More than half of Americans take multivitamins and nutritional supplements every day, but doctors and pharmacists say many are a waste of money.
Pharmacist Amina Khan told her 271,000 followers on TikTok that there are three types of supplements she will never take, including the wildly popular gummy vitamins.
These gummies have some drawbacks, one of which is that they are often sweetened with about 3 to 5 grams of sugar.
That may not seem like much, but the recommended intake is two gummies per day, and the American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 25 grams of sugar per day for women and 36 grams for men. Recommended.
“These are basically just sugar pills. You might as well go for something sweet,” Khan said.
“They can be easily overdosed and can cause mineral poisoning.”
Khan also said that some researchers say multivitamins are worthless because they often contain few important vitamins and minerals.
Similarly, supplements aimed at improving hair, skin and nail health that have been popularized through social media are also ineffective, Khan said.
Gummy vitamins often contain sugar. Levels of vitamins and minerals are also too low to be very effective
Dr. Khan says gummy vitamins have broad appeal and often look and taste more like candy than a health supplement. said.
According to UCLA doctors, “Even if gummy vitamins don’t contain sugar, they may contain other sweeteners, such as sugary fruit juices or sugar alcohols, which can be unpleasant for the digestive system.” It may cause system problems.”
It tastes good, is easy to drink, and does not have the characteristic odor of vitamins.
It is especially appealing to children who are reluctant or unable to swallow pills.
But the gummy flavor comes from a few grams of sugar.
Dr. Zaria Chappell, a family medicine physician at San Marcos Scripps Coastal Medical Center in California, said: said: “It’s like eating sugar pills and candy 365 days a year.
“This is a lot of sugar, so it can add up quickly. Children in particular can eat more than the recommended dose because the vitamins taste so good and look like popular candy.”
Kahn then talked about multivitamins, which are “a little bit of everything.”
“Some of the intakes of each nutrient are so low that they have little effect, and you don’t need all the vitamins in a multivitamin.”
Multivitamins are said to contain a little bit of everything, but this means that the concentrations of vitamins and minerals are too low to have any measurable effect.
Johns Hopkins study of 450,000 people found multivitamins There were no beneficial effects About preventing heart disease.
Another study looked at about 1,700 people who had previously had a heart attack. They were told to take a multivitamin or a placebo twice a day for five years. Their findings showed that taking multivitamins had no effect on heart attack or death risk.
“Despite study after study showing negative results, people continue to take supplements, now at record rates,” said Dr. Edgar Miller, an internist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. said.
Studies showing their ineffectiveness have not affected the market. The global vitamins and supplements market size was $146.14 billion in 2023.
People who may benefit from multivitamins include people who are malnourished and those who are pregnant.
Finally, hair, skin and nail supplements are similarly ineffective, Khan said.
People are better off taking supplements that focus on a single thing than those designed to target all three.
Effective supplements target specific issues, such as vitamin B8 for hair thickness or vitamin D for skin cell regeneration.
A better way to improve the health of each is to take supplements aimed at helping each individually.
“Multvitamins for hair, skin, and nails, what are they focused on?” Khan said. Hair, skin or nails?
Hair, skin, and nail supplements don’t properly target the areas they’re meant to improve. According to pharmacists, the best supplements are those that target each problem area individually, rather than lumping multiple ingredients together into a weak target.
Most people are not deficient in vitamins found in supplements, such as antioxidants such as vitamins A, C, and E, coenzyme Q10, and the B-complex vitamin biotin.
And for such people, there is no clear evidence that supplements make a difference.
Dr. Peter Cohen, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and an expert on nutritional supplements, said: consumer report: “I’m not aware of any hard data to suggest that supplements can treat natural age-related hair loss or nail damage, or give you healthier skin.”
“There’s nothing that would make me recommend that to any of my patients.”
Many supplements and vitamins are not regulated by the FDA, so it’s difficult to know if you’re getting exactly what the supplement package says.
Furthermore, the lack of oversight means that manufacturers can include substances that they do not declare on the label, and some substances may interact with medicines.
Federal agencies only get involved if a product is found to cause harm, but they do inspect facilities where supplements are manufactured.
