3 Supplements Were Found to Have No Effect on Preventing Disease

New research has suggested that getting vitamins and minerals through food was a better way to do that than spending money on some supplements. It seems the magic pill for healthy living and disease prevention has not yet been invented, but supplement use keeps growing in popularity. That is partially due to the growing desire of consumers to improve their long-term health. A 2022 report published by the American Medical Association showed that there may be next to no point in taking supplements on a regular basis to prevent chronic diseases. The Effect of Supplements Can Be Matched With a Casual Diet A review of the efficacy of using supplements for both multivitamins and single nutrients for reducing the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and adult mortality was undertaken. It concluded that the use of certain supplements to prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease may actually be a waste of money. The specific supplements that the review was focused on include multivitamins, beta carotene, and vitamin E. Eating Food With Vitamin A Is More Effective Than Taking Beta Carotene Beta carotene is a carotenoid and antioxidant that converts into vitamin A, and this vitamin is naturally occurring in reddish-orange fruits and vegetables. The antioxidant properties of beta carotene have linked it to preventing chronic diseases, but according to the researchers, taking beta carotene was linked with raising cardiovascular death and all-cause mortality. This has led them to conclude it would be wiser to get powerful antioxidants from natural vitamin A food sources that also come with other micronutrients. Vitamin E is another one of the antioxidants that do little to help with long-term health. While it is important for immune function and can protect the cells while decreasing heart disease risk, vitamin E supplementation does little for cardiovascular risk and long-term health. Multivitamins Are Still Beneficial But Not for Preventing Disease Taking multivitamins may seem like an easy solution for getting the micronutrients a person needs in one go. While it can be a beneficial practice, it's worth noting how the new report concluded that these supplements made little difference in preventing cancer or cardiovascular disease. Many have argued that there are many benefits from multivitamins, but it is certain that preventing disease is not one of them.