A daily multivitamin is cheap insurance against gaps nobody has shown you have. Recent large trials found a modest memory benefit in older adults and a small cancer reduction in male doctors, alongside null results for hearts and lifespans. Weak grade, low stakes: the honest summary is low risk, low expected payoff.
The COSMOS-Mind trial reported multivitamin use slowed cognitive decline modestly over three years in older adults, a finding needing replication before it changes practice. Physicians' Health Study II found a small reduction in total cancer incidence among male physicians, offset by no mortality difference and hints of harm elsewhere in related trials of isolated vitamins. Decades of outcome trials show no all-cause mortality benefit in people who eat adequately.
Doing it: If you take one, a basic formula at labelled dose is fine and cheap; megadose combinations are where harms concentrate. Food first remains the better deal: the trials keep failing to beat a varied diet.
Who it suits: People with restricted diets, poor appetite, or after weight-loss surgery have real gaps worth covering under guidance. Everyone else can skip it guilt-free.
Sources
- Baker LD, et al. Effects of cocoa extract and a multivitamin on cognitive function: A randomized clinical trial (COSMOS-Mind). Alzheimers Dement. 2023;19:1308–1319.
- Gaziano JM, et al. Multivitamins in the prevention of cancer in men: the Physicians' Health Study II randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2012;308:1871–1880.
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