No. You do not need to supplement a regular diet at all.
There was a recent study that implicates Multi-Vitamins with various health problems and a Greater Death Risk, notably a shortening of lifespan. Further studies are coming as a result. Seems to be pretty interesting.
Vitamin supplements linked to early death
28th February 2007, 9:45 WST
Millions of people who take antioxidant supplements such as beta carotene and vitamins A and E may be putting their lives at risk rather than improving their health, according to a major review.
And a separate study has warned using supplements and complementary medicines to boost fertility may have the opposite effect.
Danish researchers suspect that by eliminating harmful free radicals in the body, anti-oxidants might interfere with essential defensive mechanisms and cause toxic reactions.
Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, doctors from Copenhagen University Hospital warn their findings contradict claims that anti-oxidant supplements improve health.
Their analysis of several studies into the effects of the supplements found vitamin A products increased the risk of death 16 per cent, while beta carotene and vitamin E increased the risk of death by 7 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.
But they said the jury was still out on whether vitamin C had a positive or negative effect on life expectancy
“Considering that 80-160 million people in North America and Europe consume these supplements, the public health consequences may be substantial,” the researchers warned. “Beta carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E, given singly or combined with other anti-oxidant supplements significantly increase mortality.”
Complementary Healthcare Council executive director Tony Lewis said it would review the findings but it appeared the research was based on high-level dosages not allowed in Australia.
“In Australia these products are regulated as medicines, so there are tight controls. The findings might not have the same relevance for us as for others,” he said.
In another shock finding, Australian fertility experts believe couples may actually be reducing their chances of having a baby by taking multivitamins and herbs.
Writing in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, they warn couples trying to have a baby to make sure they tell their doctor if they are taking alternative remedies because they can reduce the chances of conceiving.
Researcher Marcin Stankiewicz, from the Flinders Medical Centre, said he did not want to deter couples from using alternative therapies but it was important to document their use so doctors could study the effects on conception.
Dr Roger Hart, a reproductive medicine specialist at the University of WA and medical director of the Fertility Specialists of WA, said while the value of taking folate before conception to prevent birth defects was well known, the benefits of other complementary medicines remained unproved.
We've been over this one before.The report relates only to synthetic supplements and not to fruits and vegetables in everyday diets which are natural and contain less concentrated levels of antioxidants, said the study from the Centre for Clinical Intervention Research at Denmark's Copenhagen University Hospital.
It said the increased death risk is about 5 per cent higher than those not given supplements and that figure is probably conservative. It was reported the study found Vitamin A was the worst offender, raising the death risk by 17 per cent.
The finding drew fire from critics who said it was flawed and
based largely on studies of people who were already chronically ill before they were treated with the supplements.While the review did not pinpoint any biochemical mechanism that may be behind the increased death risk, it may be that "by eliminating free radicals from our organism, we interfere with some essential defensive mechanisms," the study concluded.
Antioxidants are believed to fight free radicals, atoms or groups of atoms formed in such a way that they can cause cell damage.
"Beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E given singly or combined with other antioxidant supplements significantly increase mortality," the study found.
It also found no evidence that vitamin C increases longevity and though selenium tended to reduce mortality, more research is needed on that topic.
Balz Frei, director of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, said
the study and the data studied are both flawed because more than two-thirds of the previous research that was examined involved people with heart disease, cancer or other risks who were being treated to see if the supplements worked."This kind of approach does not work," he said. "Over the years it has become clear from these clinical trials that antioxidants don't work in disease treatment."
The Complementary Healthcare Council (CHC), which represents the industry in Australia, said the results were based on old data and included trials which allowed doses of vitamins not accepted in Australia.
CHC executive director Tony Lewis would not comment on the study's claims but said the evidence was "weak".
