Vitamin pill poppers be warned. Is there any reason for otherwise normal and healthy people to take vitamin supplements? There is more evidence that this is not the case and in fact even in those with certain illnesses e.g. cardiovascular disease, the benefits of “antioxidant vitamins” is dubious.
Now a recent Cochrane systematic review of the literature suggests that vitamin supplements do not increase life expectancy and may actually raise the risk of a premature death.
From the Guardian

The review, by the Cochrane Collaboration which regularly pools data from trials to evaluate drugs and treatments, found supplements vitamin A, vitamin E and beta-carotene are detrimental to health. In 47 trials with 180,938 people and a low risk of bias, the “antioxidant supplements significantly increased mortality”, the authors wrote. When the antioxidants were assessed separately and low risk of bias trials were included and selenium excluded, vitamin A was linked to a 16% increased risk of dying, beta-carotene to a 7% increased risk and vitamin E to a 4% increased risk.
Evidence for vitamin C and selenium was more equivocal, suggesting there was no benefit to taking these pills compared with a placebo.
“The bottom line is current evidence does not support the use of antioxidant supplements in the general healthy population or in patients with certain diseases,” said Goran Bjelakovic, who performed the review at Copenhagen Universityhospital in Denmark. “There was no indication that vitamin C and selenium may have positive or negative effects. So regarding these we need more data from randomised trials.”
You may want to read the original Cochrane review: Antioxidant supplements for prevention of mortality in healthy participants and patients with various diseases
Previous MMR Posts mentioning vitamin supplements have not been good news either.
The best option is for you to eat well with an emphasis on lots of fruits and veggies. Far far better than popping pills or “artificial” supplements (those which come in a box or bottle claiming to be “natural” but in reality they are not)
Post from: Malaysian Medical Resources (Source: Malaysian Medical Resources)