{"id":905,"date":"2013-12-18T21:40:39","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T05:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/?p=905"},"modified":"2016-05-17T10:46:50","modified_gmt":"2016-05-17T17:46:50","slug":"multivitamins-miracles-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2013\/12\/18\/multivitamins-miracles-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Multivitamins are not miracles… but they are important."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Multivitamins\"<\/p>\n

Should you stop taking multivitamin supplements as they have no apparent health benefit and may potentially be harmful?<\/p>\n

The Linus Pauling Institutes that reading headlines may bring you to the wrong conclusions as they\u00a0ignore the totality of the evidence from decades of nutrition research.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vitamins and minerals are needed by the body to maintain normal cell function, metabolism, and growth. If we don\u2019t get enough of these essential nutrients, normal functioning of the body is impaired and health declines. Current evidence from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)<\/a> shows that the large majority of the US population falls short <\/i>of getting the recommended levels of many vitamins and minerals from their diet. For example, more than 90% of US adults do not meet the recommendations for vitamins D and E; 50-60% do not meet the recommendations for vitamin A, calcium, and magnesium; and more than 40% do not consume enough vitamin C.<\/p>\n

To be clear, these recommended levels of vitamins and minerals are the minimum amounts that nutrition research has found necessary to maintain good health<\/i>. But there is some good news: there is \u00a0support that people consuming a daily multivitamin containing the recommended amounts of most vitamins and minerals can fill these nutritional gaps safely, conveniently and at very low cost \u2013 less than a nickel a day.<\/p>\n

\"Heart<\/p>\n

In addition to supporting normal body function, vitamins and minerals also may<\/i> play a role in chronic disease prevention. For example, the largest and longest clinical trial of multivitamins conducted to date, the Physicians\u2019 Health Study II (PHS II)<\/a>, found a significant reduction in total cancer incidence in male physicians 50 years and older, excluding prostate cancer. Although the declines were not large, if every adult in the US took an multivitamin it could possibly prevent up to 130,000 cases of cancer each year.<\/p>\n

The PHS II also found a significant reduction in the incidence of cataracts<\/a>. These findings of PHS II are consistent with those of several other clinical trials and are even more impressive given the fact that conventional clinical trial designs are biased against<\/i> showing health benefits of essential nutrients.<\/p>\n

Therefore, taking a daily multivitamin\/mineral supplement will not only help fill the known nutritional gaps in the average American diet, thereby assuring normal biological function and metabolism and supporting\u00a0 good health, but may also have the added benefit of reducing cancer and cataract risk (a bonus!) \u2013 which no existing pharmaceutical drug can do!\u00a0 To say the ‘case is closed’ and label multivitamin supplements as useless, harmful, or wasteful is non-scientific and does not serve public health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Should you stop taking multivitamin supplements as they have no apparent health benefit and may potentially be harmful? The Linus Pauling Institutes that reading headlines may bring you to the wrong conclusions as they\u00a0ignore the totality of the evidence from decades of nutrition research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5337,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[582791],"tags":[160036,165491],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lpi-take","tag-multivitamins","tag-vitamins"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1053,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2014\/07\/03\/following-evidence-multivitamins-revisited\/","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":0},"title":"Following the Evidence: Multivitamins Revisited","author":"Alexander Michels, PhD","date":"July 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Are\u00a0multivitamin supplements useless? Does\u00a0the science all point to these pills\u00a0being\u00a0a complete waste of money and time? This is simply not true, and you should know why. In a letter in Annals of Internal Medicine, nutrition experts from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, the Children\u2019s Hospital Oakland Research\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LPI Take"","block_context":{"text":"LPI Take","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/lpi-take\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"multivitamin supplements","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2014\/06\/Multivitamin.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":955,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2014\/03\/04\/taking-multivitamins-still-good-idea\/","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":1},"title":"Taking multivitamins – still a good idea.","author":"Alexander Michels, PhD","date":"March 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A recent\u00a0report from the US Preventive Services Task Force in the Annals of Internal Medicine focused on the use of vitamin, mineral, or multivitamin supplements.\u00a0Their conclusions are that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the benefits and harms of these\u00a0supplements with respect to prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Expert"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Expert","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/ask-the-expert\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Multivitamins","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2014\/03\/Multivitamins2.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1545,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2016\/03\/31\/nutrition-facts-label\/","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":2},"title":"Why the Nutrition Facts Label Can Lead You Astray","author":"Alexander Michels, PhD","date":"March 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On the back of every cereal box, frozen dinner, condiment bottle, and any other packaged food, you will find the Nutrition Facts label. Introduced by the Food and Drug Administration over 25 years ago, the purpose of this labeling system is to help consumers make more informed food choices. Thus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Healthy Living Tips"","block_context":{"text":"Healthy Living Tips","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/healthy-living-tips\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"FDA Nutrition Facts Label 2006","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2016\/03\/FDA_Nutrition_Facts_Label_2006-522x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":647,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2014\/01\/14\/keep-taking-your-vitamins\/","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":3},"title":"Keep Taking Your Vitamins","author":"freib","date":"January 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"An article by Paul Offit titled \u201cThe Vitamin Myth: Why We Think We Need Supplements\u201d\u00a0has been part of the media blitz surrounding so-called negative claims of vitamin and mineral supplements. The Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University has a different point of view - one that is based on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "LPI Take"","block_context":{"text":"LPI Take","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/lpi-take\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"multivitamins","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2014\/01\/multivitamins-300x140.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1782,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2016\/06\/10\/linus-pauling-institute-director-reflects-nutrition-diet-optimum-health\/","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":4},"title":"Linus Pauling Institute Director Steps Down, Reflects on the Evolving Field of Diet and Optimum Health","author":"Anne Glausser","date":"June 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Nutrition has always been considered a \u201csoft science\u201d\u2014a field rife with studies showing associations but no firm causation.","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Expert"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Expert","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/ask-the-expert\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vegetables","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2016\/06\/vegetables-498842_1280-800x600.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2016\/06\/vegetables-498842_1280-800x600.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2016\/06\/vegetables-498842_1280-800x600.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2016\/06\/vegetables-498842_1280-800x600.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1358,"url":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/2016\/02\/26\/diet-for-a-healthy-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":5},"title":"Diet for a Healthy Heart","author":"Giana Angelo","date":"February 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"You\u2019ve probably heard it before, but it\u2019s worth repeating: Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women Diet and lifestyle choices can have a dramatic effect on the development of heart disease and other conditions affecting the cardiovascular system It\u2019s never too late to start\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask the Expert"","block_context":{"text":"Ask the Expert","link":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/category\/ask-the-expert\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Healthy Heart of Fruits and Vegetables","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/files\/2016\/02\/DOH-Heart-300x266.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5337"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1703,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions\/1703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.blogs.oregonstate.edu\/linuspaulinginstitute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}