Do Multivitamins actually do anything?

Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨D3struction@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

I’ve gone back and forth on taking a multivitamin since I know my diet isn’t all that great. Ideally I should be working to improve that diet but let’s say due to certain circumstances that’s a bit difficult at the moment.

Would it be worth taking a 1 a day multivitamin to at least correct some possible deficiency or is it very unlikely that it would have any effect?

Not asking for professional medical advice or anything, mostly looking to see if anyone else is taking a multivitamin and if so why?

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kodafrmdaOC@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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

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- jeffw@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  To add to this, you really need a blood test to show what you need.
  
  Also, some vitamins are water soluble, others need to be taken with food. Your doc should know though
  
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  - pastermil@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    
    I did need some D though, since apparently hiding inside for 3 years during a pandemic can impact your body… who would’ve guessed??
    
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  - Hyperreality@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Vitamin D deficiency is incredibly common. I think it's something like 1/3 or 1/4 depending on the season or where you live.
    
    Of course, if you're a member of the red haired master race, your body produces it for you so it's less likely.
    
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  - Son_of_dad@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    I’m a vegetarian, have gained weight but not to the point that it would explain why I feel like ass all the time recently. I should get blood work, I was thinking I had low testosterone or something but it could be anything really
    
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- oldGregg@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  And if I don’t own a doctor?
  
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Peruvian_Skies@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
If your diet lacks certain vitamins, a vitamin supplement may help. If not, it won't. Excess vitamins are eliminated by a healthy body.

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- Loulou@lemmy.mindoki.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Some vitamines can be had too much too, so “overdosing” is a real possibility. A and D for example.
  
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  - olafurp@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    It’s pretty hard to overdose on D though, you have to drink fish oil or supplement heavily.
    
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  - Zeko9381@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Also taking too much vitamin C can lead to kidney stones.
    
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  - lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Iron although you won’t overdose on that from a men’s multivitamin since it shouldn’t contain any and a women’s vitamin has like 18 mg or something. But if a child gets ahold of a bottle of iron they can do serious damage or die.
    
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wildwhitehorses@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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

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- Semb@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Legendary info, cheers cobra
  
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  - ryannathans@lemmy.fmhy.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Cobber
    
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- number6@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  How about “U” – “Unstudied” If there’s no money to study a supplement, it doesn’t get studied. Or maybe “unmonied”, because the particular studies the governments want cost $$$.
  
  Most doctors today will tell you NOT to take iron, especially if you are a man. Apparently iron has been associated with various health concerns.
  
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Papanca@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.
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- time_lord@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  
  Also, never mix iron (not a vitamin btw) with dairy or tea. And take it with some vitamin C
  
  Aside from it not being kosher (milk and meat) what’s wrong with mixing the two?
  
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  - Thebazilly@ttrpg.network ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Calcium and iron inhibit each others’ uptake. You won’t get the full dose of them if you take them together.
    
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  - Papanca@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Dairy and tea (though i don’t know if herbal teas count) inhibit iron absorption, so it has nothing to do with human values, so to speak :-) If you want to increase absorption, combine it with vitamin C.
    
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  - Toadvark@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Unsure if this is OP’s angle, but I have pretty chronically bad anemia/ferritin levels. In my layman’s research, I found that both dairy (calcium) and tea (oxalates) inhibit the body’s ability to absorb iron when consumed alongside one-another. My list also included peas, coffee, eggs, and just about every other damn thing I like to eat, so that was a fun discovery. 😅 Link to kickstart research for anyone curious.
    
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- olafurp@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Small caveat on the iron. The body doesn’t have an efficient mechanism of getting rid of iron so that one is easy to over supplement.
  
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  - thenightisdark@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    At least for men. I’m very certain this is one of the cases where science is done upon men. Men don’t have good mechanism of getting rid of iron, but women do. 👍
    
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  - Papanca@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Yes, and so do for instance vitamin A, D, E, and K because those can heap up in fatty tissues. Also, always check your personal circumstances. Dealing with periods for instance can sometimes (not always) make one anemic, so then you might need some supplementation.
    
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jet@hackertalks.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
It couldn’t hurt. But most medical professionals I know don’t recommend it.

If you want to get a multivitamin that’s more bioavailable, consider eating an egg a day, or liver. These are some of the most available multivitamin sources in nature

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- ObviouslyNotBanana@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  One liver a day, got it!
  
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  - PunnyName@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Make sure it’s a polar bear liver (don’t do this).
    
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  - Son_of_dad@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    With some fava beans and a nice bottle of Chianti
    
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- regalia@literature.cafe ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  yeah but I know my diet is shit and I’m definitely not going to eat those things daily, so I think a multivitamin helps me at that point lol
  
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  - JJROKCZ@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    You definitely can’t eat a single egg daily? It takes 5 minutes maybe to cook and eat a single egg, unless you have an allergy to eggs it’s pretty hard to say you can’t do it
    
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YashaB@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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- SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Just don’t take a lot or you can royally fuck up your blood calcium levels.
  
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  - PutangInaMo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    You’re supposed to take vitamin D and K together for this reason. They make combo pills.
    
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olafurp@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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
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- barrage4u@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Agree with everything except the vegestable oil, it’s high in good fats
  
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  - astral_avocado@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    There’s new studies that disagree, they are easily oxidized fats and there’s evidence that they heavily contribute to heart disease. Saturated fats from animal sources seems to be the way to go.
    
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poopsmith@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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…

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- Tikiporch@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Vitamin D super dose works really well, as food high in vitamin D is already a big part of most people’s diets (fish, milk, cheese, eggs, beef livers).
  
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- HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  They say you just piss away what you don’t need but I’m lazy. I’m pretty sure my gut doesn’t even get around to absorbing it. Stupid gut.
  
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- QuarterSwede@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Just watch your mood when you do this. My work up said that I’m deficient in Vitamin D. I added that as a supplement and it made me moody as crap (I’m male and this is not normal for me). Just decided to stop and continue exercise, which was making me feel better anyway.
  
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scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
A nutritionist friend of mine was big on diet but she wasn’t necessarily anti-vitamin pills. She said that 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.

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- PutangInaMo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  That’s how I view them. It’s a supplement, to ya know, supplement your diet in case you missed any vital nutrients.
  
  You just pee out the excess anyways just don’t go overboard. Looking at you B vitamins…
  
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Transcendant@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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- adespoton@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Fibre is important. You can get many high fibre foods these days, but they aren’t necessarily what you’d think is high in dietary fibre. Pears are awesome.
  
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- number6@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I think multi-vitamins are more important as you get older. Your body simply doesn’t absorb as much of the vitamins in food as it does when you’re younger. So all that advice “Just eat a healthy diet” isn’t quite as true.
  
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Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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Treczoks@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Yes, they do. They improve the profits of some companies.

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cabbagee@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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- scarabic@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Yeah I find that a couple of things about my mood, metabolism, and energy level are slightly better on a week when I am taking my vitamins than on a week where I didn’t. It could all be about one specific nutrient that my diet is poor at delivering to me, but I am not aware of because I’m lazy, not very educated and focused on other things. As long as they don’t harm me, I’m content to piss 99% of them out as long as the other 1% is valuable. Anyway all my urine goes into my compost pile so it’s just micronutrients for my garden.
  
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weew@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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- Thavron@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  
  But in developed countries, vitamin deficiency is pretty rare, and many forms take years of constant deficiency to really show up.
  
  Depends. Some people (myself included) simply don’t absorb vitamin D as easily as others. I had my vit D tested and it was so low that they couldn’t accurately give a result. Had to take a supplement once a week for 8 weeks which contained about 300 times the amount which is in a normal daily supplement, which I now take daily.
  
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  - jballs@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Posted this above, but reposting here since it’s relevant to your comment:
    
    Vitamin D deficiency was also shown to be a co-morbidity with COVID. So to answer the question “do multivitamins do anything?” I’d say they could potentially have saved your life and you might not have noticed.
    
    Before COVID, my wife nagged me into establishing a primary care physician since I hadn’t gone in a while. So I did, they did a blood test, and showed that I was vitamin D deficient. I took some prescription vitamin D for like a week then my doctor told me to start taking a multivitamin. When they later announced it being a co-morbidity, I felt like I dodged a bullet.
    
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TheGiantKorean@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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 today 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:

ajcn.nutrition.org/article/…/fulltext

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

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guyrocket@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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- number6@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Studies done on people under 45, almost certainly.
  
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InternetTubes@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Not usually, but if you think you might be vitamin deficient because of disease or eating habits, then they can actually be useful. Reminds me of this video, for whom they would certainly have been useful: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VINtwoyaF_8

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- Vub@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  TL;DW: Eat crap, get sick.
  
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zkfcfbzr@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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?

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ultratiem@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
The ones I take make my pee yellow. So it’s definitely doing something.

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- guyrocket@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Those are excess vitamins that your body is eliminating.
  
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  - downpunxx@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    so, it is doing something
    
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  - ultratiem@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Or the food colouring they put in the pills to make it look like it’s doing something
    
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- SmashingSquid@notyour.rodeo ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  For me it’s green.
  
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angrystego@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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- i_am_somebody@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I think this is the best take. OP, multivitamins do work. Of course you need to fix your diet, of course it’s better to ingest the vitamin with the food so it can be absorbed better. Of course you should talk to a doctor. But if you have a deficiency of an important vitamin such as C or D, you will notice the difference.
  
  Regarding overdoses, it is almost impossible to hurt yourself by taking a typical OTC multivitamin pill.
  
  Consider some specific foods which give you a boost of the vitamin, such as canned tuna for Omega-3, Brazil nuts for selenium, etc.
  
  But, at the end of the day, the general recommendation is that multivitamins are safe and pretty decent. I wouldn’t recommend any drug to a random person on the internet but multivitamins are fine.
  
  Source: my wife is a nutritionist and we do talk about this a lot. I have a great diet but do take vitamins regularly as a complement or when I’m sick.
  
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SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I look at them the way Voltaire looked at going to church. To paraphrase, “If heaven exists then by going to church every Sunday I’ve saved my soul, if it doesn’t then I’ve only lost a few hours every Sunday.” Multivitamins are cheap enough that I can take them on a “just in case” condition.

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- zeekaran@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  This is not a good way to deal with anything.
  
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  - AA5B@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Think of them like a seatbelt then. I have no intentions of benefitting from a seatbelt and over several decades of driving, I haven’t had any use for one. I’m still going to wear it “just in case”
    
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  - SCB@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    This is simple (opportunity) cost/benefit analysis and is an excellent way of dealing with most things.
    
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Absolutemehperson@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Multivitamins are pretty much like the train to Hogwarts. They only work if you believe they work!

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mint_tamas@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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- AA5B@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Yeah I knew someone who was a real wtf in so many ways …. They gave up on multi-vitamins because their nails grew faster. Wtf, one of the few people with proof of a deficiency being helped by a multivitamin and they give up? Because inconvenient to be healthier?
  
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- Buddahriffic@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  If you’re deficient and the form of the vitamin/mineral is something your body can absorb, supplements can be helpful. If you aren’t deficient, some supplements have little effect (water soluble ones just get peed out, though can cause wear and tear on your kidneys and/or liver in the meantime), while others can cause overloads which can be as bad as or worse than deficiencies.
  
  Personally, I try to meet my micronutritional needs with foods but I occasionally take supplements to “top up”, either a multivitamin if there’s no specific signs of deficiency, or specific supplements if there’s signs I might be low in that one (each has a set of symptoms that are associated with deficiency).
  
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  - mint_tamas@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Yeah I respect that and I’m not suggesting anyone to take supplement - it works for my lifestyle, but it might not work for others. For me it’s easier to take a pill than eat all the foods I should.
    
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Orionza@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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phoneymouse@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/…/277947/

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- ForgetReddit@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  For those of us without an account with the atlantic, what’s the deal?
  
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atempuser23@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
They can help when your body is under stress,illness, dieting, moderate exercise. otherwise the don’t do much.

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sosodev@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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Juviz@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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

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Chickenstalker@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
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.

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- metallic_z3r0@infosec.pub ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I prefer defying whatever gods exist by living in darkness and cold. Sunlight causes skin damage, I’d prefer getting by with vitamin D supplements.
  
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