Are vitamin supplements a waste of money?

It's complicated. So here's what to look for when buying supplements

A recent, widely publicised study concluded that taking a multi vitamin is probably a waste of time and money, or words to that effect. The overall verdict was that multi formulas won’t extend your life, so there’s no point in taking them.

It’s an odd conclusion because I don’t think anybody has ever claimed that the point of taking a multi is to live longer. It’s to provide any nutrients that may be lacking in the diet.

This study, published in June 2024, didn’t provide any new information. It was an analysis of three large studies that began in the 1990s and followed nearly 400,000 participants until their death, or end of study period, 20 years later.

The participants didn’t live any longer than people who don’t bother with a multi. Which is surprising, considering the fact that - as the authors point out - people who take supplements tend to be more health conscious, better off and better educated than people who don’t take supplements. It’s known as the healthy user effect. Then again, when people get sick, they are more likely to start taking supplements – and this is known as sick user effect.

The problem with this study is that it tells us nothing of the quality or potency of the supplements taken by the participants. Those key variabes must surely have differed wildly from one person to another. The quality of a multi vitamin and mineral is similar to the length of a piece of string. It could be anything. And there are more multi formulas out there to choose from than you can shake a stick at.

I also know from experience that it is highly unlikely that nearly half a million people took their multi every day for twenty years, and remained diligently health conscious throughout.

Supplements can be very beneficial, but not if they are of poor quality. So here are some guidelines to help you make the right choices.

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The first rule of thumb is to remember that, generally speaking, you get what you pay for. If it’s really cheap, it’s probably not worth bothering with. I often look at popular multis in the supermarket and conclude that I would rather take nothing.

Another important issue to bear in mind is that the amount stated on the label is not the amount you will absorb into your blood. Even from food, and with a healthy gut, absorption is limited, and you give back a portion of what you receive. That’s the natural world for you.

To maximise absorption and metabolism, choose specific forms. Some forms are better than others. Below are the main ones that you should be aware of.