry is estimated to be worth billions in the UK and US, with most buyers assuming that the supplements will protect and improve their health.
TheNightly Get in front of tomorrow’s news for FREE Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
But the potential benefits and harms of additional vitamins and minerals remain unclear, often hindered by the fact that studies on the subject have not been big enough to be conclusive and by short follow-up times. Led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute in the US, a team followed individuals with an average age of 61, who had no history of cancer or other chronic disease, for more than 20 years. They looked at their multivitamin use from 1993 to 2001 and again between 1998 and 2004 with a follow-up period of up to 27 years. During this time, 164,762 of them died, with 49,836 deaths attributed to cancer, 35,060 to heart diseases, and 9,275 attributed to cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke and brain aneurysms. Researchers assessed for other factors such as education level, whether those taking part were ever smokers, their body mass index, marital status, and alcohol and coffee intake. They also looked for family histories of cancer and factored this into the findings,
