A recent large study concluded:
After a median follow-up of 8.0 and 7.9 years in the clinical trial and observational study cohorts, respectively, the Women’s Health Initiative study provided convincing evidence that multivitamin use has little or no influence on the risk of common cancers, CVD, or total mortality in postmenopausal women.
I think this supports what I’ve been saying. In this blog I’ve emphasized two deficiencies in the American diet:
- Not enough omega-3
- Not enough fermented food
Neither is reduced by a multivitamin pill. As far as I can tell, when either one is fixed with something resembling an optimal dose, there are easy-to-notice benefits. Before I started making these points, there were plenty of reasons to think these are major deficiencies. For example, the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis suggested that we might need more omega-3 than we usually get. The Umami Hypothesis suggested we need a lot more fermented food than we usually eat. In contrast, I can’t think of a single reason to think that Americans suffer from major vitamin deficiencies. I take a multivitamin pill but I’d stop long before I’d give up flaxseed oil or fermented foods.
That is rather depressing for women. However, multivitamins may help us live longer. This study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, published in February, 2008, provides the first epidemiologic evidence that multivitamin use is associated with longer telomere length among women. A little comfort.
https://www.ajcn.org:80/cgi/content/abstract/ajcn.2008.26986v1
For comparison, criminals have more than a third less problems in jail if they are given vitamins. Some interesting things seem to be developing.
For further comparison dark skin people have greater Vitamin D3 deficiency living in northern climates, which might explain cancer and other difference between racial groups.
Once again, I need a translator.
What does this mean in layman’s terms?
“After a median follow-up of 8.0 and 7.9 years in the clinical trial and observational study cohorts,…”
Were the subjects of the study given a multivitamin to take for 8 years?
Tom, yes, they took a multivitamin for 8 years. Some were instructed to take the pill, others decided by themselves to take it.