Are Daily Multivitamins Really Helpful?
Your mom may have always recommended that you take a daily multivitamin, but
do you? And whether you do or don't, do you know why this may be helpful?
Conventional wisdom points to evidence that the average American diet is lacking
in several important vitamins and nutrients, so it makes sense that taking a
multivitamin might compensate for some of these deficiencies. In addition,
many women suffer from iron deficiency anemia as a result of heavy monthly menstrual
periods; vitamins containing iron are particularly helpful for them. Most daily
multivitamins now contain 400 micrograms of folic acid, the daily amount recommended
for any women who might become pregnant in order to prevent certain neurologic
birth defects.
A new finding about the value of daily multivitamins comes from a study published
this year in the Annals of Internal Medicine which concluded that taking
a daily multivitamin can reduce the incidence of infections. Researchers studied
130 adults for 1 year. Half were given multivitamins and half were given placebos.
All were asked to report any infectious symptoms-including cough, cold, flu,
bladder or stomach symptoms-and days lost from work. Remarkably, 73% of the
adults taking placebo reported infectious symptoms compared to only 43% of those
taking multivitamins. Absenteeism rates compared as favorably: 57% of those
not taking vitamins lost days from work compared to only 21% of those taking
supplements. Not surprisingly, the patients who benefited the most were those
with Type 2 diabetes: 93% of those taking placebos had infectious symptoms
versus only 17% of those who took vitamins. The researchers hypothesized that
diabetics may have more subclinical micronutrient deficiencies which may explain
their greater risk of infection compared with non-diabetic individuals.
Women should be aware, however, that the average multi-vitamin doesn't contain
everything you need from a supplement. For example, the average American woman
does not get an adequate calcium intake; a multivitamin may give you a small
amount of calcium, but nowhere near the 1,200 mg RDA for a premenopausal, non-nursing
woman.
Created: 10/22/2003 - Donnica Moore, M.D.
