More than half of Americans take a supplement at least once a month with the aim of boosting their health.
But a top doctor has now suggested this pill-popping may be fruitless, claiming the evidence that any vitamin or mineral will benefit you ‘is missing’.
Dr Mike Varshavski, a family physician and internet personality, told a popular podcast last week that he has never seen a study proving that healthy adults need to take a supplement — despite analyzing hundreds of years worth of medical research.
He said Americans can get all the nutrients their body needs from eating a balanced diet, with the exception of a small number of people with specific medical conditions.
Worse, he suggested supplements could actually harm people by leading them to put off taking up behaviors that are proven to improve health like diet and exercise, due to a false sense of security.
Dr Mike Varshavski, a family physician, said there was no clear clinical benefit from taking supplements
The industry is surging in value in the US amid a craze in people taking the supplements to battle deficiencies and boost longevity
Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, he said: ‘Supplements, supplemental vitamins, are not necessary the huge majority of the time.
‘The evidence for almost all supplements, unless you have a very specific reason for needing to take them, is missing.’
‘And what I’ve learned through my ten years of being a physician… is unless we’re certain of some benefit, introducing new things, distracting people from things that work, is not a good solution.’
The supplement industry is surging in popularity in the US, doubling in a decade to an estimated $40.9billion last year.
Companies say multivitamin supplements plug the gap for people who don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables, reducing the risk of heart and brain disease, as well as a host of cancers.
Dr Mike appeared on the Diary of a CEO podcast where he talked about supplements
But this is rarely borne out in trials, including a meta-analysis involving 450,000 people from 2013 which found that regularly taking a multivitamin did not reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer or cognitive decline.
In cases where multivitamins appeared to improve health, it was unclear whether this was due to the tablets or another factor, such as exercise.
Dr Mike added: ‘You can get all of your nutrients, unless you have a specific medical condition, from foods.
‘[Supplements] will make you skip out on doing things that are healthy for you because you think you can take a shortcut.
‘[And] you’re spending your limited healthcare budget on things that are very expensive, making a lot of promises, and the thing I am most worried about is when we enter the space of people saying you need supplements and not true medical treatments for conditions that bother or affect them.’
Patients with conditions like iron deficiency anemia — or a lack of iron — may supplement this mineral to boost their levels and improve energy levels, while pregnant women are recommended to take a daily dose of folic acid to prevent brain defects in babies.
But the evidence for supplements for those with other conditions is not as strong, including for type 2 diabetics who may take supplements like zinc.
The American Diabetes Association — at the forefront of research — does not recommend it, saying: ‘Research on many supplements is inconclusive.’
Dr Mike also warned that supplements carry risks because they can interact with medications the patient is already taking or, because they are unregulated, contain more of a substance than the label suggests.
Too much vitamin B, for example, can cause inflammation in the body, while high levels of vitamin A can trigger organ damage.
Experts advise patients to talk to their doctor before starting or stopping taking a supplement.
