Vitamin pills may increase risk of death, warns report
Amy Baker, nutritionist for the National Dairy Council, was speaking after major analysis found that taking vitamins A, E and C, and beta carotene and selenium, does not lead to a longer life.
Ms Baker said eating vitamin-enriched food was probably the best approach to healthy eating.
“A lot of foods contain a number of different nutrients. For example, you may drink milk for its calcium content, but it is also high in protein. You may eat oranges for their vitamin C content, but they also contain other antioxidants.”
Research published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association found there was no long-life benefit from taking vitamins A, E and C, beta carotene and selenium supplements.
For the new report, led by the Cochrane Hepato-Biliary Group at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark, researchers analysed 68 studies involving 232,606 people and found no significant effect on mortality — good or bad — linked to taking antioxidants.
When they eliminated the lower-quality studies, they found a higher risk of death for people taking vitamins: 4% for those taking vitamin E, 7% for beta carotene, and 16% for vitamin A.
However, the actual cause of death was unknown in most studies.
The study’s senior author, Dr Christian Gluud, said: “The main message is that prevention by beta carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E cannot be recommended. These three antioxidant supplements may increase mortality.”
Antioxidant supplements have been tested in many clinical trials with no consistent clear evidence of their health effects, Dr Gluud said. He added: “We have had this huge industry really wanting to demonstrate an intervention effect that has gone to lengths to do so.
Sadly enough for the industry, and for us as consumers, it has failed to do so.”
Ms Baker said some people with health problems may need to take vitamin supplements to counteract a deficiency.
“However, you also get people who self-diagnose nutritional deficiencies taking huge amounts of unnecessary supplements. All this is doing is creating expensive urine,” Ms Baker said.
Ms Baker said it was not advisable to take large quantities of any vitamin, particularly fat-soluble vitamins that are stored in the body.
“There is a danger of taking more than your body can cope with. If the recommendation is to take the vitamin supplement once a day, there is a reason — it is because it is the safe level.”
She said taking too much vitamin A could have a number of side-effects, including breast defects, liver abnormalities, problems with the central nervous system, and reduced bone mineral density.
