Do Multivitamins actually do anything?

I have created a handy chart to follow

Did your doctor recommend you take supplements?

If yes

Take those specific supplements

If no

You do not need to take supplements

If your diet lacks certain vitamins, a vitamin supplement may help. If not, it won't. Excess vitamins are eliminated by a healthy body.

If you are Australian all 'medications' have a code on them whether they have been scientifically proven to do what the label says. Aust R - right on they'll do what they say, Aust - L - loser no scientific proof. So yes some iron supplements work really well, others less so for example

Some random thoughts:

• For vegans it's adviced to take certain extra vitamins, for instance B12

• Also, when you are talking about health, i would not underestimate exercise, even a brisk daily walk. I don't know for sure, but i suspect this will have more impact on our health, than taking multivitamins.

• As someone else commented here, i think fibre is also very important. And drinking enough healthy fluids.

• As a personal aside; i did notice a difference when i started supplementing vitamin D. I was surprised to notice that my energy level seemed to go slightly up.

• Also, never mix iron (not a vitamin btw) with dairy or tea. And take it with some vitamin C

• Finally, be careful and don't randomly start to mix and match certain vitamins. For instance, magnesium and calcium have a certain balance, where too much of one will have a negative effect on the other.

My sister, who did her master's in nutrition or some related field, says multivitamins are a waste of money. She suggests getting bloodwork and seeing if you're deficient in anything. And if you're deficient, it's better to change your diet than buy multivitamins (if possible).

With that being said, I still take a multivitamin...

Depends. Many minerals in the multivitamin are not bioavailable and some block absorption of others. Since there are so many together you can't tell if it will have the desired effect and in which quantity.

There are some vitamins that definitely have a positive effect such as A, C, E, K and B12 but a 100% RDA of zinc with zincoxide does fuck all.

So it'll most likely have a positive effect. That being said the cliche is true: It's not a replacement for a healthy nutrient rich diet and balanced diet.

Eat:

• Whey protein (great amino acid profile)
• Fish oil (D and Omega3)

Limit:

• Sugar
• Alcohol
• Vegetable oil
• Processed food

A nutritionist friend of mine was big on diet but she wasn’t necessarily anti-vitamin pills. She said they can be an “insurance policy” against gross deficiencies in your diet that you’re not aware of or which happen because you’re not getting your diet right for whatever reason.

They’re not a substitute for eating right but they can be a good alternative to nutrient deficiencies.

I always take Vitamin D in November/ December because I don't get enough sunlight.

If I don't I get very tired and depressed.

I take a multivitamin every day, because my diet can sometimes be poor, and I don't get much sunlight. However you should understand that they're a 'bonus' and not a substitute for a good diet, I always have fruit & veg in the house and make sure I eat some everyday.

Personally I have always taken a multivitamin/mineral and my labs have been good except for occasional low iron because periods. Now that I'm old (and yeeted the uterus) my iron was fine until I had bad hemorrhoid bleeding. So I got that taken care of, and my ass doc prescribed daily Metamucil to keep it from recurring.

I like the OneaDay Petites because it's easier to swallow 2 of those (that's the dose, because petites) than one of the regular horse pills. Gummy vitamins do not have iron or other minerals, btw.

I don't think it's necessary to take any super-supplement, just enough to keep me at the RDA once I add in my food. If your diet is bad, fiber might be missing as well, so consider Metamucil for both your ass and your heart.

Yes, they do. They improve the profits of some companies.

It's generally not micronutrients like vitamins that are problematic for people with bad diets, it's macronutrients that cause problems, and those can't be fixed with supplements.

It's pretty unlikely you're going to notice much of anything from taking multivitamins, most likely you're going to be paying a bunch to be pissing it right back out, but if you can trivially afford it then just buy a small pack and see if taking it makes you feel better.

Do buy the cheapest most generic one though, no reason to pay extra for fancy packaging.

I find they take the edge off my food cravings. But if you have a balanced diet with no natural deficiencies then you're probably fine.

Basically, it could prevent vitamin deficiency. But in developed countries, vitamin deficiency is pretty rare, and many forms take years of constant deficiency to really show up.

Basically, it probably won't hurt. The research is very vague about it because we generally don't wait until someone actually gets a vitamin deficiency disease before correcting it. Nor can we deliberately starve someone of a vitamin for years and watch the effects. Any subtle effect is often masked by larger issues like genetics, diet, exercise, etc.

Ideally you'd want to get tested for deficiencies and/or plug your meals into something like MacroFactor or Chronometer for a few weeks to see if you're over/under in anything. Then just take those vitamins individually (OR, even better, adjust your diet).

I get taking a multi as an insurance policy, but there some vitamins or minerals that you can get in excess or that don't really help.

If you're wondering if they might help you live longer, the answer seems to be no:

https://ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S0002-9165(23)05424-2/fulltext

Conclusion: Multivitamin-multimineral treatment has no effect on mortality risk.

I've wondered the same.

I have a poor diet. There are times where I don't eat enough, and when I do eat it's often very... not varied.

I know people always say you don't need vitamins if you just eat better, or that you can just ask your doctor - but my answer to those are "I don't want to" and "I can't afford to", respectively.

Are vitamins a better-safe-than-sorry option if your diet is probably insufficiently varied to give you everything you need, and you have no strong desire to change that, but you have no way of actually figuring out what's low or not? Or even then are they probably a waste of money?

A multivitamin is not bad, but different vitamins need different other substances to be available for the body. Eg. some are soluble in water (like the B group) some, like vitamin D need fat to be solved in (and it's good to acompany it with vitamin K to make D work as intended). Be careful with vitamin A - people in developed countries usually have too much and it can cause serious problems. It's generally good to know what you're taking and why. But if you just need a quick fix, a multivitamin is usually ok.

The ones I take make my pee yellow. So it’s definitely doing something.

A previous doctor told me that a large longitudinal study showed no benefit from multivitamins. This was 10+ years ago so there may be more recent studies.

Recommend these two things

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/07/the-vitamin-myth-why-we-think-we-need-supplements/277947/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/supplements-and-safety/

I'm pretty sure multivitamins help me in one way - to help prevent me from catching colds and flus easily. I noticed this years ago when my kids were young. I would take one of the chewable kids vitamins daily through autumn and winter. Several winters I did not get sick. I've not done it since - every day, one kids vitamin. I switched to adult multis but I think they're an expensive overload and didn't seem to help. But chewable kids were too sugary for my teeth. Now they have the xylitol ones. I may try again this season.

For me, they do seem to have an effect. I sleep better, my nails become strong and generally I feel more enegized. The latter is of course very subjective.

If you eat a truly balanced diet you’ll have little reason to take a multivitamin. However, many people do not eat well. In those cases a multivitamin can help fill in the gaps. Arguably it would be better to improve your diet but something is better than nothing.

They can help when your body is under stress,illness, dieting, moderate exercise. otherwise the don't do much.

It's easy to find out if you take blood tests. You shouldn't be taking vitamins just for fun.

Depends on how significant the deficiency is. If it's pretty bad, you would probably be better off taking supplements of just that thing along with the daily multi. Or even changing your diet if it's really extreme or caused by how you eat (like a vitamin d deficiency from not eating greens, going outside or drinking milk).

Multivitamins are pretty much like the train to Hogwarts. They only work if you believe they work!

Our Pharmacology prof at med school always told us, as long as you live in the western hemisphere and don’t just eat pizza you only produce expensive urine with those vitamins. Ymmv though

They taste good, sometimes.

I take it when i have some symptoms of vitamin deficiency like if you're sitting in one place and get up and you feel some weird sensation in the legs or hands. Like hundreds of ants running inside the veins. Or when I forget to drink water and get dehydrated and the body loses vitamins. I usually don't take such meds.

One thing a doc told me is that your body can only absorb so much. Some people go so crazy on certain supplements that they end up blocking the body’s ability to absorb other essential nutrients.

If you want to supplement, a single multi each day isn’t going to be a massive game changer, unless you’re already missing something.

Do you live in the God Forsaken northern lands? If so, vitamins can be beneficial during your Hellish Winters that humans are not supposed to inhabit. Migrate to sunnier climes.

Currently I’m in the process of figuring out if I actually need extra vitamins. I’m using a food tracking app that also includes vitamins and minerals, not just fats and carbs like most apps do. It’s a lot of work, but I’m not planning to do this forever.

So far, I’ve found out that vitamin A and D might come in handy, but everything else seems fine.

My neurologist has me take L-methylfolate because of one of my meds. Besides that, all I take is fish oil and D3. Everything I've seen has said they're some of the only ones that actually do anything.

The water soluble ones like Vitamin C you just piss out. The fat soluble ones like A can build up and cause problems. NTM my grocery store generic oil and D together cost way less that the multivitamins.