While multivitamins are arguably the number one selling dietary supplement in the world, they’ve drawn controversial headlines for the last 5 or so years. The largest and only randomized multivitamin trial ever conducted on healthy individuals—the Physicians’ Health Study II (PHS II) trial— followed 14,600 incredibly healthy physicians over 11 years and came to some strong conclusions about multivitamins (specifically, Centrum Silver) and their benefits.
1. A multivitamin modestly (but still statistically significantly) reduces the risk of cancer in men, including those with a personal history of cancer and those with an outstanding diet and lifestyle.
2. It modestly (but still statistically, clinically, and significantly) reduces the risk of nuclear cataracts (the most common type) in men and women.
3. It corrects some nutritional insufficiencies or deficiencies.
4. It is heart safe (even heart healthy).
5. It has similar side effects to a placebo.
6. The cheapest multivitamins in the lowest dosages have the most research.
No pill—except this particular multivitamin—has ever been found to reduce the risk of cancer and cataracts in healthy individuals and with the same overall side effects as a placebo. Some critics argue that these benefits weren’t impressive enough to warrant telling most people to take a daily multivitamin, and they cite lower-quality studies to make their point. I say: Cancer will soon be overtaking cardiovascular disease as the leading global killer and cataracts are the most common cause of blindness around the world. So if spending a few pennies a day has the ability to reduce the risk of cancer and cataracts even modestly and can help prevent any nutritional deficiencies, then I’m going to take one daily and recommend it to other adults.
The Centrum Silver used in the study (in the 1990s) was similar to many children’s multivitamins that are sold in the United States today. Over the years, multi-vitamin dosages have increased faster than McDonald’s french fry servings or American waist sizes, for no good reason (it’s not based on science). If you want to take a multi vitamin that has all the evidence today, take a Centrum Silver or a children’s multivitamin. In fact, compare the dosages used in the PHS II study (below) with your multi.
The final line of the PHS II report states, “Although the main reason to take multivitamins is to prevent nutritional deficiency, these data provide support for the potential use of multivitamin supplements in the prevention of cancer in middle-aged and older men.” It would have been nice to do a similar clinical trial with women, but for now I can only hypothesize that they would benefit in a similar fashion to men. A large Italian study done in 2008 and published in the journal Opthalmology tested Centrum in women and men for cataract reduction and showed a potential overall benefit, which is also why I assume similar results for women.
VITAMIN AND MINERAL CONTENT IN CENTRUM SILVER IN THE PHS II STUDY
Vitamin A = 5,000 IU (50% as beta-carotene)
Vitamin B12 = 25 mcg
Copper = 2 mg
Vitamin C = 60 mg
Biotin = 30 mcg
Manganese = 3.5 mg
Vitamin D = 400 IU
Pantothenic acid = 10 mg
Chromium = 130 mcg
Vitamin E = 45 IU
Calcium = 200 mg
Molybdenum = 160 mcg
Vitamin K = 10 mcg
Iron = 4 mg
Chloride = 72.6 mg
Vitamin B1 = 1.5 mg
Phosphorus = 48 mg
Potassium = 80 mg
Vitamin B2 = 1.7 mg
Iodine = 150 mcg
Boron = 150 mcg
Niacin = 20 mg
Magnesium = 100 mg
Nickel = 5 mcg
Vitamin B6 = 3 mg
Zinc = 15 mg
Vanadium = 10 mcg
Folic acid = 400 mcg
Selenium = 20 mcg
Silicon = 2 mg
Note: IU = international units, mg = milligrams, mcg = micrograms (also symbolized by “μg” on some supplement containers)
The Supplement Handbook - Mark Moyad
