Do multivitamin pills work?

10 August, 2012

A multivitamin pill is a dietary supplement, which includes vitamins, minerals and other nutritional elements which may or may not be included in your diet. They have become the daily need of millions of people, who take these pills with a hope that it will keep them away from health problems.

BUT NEW research says that these multivitamin pills do nothing to your health and are just a waste of money to take these pills on a daily basis. A study conducted for six years on 8000 people says that there was hardly any difference between the two groups who have taken and who have not taken the pills.

Catherine Collins, chief dietician at St George’s Hospital in London says that, “It’s the worried well who are taking these pills to try and protect themselves against Alzheimer’s disease, heart attacks and strokes. But they are wasting their money,” reported Daily Mail.

A couple of studies conducted on these multivitamin supplements states that these pills can increase the risk of cancer. One study suggests that the risk of cancer called malignant melanoma (known as the deadliest form of cancer) can increase by four folds by taking these multivitamin pills. Another study states that the multivitamin pills increase the risk of breast cancer by twenty percent.

Another study conducted by University College London stated that multivitamin pills boost the fertility rate by sixty percent. Dr. Rina Agrawal says that "The implications of this study are far reaching as they suggest that prenatal micronutrient supplementation in women undergoing ovulation induction improve pregnancy rates."

Vitamins are the most essential nutrients required by our body for its normal functioning. And it will be even more better if you get these nutrients through your food in the natural form. A diet that includes fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, bread, cereals and milk is a natural form of multivitamin supplement for one's body.