The scoop on multivitamin mineral supplements

Recently a reader wanted to know my thoughts about multivitamins. He wondered: are there any benefits in taking a multivitamin daily or is it a complete waste of money? Have tests been done to know if the body actually absorbs these vitamins like we do from real food?


The answer to the basic question, are multivitamin mineral supplements good for our health, is complicated. We can safely say that multivitamin mineral supplements appear to have no serious adverse effects but, to date, there is not enough evidence to support their efficacy in preventing cancer and chronic diseases in adults. 


According to Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University and author of What to Eat, the science surrounding supplements is never straight-forward. Similar to other areas of nutrition research, it’s difficult to do. 


Nestle explains when researchers conduct observational studies and compare the overall health of people who take supplements to those who don’t, the ones who take supplements appear to do better. But when scientists perform clinical trials, a more rigorous study design, the results are quite different. Clinical trials rarely show much benefit from taking supplements. 

Like many nutrition researchers, Nestle believes the most probable explanation for the different results is that people who take supplements are healthier to begin with. If you take supplements you are most likely well-educated, physically active, a nonsmoker, a light to moderate drinker, and financially-secure. 


Nestle, who also wrote Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (University of California Press, 2002), calls it as she sees it: the supplement industry has a tendency to ignore or even attack inconvenient research results. Supplement trade associations and companies work hard to convince us that our diet is deficient in nutrients and want us to believe supplements are the answer to our health problems. 


Supplements are big business. Nutrition Business Journal, an executive publication focusing primarily on the nutrition industry, estimates Canadians spent $1.83 billion on vitamins and other supplements in 2006. 

Health Canada takes the position that we likely don’t need a multivitamin mineral supplement if we are eating a well-balanced diet according to Canada’s Food Guide. Unlike supplements, food contains carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fibre that give us energy and help control our blood sugar. While a multivitamin mineral supplement can provide an average of fifteen of the more than fifty essential nutrients our body needs, it won’t give us phytochemicals, the powerful disease-fighting compounds that occur naturally in fruits and vegetables.


But not all of us have stellar eating habits. For one reason or another, we don’t eat a wide variety of healthy foods or get enough food energy. A limited food budget, dieting, food allergies, multiple food dislikes, or strict vegetarianism can put us at increased risk of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. In these cases, a multivitamin mineral supplement, with rationale nutrient levels, would most likely be beneficial.


Those following restricted diets should consider seeing a registered dietitian who can assess their nutritional intake and provide guidance on improving eating habits and possible supplement use.
You don’t have to pay big bucks for a multivitamin mineral supplement . Expensive brand name products are no better than generic store brands. To answer the reader’s second question: your body doesn’t know the difference between a nutrient from food and a nutrient from a supplement (no matter how much it costs). 


Always look on the supplement label for the eight digit product licence number preceded by the letters NPH or DIN-HM, which stand for Natural Product Number or Homeopathic Medicine Number, respectively. This is proof the supplement was reviewed and approved by Health Canada in terms of safety, effectiveness, and quality.