They promise health benefits by boosting the immune system to strengthen bones.
But multivitamins don’t help you live longer, a major study has found.
Taking supplements regularly has been found to have no effect on whether people live longer, according to research involving nearly 400,000 healthy adults.
In fact, daily multivitamin use was associated with a 4 percent higher risk of mortality, the analysis found.
The vitamin industry is estimated to be worth billions in the UK and US, which people take in the hope of improving their health.
The vitamin industry is estimated to be worth billions in the UK and US, which people take in the hope of improving their health.
But the possible benefits and harms of supplementing the diet with additional vitamins and minerals remain unclear, often hampered by the size of the studies and short follow-up times.
Led by researchers at the US National Cancer Institute, researchers followed participants with an average age of 61, who had no history of cancer or other chronic diseases, for more than 20 years.
They examined their multivitamin use between 1993 and 2001 and again between 1998 and 2004 with a follow-up period of up to 27 years.
During this time, some 164,762 people died, of which 49,836 deaths were attributed to cancer, 35,060 to heart disease, and 9,275 to cerebrovascular disease.
The researchers evaluated other factors such as education level, whether they were ever smokers, body mass index, marital status, and alcohol and coffee consumption.
They also looked for a family history of cancer and factored that into the findings, according to the research published in JAMA.
Those who used multivitamins were also more likely to use single supplements and had a lower BMI and a better quality diet.
But no longevity benefits were found in those who took vitamins daily; On the contrary, they were associated with a 4 percent higher risk of death.
It concludes: ‘The analysis showed that people who took multivitamins daily did not have a lower risk of death from any cause than people who did not take multivitamins.
“There were also no differences in mortality from cancer, heart disease or cerebrovascular disease.”
But the results don’t necessarily mean that taking vitamins is a waste of time.
Research published earlier this year by Harvard University found that they can help slow the cognitive decline that occurs with age.
Other research has suggested that they may help people feel healthier, although this could be the placebo effect.
