Gummy multivitamins have become a way to entice adults to take their daily dose of everything they need. 100 percent of your daily iron Y sweets for breakfast? win-win But according to new research, these multivitamins may not be doing you any good.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released its 2022 systematic review Y recommendation last week regarding multivitamins, specifically, the effectiveness of multivitamins in preventing cancer and heart disease in healthy Americans. In its update to its last statement on the subject in 2014, the task force says there is insufficient evidence for definitive benefits of a multivitamin, as well as evidence that supplementation with certain compounds is even harmful.
jenny jiadoctor at Northwestern Medical, tells Reverse that this information will change the way preventive care is practiced. “Now that we see that vitamin supplements are sadly not a silver bullet for preventing heart disease or cancer in healthy Americans, what should we focus on as providers?” Jia was not in the task force, but co-author of an editorial In the diary JAMA on the updated recommendation that was published the same day.
LONGEVITY TRICKS it’s a regular series of Reverse about science-backed strategies to live better, healthier, and longer without drugs. Get more in our hack index.
Science in action — The USPSTF carefully analyzed 84 recent studies on multivitamins. Together, this work included a total of 739,803 healthy American participants, meaning they had no vitamin deficiencies or other pre-existing conditions. The task force then looked for incidences of heart disease and cancer in this population.
His conclusion? “Vitamin and mineral supplementation was associated with little or no benefit in preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, and death.” And, the compound beta-carotene was “significantly associated” with an increased risk of lung cancer and cardiovascular death, especially in smokers.
It can be puzzling that something like beta carotene, which is found naturally in vegetables like carrots and is converted by the body into vitamin A, could be harmful. It turns out that bottling the healthiest parts of a vegetable is difficult.
“We thought maybe we had isolated the healthiest parts of fruits and vegetables in these pills,” Jia says of supplement development. However, he says, “it’s hard to separate one vitamin from the rest of the package, the other phytochemicals, the fiber,” she says, referring to the nutritious plant chemicals that produce provides us.
In fact, it could be that fruits and vegetables have a synergistic impact; it’s not a vitamin or mineral working alone, but everything that comes with that bite. In other words, we can isolate the main vitamin or mineral from carrots, but we lose much more than just ingredients when it is separated from the vegetable.
However, studying this synergy would require a lot of time and money. jia says Reverse that even choosing a starting point is a challenge as there are so many combinations to try. Individual vitamins and minerals are easier to study because there is one active compound.
Why is it a trick? Taking supplements is not only about physical health, but also about money. According to Jia’s editorial, American buyers may have spent almost $50 billion on supplements in 2021. That same year, the vitamin industry spent about $900 million on marketing. And since the supplements does not require approval by the Food and Drug Administration for marketing and sales, they do not receive the same scrutiny as drugs and, therefore, reach the market more quickly. In fact, while supplement makers must prove that their products are safe and that labels are not misleading, as long as the capsule does not contain any new ingredients, the company does not have to show the FDA any evidence of safety prior to release. sale.
There are two key things to remember about this news and new recommendations:
- It looks at how supplements prevent cancer and heart disease only.
- Test supplements only in healthy people (i.e., people who are not pregnant and do not have vitamin deficiencies)
“For pregnant Americans, it’s still very important to take your prenatal multivitamin,” advises Jia. Folic acid, also known as vitamin B9, is crucial for healthy fetal development. She goes on to say that those with nutrient and vitamin deficiencies should of course continue to take their supplements. She points out that, for example, vitamin B12 comes primarily from animal protein, so people who don’t eat meat are more likely to be deficient and might benefit from a supplement.
How it affects longevity: For healthy people, it is better to get vitamins and minerals from food than from the pharmacy. The synergistic effect of fruits and vegetables will likely do more for the body than supplements.
Instead of supplements, Jia returns to the tried and true advice that everyone has heard before. “Adopt healthy diets, exercise regularly, maintain a healthy weight, don’t smoke,” she says. She acknowledges that this is easier said than done, especially since nutritious food and the time and space to exercise are not within everyone’s reach. “It’s important to think about how we can better align our public policies and programs with promoting the long-term health of all Americans,” she says. Reverse.
A 2012 role looking at the impact of regular exercise on lifespan found that daily movement could increase longevity by up to seven years. And depending on when a consistent and healthy diet is adopted, practice could add a decade to life expectancy.
Hack score: 🤸🏿♂️🤾⛹🏽🍏🥦🥕/10 (6 out of 10 healthy eating and exercise habits instead of supplements)
