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Survey finds 4 in 5 Americans take vitamins, but it could be causing them more harm than good

More than 86 percent of Americans take some form of over-the-counter vitamin or supplement in attempt to improve their health. After all, it can’t hurt — right? Unfortunately, no. Taking vitamins does come at a cost. According to a recent survey on behalf of the American Osteopathic Association, only about a quarter of people (24 percent) actually received test results indicating a nutritional deficiency. “Numerous investigations show the alleged benefits are unproven and in the worst cases, vitamins and supplements can be harmful,” said Mike Varshavski, DO, an osteopathic family physician. People with documented nutritional deficiencies can most often and most effectively correct the problem with a change in diet. Since supplements don’t work as well as most people assume, taking vitamins can distract or deter people from taking other steps to treat their ailments, like improving nutrition or moderate exercise. As the multibillion dollar vitamin industry grows, Dr. Varshavski says…

Vitamin supplements don’t make a difference, research shows

You can’t hide from a poor diet. People who rely on popular vitamin and mineral supplements to make up for deficiencies in daily nutrient intake are likely just wasting their money on expensive pills, a new study shows. According to a five-year study that ran from 2012 to 2017, the most common supplements — vitamin C, vitamin D, calcium, and multivitamins — surprisingly did nothing to prevent health threats like heart attacks, cardiovascular disease, strokes, or death. “We were surprised to find so few positive effects of the most common supplements that people consume,” said Dr. David Jenkins, the study’s lead author, in a statement. “Our review found that if you want to use multivitamins, vitamin D, calcium or vitamin C, it does no harm — but there is no apparent advantage either.” The study was published the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and examined the use of A, B1, B2,…