Are multivitamins worth the money?

I just saw a headline along the lines of “Vitamins and supplements are a waste of money…”

If you haven’t seen this yet, you will. So let’s get the facts on the table.  

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has just updated their recommendations related to multivitamins. 

We’ll get to the details, but first—who is the USPSTF?

The USPSTF is a volunteer panel of national experts in preventive medicine. They publish evidence-based recommendations on topics like medical screenings, counseling, and preventive medications to guide clinical care. 

Based on a review of 84 studies (including 52 new studies since their last recommendation on this topic in 2014), here are some key points from the latest USPSTF report:

➡️ Current evidence is INSUFFICIENT to assess the balance between risks and benefits of taking multivitamins for the prevention of heart disease or cancer. 

➡️ The panel recommends AGAINST taking beta-carotene for the prevention of heart disease or cancer.

➡️ The panel recommends AGAINST taking vitamin E for the prevention of heart disease or cancer.

➡️ These recommendations do NOT APPLY TO PREGNANCY OR PRECONCEPTION, when there is evidence of benefit from taking some vitamins.

Does this mean that everybody who is otherwise healthy and not pregnant should stop taking a multivitamin? 

It’s probably more nuanced than that. Here are some important things to remember about vitamins and supplementation:

✅ The latest USPSTF recommendations focus specifically on the prevention of heart disease and cancer—not other concerns like bone or brain health. 

✅ Studying the risks and benefits of vitamin supplements is extremely challenging because of the different products used, short follow-up times, and imprecise data. 

✅ Multivitamins are not the only way to use supplementation. A functional medicine approach chooses targeted supplements to address specific patterns in the body. 

✅ Supplements are not regulated by the FDA. There are no guaranteed quality controls. Quality counts and can dramatically influence how effective a supplement is. 

✅ Whenever realistic and possible, it is always best to get your nutrition from food!!!!

What’s the bottom line here?

The evidence is not sufficient to recommend multivitamins for the prevention of heart disease or cancer, but let’s not throw all the vitamins in the trash because of that.  

If you work with us as a patient, we will carefully choose supplements to support your body in healing and achieving optimal health. And when you feel better? 

That’s when you know you’re on the right track. 

#nutritionresearch #preventivemedicine #multivitamins #supplementation