Healthy Diet Can't Be Replaced by Vitamins, Supplements

Nutrients consumed via supplements do not improve health and longevity as effectively as those consumed through foods. While getting the right nutrients in the right quantities from food was associated with a longer life, the same wasn’t true for nutrients from supplements, says study co-author Fang Fang Zhang, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

Healthy diet can't be replaced by vitamins, supplements. Photo: Peggy Greb/USDA/ARS

“For the general population, there’s no need to take dietary supplements,” Zhang says. “More and more evidence suggests no benefits, so we should go with what the dietary recommendations suggest to achieve adequate nutrition from food, rather than relying on supplements.”

When Zhang and her colleagues first started examining the data, it looked as though dietary supplements were associated with a lower risk of early death.

But after they adjusted for factors like education, socioeconomic status and demographics, it became apparent that mostly higher-income, better-educated people — who are more likely to be in good health to begin with — were taking supplements. After that adjustment, the connection between supplements and longevity disappeared.

Getting enough vitamin A, vitamin K, magnesium, zinc and copper were all associated with a lower risk of dying early, the researchers found — but only when those nutrients came from food.

In fact, some supplements even appeared to come with health risks. People who took high doses of calcium via supplement had a 53% higher risk of dying from cancer than people who were not taking supplements, the study says.

But excess calcium from food was not associated with a similar uptick in mortality risk, which suggests that the body may not be able to clear excess supplemental calcium as well as it can natural calcium.

The connection between excess calcium and cancer still isn’t totally clear and will require more research.

People who took vitamin D supplements but were not deficient in vitamin D also had a higher risk of dying during the study period, the researchers found, but the supplements did not seem to boost death risk for those who were lacking in vitamin D. Some studies have shown that vitamin D supplements may reduce risk of death and disease, while some have not.

The new study, however, says there’s not much evidence that supplements of any sort can prolong your life, despite their widespread use.

Zhang says a few populations may benefit from certain supplements, including the elderly — who often struggle to absorb nutrients from food — and those with dietary restrictions that may lead to deficiencies.

But with an abundance of uncertainty and a lack of evidence for supplements, Zhang says the average person should just eat a balanced diet that contains plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, rather than turning to over-the-counter solutions. (Tasnim News Agency)

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