One out of three adults regularly pop a multivitamin, which is a supplement that contains multiple vitamins and minerals. One popular formula is a “broad spectrum” multivitamin, meaning one that contains all or most vitamins and minerals in amounts that don’t exceed the recommended Daily Values for these nutrients.And if they’ve been part of your morning routine or you’re wondering whether to start for the sake of your health, you’re in the right place. In this article, learn why they’re so popular, what the research actually says about their wellness-boosting abilities, and if you should take one or skip it!
The Claim About Multivitamins
People have their own reasons for taking a multivitamin, whether that’s to increase their intake of certain nutrients, ensure they’re getting what they need in their diet, to improve their health, or to help prevent disease.
One thought is that taking additional vitamins and minerals — which are important for the body’s function — in capsule form could act as a safeguard if you’re not able to get those nutrients via whole foods. “It is reasonable to think that key vitamins and minerals could be extracted from fruits and vegetables, packaged into a pill, and people could avoid the difficulty and expense of maintaining a balanced diet,” wrote the authors of an editorial in JAMA.
And that may be why many people reach for multivitamins. In one survey, 92 percent of people who take supplements say they’re essential for their health.More specifically, people report taking them to fill nutrition gaps in their diet, optimize their well-being, and support their immune function.But are these assumptions valid? What does the research really show?
The Scientific Research on Multivitamins
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) analyzed the available data on whether multivitamins can help prevent heart disease or cancer. Their conclusion? There’s insufficient evidence to suggest they help, and not enough data to weigh the benefits with the harms to make a recommendation either way.
In the USPSTF’s meta-analysis, published in JAMA, which looked at 84 studies on multivitamin use, researchers concluded that there was “little or no benefit” for the prevention of cancer, heart disease, and death — in fact, in some cases, beta-carotene (a precursor of vitamin A) actually increased lung cancer in those who were of high risk for the disease.
While research shows that dietary patterns that include fruits and vegetables help decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, there’s no clear evidence that packaging vitamins in a pill helps prevent these chronic illnesses, says Jenny Jia, MD, instructor of medicine and preventive medicine at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, and one of the coauthors on the JAMA editorial mentioned above.
Another sticking point, says Dr. Jia, is that the available research on multivitamins and health outcomes doesn’t include a diverse group of people. Typically, people who participate in vitamin studies are those who tend to be motivated to be healthy, she says. “They’ve adopted healthy patterns like eating more fruits and vegetables. There’s definitely certain gaps within the current research that we have,” Jia says. Would the outcome be different — could we see a benefit — if more diverse study participants from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds were included? It’s hard to say without that data.
There is one important time when a multivitamin is needed: If you’re considering or trying to become pregnant. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say that pregnant people need folic acid, iron, calcium, vitamin D, choline, omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and vitamin C.You’ll want to get these via food but a prenatal will ensure you get what you need to be healthy during pregnancy. Given it’s unlikely you’ll get the amount of folic acid you need, which decreases the risk of neural tube defects, a prenatal is recommended.
So, Should You Take a Multivitamin?
There’s not good evidence that multivitamins are universally helpful. “To my knowledge, the preponderance of data does not support an across-the-board benefit from multivitamin supplements for the general population” says Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, senior scientist and the Gershoff Professor at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.
That means not everyone needs one — but do you? The diet you eat and the supplements you take is your choice alone. If, after evaluating exactly why you want to take one and weighing the pros and cons, you determine you are going to take a multivitamin, you can absolutely do so. In that case, Dr. Lichtenstein recommends finding a product that does not contain more than 100 percent of the RDA of each of the nutrients in the formula. In addition, she recommends, look for a product that is third-party certified by an organization like USP, which indicates that the ingredients listed on the label are in the product, it does not contain harmful levels of contaminants, and has been made in a safe and sanitary environment.
In addition, a multivitamin can’t cover all of your nutritional bases. “If the decision is made to rely on a multivitamin supplement, it is important to know that not all the dietary components associated with positive health outcomes are contained in the pills,” says Lichtenstein. “This includes fiber and thousands of other compounds, sometimes referred to as phytochemicals, that we get from food that have yet to be identified or their biological effect established,” she says.
Food contains a matrix of important nutrients and compounds, and may support our health in important ways that we’re unaware of yet. So, you can’t rely on a multivitamin to include everything you need to be healthy. Lichtenstein points to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association in 2021 that she coauthored, which clearly lays out the elements of a diet that promotes cardiovascular health:
Eat the amount of calories that promotes a healthy body weight (this varies by person, and a registered dietitian can help you determine your optimal caloric intake)
Eat fruits and vegetables
Eat whole grains
Eat healthy sources of protein, including plant protein, fish and seafood, low-fat and fat-free dairy, and lean meats
Use liquid plant oils and avoid tropical oils and partially hydrogenated fats
Choose minimally processed foods
Minimize added sugar
Prepare foods with little or not salt
If you don’t drink alcohol, don’t start; if you do, limit your intake
And yes, that’s more steps than popping a pill, but there’s good evidence behind establishing those habits for disease prevention, but the same can’t be said of a multi. Other lifestyle habits, such as exercise, are also protective against disease.
Consider why you’re thinking about taking a multi. “Are you trying to live a long healthy life? If you are, we have some evidence-based practices that are known to help prevent heart disease, such as not using tobacco, drinking alcohol in moderation or less, maintaining a healthy body weight, exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet,” says Jia. “We have more evidence for these healthy lifestyle behaviors than multivitamins,” says Jia.
