New Research Against Multivitamins

Did you take your multivitamin today?  This is something that, at least in my house, has been drilled into my brain ever since I was taking Flintstones vitamins in elementary school.  At age 23, I just got into the groove of actually remembering to take it each day, and I've noticed that for the past year, I didn't get sick (other than a cold) and my hair and nails were growing faster and stronger.  However, new research suggests that women who take multivitamins won't live as long as those who don't.

The study was published in The Archives of Internal Medicine, and was covered by Nicholas Bakalar in the New York Times:

"Scientists followed 38,772 women, whose average age was 62 at the start of the study, over a period of 19 years, during which 15,594 of them died. Those using multivitamins or supplements of folic acid, iron, magnesium or zinc were more likely than women who did not to have died during that period, the researchers found.

Some supplements, like iron, were associated with a substantial increase in the risk of death, while others — vitamin A and vitamin D, for example — had no effect. Multivitamin use was linked to a 2.4 percent increase in the absolute risk of death, but calcium supplements appeared to decrease the risk."

The article also mentions that other studies have not produced such dramatic results, but it certainly makes you wonder if multivitamins are really necessary if you are eating a well-balanced diet.  After all, any claims made by vitamins or supplements are not approved by the FDA, so who should we believe?