According to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, vitamins and nutritional supplements are a waste of money for most Americans.
Vitamins and supplements are a “waste of money” for most Americans
There is no such thing as a “magic pill to keep you healthy.” Diet and exercise are key.
Attracted by the attractiveness of multivitamins and dietary supplements that fill the nutritional gaps in their diet, people spent about $ 50 billion on vitamins and dietary supplements in 2021 in the United States.
But scientists at Northwestern Medicine say that for unhealthy, otherwise healthy Americans, vitamins are a waste of money because there is not enough evidence to help prevent cardiovascular disease or cancer.
“Patients keep asking, ‘What supplements should I take?’ They are wasting money and focusing on thinking that there has to be a magic set of pills to keep them healthy when we should all follow the evidence-based practices of eating healthy and exercising, ”said Dr. Jeffrey Linder, head of the internal general area. medicine in the medical department of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
“[Patients are] waste money and focus on thinking that there has to be a magic pill set that keeps them healthy when we should all follow the evidence-based practices of eating healthy and exercising. ”- Dr. Jeffrey Linder, Chief of General Internal Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Linder and other Northwestern Medicine scientists wrote an editorial published today (June 21, 2022) in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) that supports new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Working Group ( USPSTF), an independent group of national experts who often make evidence-based recommendations on clinical prevention services.
Based on a systematic review of 84 studies, the new USPSTF guidelines state that there was “insufficient evidence” that taking multivitamins, paired supplements, or single supplements can help prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer in healthy, nonpregnant adults. .
“The working group doesn’t say‘ don’t take multivitamins ’, but there’s an idea that if these were really good for you, we’d already know,” Linder said.
The working group specifically recommends not taking beta-carotene supplements due to a possible increased risk of lung cancer, and recommends not taking vitamin E supplements because it has no net benefit in reducing mortality, cardiovascular disease, or cancer. .
“The bad thing is that talking to patients about supplements for the very limited time we have to see them, we miss advice on how to really reduce cardiovascular risks, such as through exercise or quitting smoking,” he said. Linder.
$ 50 billion
People in the U.S. in 2021 spent about $ 50 billion on vitamins and dietary supplements.
More than half of Americans take vitamins. Because?
More than half of American adults take dietary supplements, and the use of supplements is expected to increase, wrote Linder and colleagues at JAMA.
Eating fruits and vegetables is associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, they said, so it is reasonable to think that key vitamins and minerals could be extracted from fruits and vegetables, packaged in a pill. and save people the hassle and expense of maintaining a balanced diet. But, they say, whole fruits and vegetables contain a mixture of vitamins, phytochemicals, fiber, and other nutrients that are likely to act synergistically to provide health benefits. Isolated micronutrients can act differently in the body than when packaged naturally with a number of other dietary components.
Linder noted that people with vitamin deficiencies can still benefit from taking dietary supplements, such as calcium and vitamin D, which have been shown to prevent fractures and possibly falls in older adults.
The new guidelines do not apply to pregnant women
The new USPSTF guidelines do not apply to people who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, said JAMA co-author, Dr. Natalie Cameron, a general internal medicine instructor at Feinberg.
“Pregnant people should keep in mind that these guidelines do not apply to them,” said Cameron, who is also a physician at Northwestern Medicine. “Some vitamins, such as folic acid, are essential for pregnant women to support healthy fetal development. The most common way to meet these needs is to take a prenatal vitamin. More data is needed to understand how vitamin supplementation is. may alter the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes and cardiovascular complications during pregnancy. “
In addition, recent Northwestern research has found that most women in the U.S. have poor heart health before becoming pregnant. Cameron said that in addition to talking about vitamin supplements, working with patients to optimize cardiovascular health before pregnancy is an important component of prenatal care.
Eating healthy, exercising is “easier said than done”
Dr. Jenny Jia, co-author of the JAMA publishing house that studies chronic disease prevention in low-income families through lifestyle interventions, said healthy eating can be a challenge when the North American industrialized food system American does not prioritize health.
“To have a healthy diet and get more exercise is easier said than done, especially among lower-income Americans,” said Jia, a general internal medicine instructor at Feinberg and a physician at Feinberg. Northwestern Medicine. “Healthy food is expensive and people don’t always have the means to find exercise environments; it may be unsafe outdoors or they can’t afford a facility. So what can we do to try to do more? easy and help support healthier decisions? “
For the past few years, Jia has been working with charity food pantries and banks that provide free groceries to people in need to try to help customers choose healthier food pantry options, as well as educate donors to offer healthier options or money.
Reference: “Multivitamins and Supplements: Benign Prevention or Potentially Harmful Distraction?” by Jenny Jia, MD, MSc; Natalie A. Cameron, MD and Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, MPH, June 21, 2022, JAMA.DOI: 10.1001 / jama.2022.9167