Brainfade Posted February 11, 2009 Posted February 11, 2009 http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/10/multivitamins.cancer/index.html Multivitamin pills don't reduce cancer risk or heart-disease risk or risk of stroke! Key paragraphs from article: "Population studies have shown that if you eat fruits and vegetables, your chances of cancers are relatively low compared to people with deficient diets," confirmed internist Aditya Bardia, an oncology fellow at Johns Hopkins University. "But when they tried to convert those nutrients into tablets, that's where the failure has been." Bardia, who has conducted his own research in the area of supplements and cancer prevention, explains that many Americans take supplements for similar reasons as LaCour's: for general well-being and to fill in any deficiencies in their diets. Since they have not been shown to cause any harm if taken correctly, and because they have been shown to help meet some diet deficiencies (e.g., anemia, night blindness), he finds multivitamins to be a reasonable choice. "If you're taking supplements for cancer and heart disease prevention, we don't have any evidence saying it will help, but if you're taking it for general health promotion -- and if you can afford it -- then that's fine," he added.
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