Vitamins = Crap (Mostly)
I subscribe to The Medical Letter, a periodical that reviews the latest evidence on medications. It's entirely objective, not funded by advertisements, and a great way for a busy internist to keep up with the constantly expanding list of medications at her disposal. Because I'm a paperless, digital, twenty-first century kind of doctor, I get it on my Treo, so I can read it whenever the mood strikes me, like on the potty.

The July 18 edition featured an article that reviewed all the randomized evidence* about vitamin supplements. The article goes through each article and reviews the evidence about it. I copy below, entirely without permission and verbatim, their conclusions. (The second point I've been telling patients for years until I'm blue in the face usually to incredulous patronizing stares.)

• Supplements are necessary to assure adequate intake of folic acid in young women and possibly of vitamins D and B12 in the elderly.


• There is no convincing evidence that taking supplements of vitamin C prevents any disease.


• Women should not take vitamin A supplements during pregnancy or after menopause.


• No one should take high-dose beta carotene supplements.


• A balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables may be safer than taking vitamin supplements.


• No biologically active substance taken for a long term can be assumed to be free of risk.

Hear me now. Believe me later. Stop taking vitamins unless you have a specific deficiency for which your doctor recommends them, (or unless you're taking calcium and vitamin D for osteoporosis prevention). Send 10% of the money you save to some right-wing charity. That is all.

UPDATE on August 22: The Medical Letter actually just released this addendum:
The recent Medical Letter article on Vitamin Supplements (July 18, 2005; issue 1213) stated in its conclusion that there is no convincing evidence that taking supplements of vitamin C prevents any disease. We should have added, "...except scurvy."

* Randomized evidence is the most reliable medical evidence. A randomized trial is one in which subjects are assigned randomly to received the tested medicine (in this case the vitamin in question) or to receive placebo. Having your cold get better after taking vitamin C is not randomized evidence; don't tell me about it. All of my colds have gotten better. I've never taken vitamin C. - served up by Doctor Bean @ 7:52 PM