If you’re eating healthy, you don’t need an additional vitamin.
If you don’t have a healthy diet, a vitamin won’t help as much as the healthy diet would, but will add some protection against your assault on your body. Taking the vitamin at a meal will most likely help absorb the vitamin’s nutrients. Of course, it depends on what you’re eating.
My diet isn’t as healthy as it should be, and I take a multivitamin and mineral, usually buying what’s cheapest and contains close to 100% of the major vitamins’ RDAs. GNC’s brand probably won’t do as much extra for you as it does for their finances. In general, a multivitamin is a multivitamin. When you hit 70 or so, that may change, or if you have significant digestive problems, you should discuss it with your doc. My doctor knows I take a multivitamin, and hasn’t said anything, either positive or negative, so I guess he’s OK with it.
Doubling the RDA of various vitamins isn’t going to harm you quickly, if at all. It’s more probable that a long-term supplement with 10 times the RDA will cause harm.

I don’t care what these studies say, people SHOULD take a good multivitamin! The body knows what it needs, and if the mutrients aren’t available in foods, they can be taken from a vitamin. What isn’t needed goes to urine. Most older people I know eat little and they don’t eat all the fruits and veggies they should, so the vitamin is necessary. My 75 year old mother lives with me and I insist she take a vitamin every day – and since I started her on GNC women’s vitamins she feels MUCH better! That’s enough proof for me.

From all the research I’ve done, this study wasn’t very scientific. Women were asked if they took vitamins. The study wasn’t done with a specific brand and there didn’t seem to be any controls used. I take many supplements and will continue to do so. I take high quality ones, not the cheap supermarket brands that are all fillers. I know how important it is to have a healthy diet but i know I don’t get every nutrient I need from the food i eat. So much of the food that is available to buy is not good quality. I feel that people need to do what is right for them.

I haven’t read the Globe article to get more specifics on the study but regardless of what it says I still feel daily multivitamins and minerals supplements are important. I totally agree that you should eat a healthy, balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetable and good fats and that should be the first source to give your body what it needs. However, reality is some days go better than others and I don’t always get everything my body needs from food. I see multivitamin and mineral supplements as my insurance that my body is getting what it needs. I was taking a very expensive liquid multi vitamin/mineral supplement that I loved but recently had to change to a lesser expensive whole food vitamin/mineral supplement that I get at my health food store for financial reasons.

I eat a very healthy diet, but I also take a number of vitamins daily.
I do take a Multi, Vitamin C, Vitamin B-6, Omega 3, Vitamin D, Pomogranate Extract, and Acai Extract. Are all these useless to my body? I will, however not stop taking my Vitamin C suppliment. With all this sickness going around, I have been blessed to not have caught it yet.

I would want to know more information about what was asked and how. For example, I know that the questions about breastfeeding and cancer for this study were poorly designed (i.e. merely asked if nurse had breastfed–not how long, whether baby was supplemented and how much, when their periods resumed–all important factors when looking at breastfeeding and breast/ovarian cancer risk). So, when did these women start taking vitamins, what was the rest of their diet like, how long did they take them (if like me, you start and stop), etc.

No matter how healthy we think we are eating, the foods that we eat are mineral deficient because of the way they are grown. There was a senate paper all the way back in the 1930′s concerned about our system of mass produced food. You simply cannot get all you need from the food here. If it is not in the soil, it is not in the food. That’s how it works. A GOOD supplement is a must. If you take a “one a day vitamin” that you buy at the store, chances are, it will leave your body in the same condition it came in. These are not bio-available. They are a waste of money.
Kidney stones are caused by the body leaching the calcium out of your bones when your intake of bio-available calcium is to LOW. Taking a good calcium supplement and vitamin D, DOES NOT cause kidney stones. It is truly amazing how little most people know about how their own body works.
Read the Book Death By Diet or The Calcium Factor. Both are excellent.

I’ve done enough independent study and realize the importance of cellular nutrition which cannot always be met by the food you eat. I, too, do not waste my money on retail vitamins – you have to research the companies that produce supplements and, after doing so, learn that many are not worth the packaging they come in. Quality supplements that enhance your diet are a definite daily requirement.

in light of suggesting that vitamins aren’t needed i find them helpfull especially that i’m older . i’ve taken multi-vitamins since childhood . i grew up during the ” poly-visol ” vitamin era . those were the days when there weren’t threats of food contamination such as ecoli and salmonella that plague our food products today . usually findings based on a healthy diet alone exclude the possibilities mentioned in my comment and don’t speak for the overall majority of people . i will continue to make vitamin supplements a part of my daily regimem ; especially since there is less care in how our food is handled today .

I have taken vitamin/mineral supplements for decades.
Also herbal supplements.
I do not get sick, and I do not go to doctors.
I am 71. I enjoy better health than most people, no matter how old they are.

My parents are my “vitamin” examples. Dad is 94 and Mom is 88. Along with eating healthy- we only had soda for a holiday, and fast food was not in the budget with 7 children, they always stayed active and took a large amount of vitamins.
Today they are both mentally and physically really sound. Mom is loosing her sight- her father lost it at 80, and thier hearing is both slightly affected- pretty normal for the ages. Otherwise- NEVER on any antibiotics or in hospital care for anything other than a hernia.
I have to say, I believe in vitamin supplements- along with a healthy diet. Everything in moderation is key.

I take a daily over 50 multivitamin as I have a very poor appetite. Supper is usually my first meal of the da, and snack in bed- usually a bowl of cereal. I also have severe osteoporosis so take an Rx vitamin C and 1000 I.U. of Vit.D3 nightly. Do you see this as a health risk?

The studies being referred to are true! Only 5-10% of a vitamin tablet is truly “bioavailable” (absorbed into the blood stream), so they are a waste of money. They are also very easily mega-dosed on, which is toxic to our bodies (there are studies on this). Whole food, such as fruits, veggies, & whole grains are jam packed with nutrients (vitamins & minerals) our bodies can absorb & readily use & ARE 100% bioavailable! I used to take vitamins too, but having done a lot of research on this subject, no longer do. If the ACA, ADA, AHA & WHO are telling us that we need 7-13 servings of fruits & veggies a day to prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease & to be healthier, than this just validates my point. I have been taking a whole food nutritional product for 7 yrs. & have noted a huge difference in my body’s ability to not only recover more quickly from a cold or flu, but also it’s ability to bypass viruses all together. Feel free to check out what I take at: http://www.juiceplus.com/+sc57599. It has been published in 13 medical journals for its effects on the body & there are 20 studies currently underway which are being conducted at independent research universities (UCLA, Yale, University of TX/MD Anderson Cancer Center, etc.).

i take vitamins every day of the week. i truely feel they help me health wise. they also keep my skin smooth and clear. the most important vitamins i take are cod liver oil and vitamin b (multiple and vit b12)
tingirly

When I was diagnosed with terminal cancer (3 months to live) 15 YEARS ago, I determined to do everything I could to survive and thrive. In that process, I studied in depth nutrition and am convinced that quality daily vitamin/mineral supplementation is important.
I also learned to question the source of “studies”, where the funding came from, and what the purpose of the study was. So I checked out this study. I urge you to do the same! Here is just a sample of what I found in the Boston Globe article (not even the original study):
“The Women’s Health Initiative study, while a valuable contribution, is not the final word, specialists caution. ‘There may still be benefits of multiple vitamins that were not seen in this recent report because the study was relatively short,’ Walter Willett, chairman of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. …It was an observational study…(which) can hint at cause and effect, (not) clinical trials, in which people are randomly assigned to take multivitamins or not…”
The Physicians Health Study II, a Harvard-led randomized clinical trial of multivitamins in men over 50, the next big study, will release its findings in 2012.
Dianna Butler, Ph.D., President
Synapse Centers for Growth, Inc.
DButlerSCG@comcast.net
http://www.synapsecenter.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/in/diannabutlerphd

If you do indeed eat a well-balanced diet and know that you are getting all the vitamins you need, no, you do not need to take any supplements. However, most of the population does not eat a balanced and healthy diet so a muti-vitamin is needed. I personally have to take 7 different kinds of vitamins a day because of deficiencies I have developed. When my mother was pregnant with me she was a vegetarian, and I was a vegetarian for the first 5 years of my life. I also had severe allergies to basic foods such as wheat, dairy, and corn. As a result, I became deficient in many vitamins and minerals causing symptoms ranging from acne (zinc deficiency) to heart palpitations (magnesium and CoQ10 deficiencies).
The study referenced in this article I believe is not extensive enough to make such a claim that vitamins are a waste of money. The study was only for 8 years, which is quite a short amount of time to rely on cancer developing or not. Also, vitamins have many benefits besides the claims on preventing cancer and cardiovascular disease. Your body NEEDS vitamins and minerals to function correctly, from the firing of neurons to the flexing of muscles.
Bottom line, if you are not consuming a healthy, well-rounded diet with fresh foods, then you most likely need to take a multi-vitamin to ensure that you are receiving the nutrients your body needs to function at its full potential.

It is a fact that taking supplements is much harder to absorb than eating the actual food or taking it in a liquid form. But when you have a fruit like the Acai berry to give you practically all the vitamins/nutrients you need on a daily basis, along with excersice, and positive mentality you can achieve super health… But if your interested in a blend of the most anti-oxidants in the world and having glucosamine and extra omega fatty acids email me at j_bermud@yahoo.com I have Chrons so i know how important a diet is, and how tough it can be to absorb nutrients… Take care and healthy living to all!

I’ve taken a multivitamin and 1000 mg C since I was a smoker (I quit over 25 years ago) when I noticed I got fewer colds when I took the C. I also noticed taking them helped when I was traveling and under stress. I take calcium, vitamin D (by prescription), folic acid (by prescription), vitamin E, and beta-carotene. I take the E, C, and Beta-Carotene because of the reputed effect on free-radicals (anti-oxidant effects). There’s a lot of cancer in my family history. One study doesn’t impress me all that much. The AMA has suggested that every adult take a multivitamin. The fact is that while I try to eat a balanced, good diet, there are probably holes in it, especially since I’m a vegetarian. So, I’m going to keep on supporting the vitamin industry until I see more evidence.

At one time I would buy almost any supplement that I thought would help! Most of them were a waste of money, so I stopped all of them.I thought it to be a good move, wrong, after 2-3 weeks I started getting fever blisters around my mouth and other little sores. I went
back to some of my supplements and everything cleared up! Of course I had to try it again, same thing, so I take the things I had bought. This is true with fish oil also, I have dry eyes, as long as I take a good brand of salmon oil (Carlson)I have no problem with dry eyes.
As much as the drug companies complains about different supplements not working and how bad they are for us,in most cases their wrong.I will continue taking what I know works for me!

I thought you might find this interesting.
Gene

The reason that some isolated vitamins don’t work is because they are not bioavailable. You pee them right out. The only real way to get those nutrients in your body is to eat them. If you do not have a well balanced diet with 7 to 13 servings of raw fruits and vegetables you should absolutely be taking a whole food supplement – not isolated vitamins. Juice Plus is 17 fruits, vegetables and grains in a capsule. Most importantly it is backed by scientific research. See my website or for any questions. http://www.mboulangersharesjuiceplus.com

I believe that everyone needs a good multi vitamin, at least. I stress the word good. In my opionon, a good supplement is a supplement in a form that is not a tablet, and is made with raw ingredients. I have been taking different things, for different ails, and my body tells me what to take, and what kind. I have experimented with many brands, and forms. I always come back to raw, in liquid or capsules, and no tablets for me. I also would like to add that this study was done with what type of supplements? Same way with the study on hormones. They used one kind, and man made horse urine at that, and call that unbiased? I know everyone has their own minds, but if you do the research, like I have, it would be obvious as to what to do for your own body.