Supplements and Sin

The conventional wisdom that multivitamins — and many other supplements — promise better health outcomes is worth challenging. Indeed, there are hidden risks that many in the $27-billion supplement industry would prefer you to ignore.

Certain hedonistic behaviors — such as binge drinking and casual sex, may increase with supplement use.

If you’re taking supplements to lower your risk of disease, it’s entirely possible they’re lowering your inhibitions … and leading you into sin.

Certain hedonistic behaviors — such as binge drinking and casual sex, may increase with supplement use.

Why? Things that make us think we’re healthier, such as supplements, ironically encourage an illusory sense of invulnerability, which in turn licenses more risky behaviors.

In a 2011 study published in Psychological Science, Taiwanese researchers conducted an experiment in which they gave placebos to 82 adults (45 women, 37 men, average age 31). Half of this group was told that the placebo they were taking was a multivitamin. After one week, all participants took surveys regarding their inclinations towards various healthy vs. less healthy behaviors. The results were eye-opening.

Those subjects thinking they were taking multivitamins registered a 44 percent higher tendency to engage in nine hedonistic activities (e.g., casual sex, sunbathing, partying, binge drinking). Pills also appeared to incline subjects toward gluttonous eating behaviors, including a 61 percent increased preference for all-you-can-eat buffets over healthy meals. Compared to the placebo group, the “multivitamin” group not only reported exercising 14 percent less, they were 66 percent more likely to walk the shortest distance to their goal over a given time.

The authors conclude that people relying on a multivitamin pay a hidden price, believing they have greater invulnerability and so adopt lazy, riskier behaviors that may actually lead to the exact opposite health outcomes they desire.

People relying on a multivitamin pay a hidden price, believing they have greater invulnerability and so adopt lazy, riskier behaviors that may actually lead to the exact opposite health outcomes they desire.

You don’t need to believe in sin to recognize that certain risky behaviors can harm your health.  Moreover, no one wants to waste money, which is what supplement spending appears to represent.

“The message is simple: Most supplements do not prevent chronic disease or death, their use is not justified, and they should be avoided.” There’s not much wiggle room in this statement from the authors of a study published by the American College of Physicians in 2013. From academicians who prefer to couch their claims with qualifiers like “may” and “might,” such bluntness speaks volumes.

The statement prefaced three studies, all published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. First to bat was a review of three trials of multivitamin and 24 trials of single or paired vitamins involving more than 400,000 participants. The results: There is no clear evidence of a beneficial effect on mortality, heart disease and cancers.

There is no clear evidence of a beneficial effect on mortality, heart disease and cancers.

Second to bat: No difference was found between male multivitamin and placebo takers in terms of memory and cognitive function monitored over a dozen years.

Third strike and you’re out: A trial involving more than 1,700 male and female heart patients found that multivitamin use did next to nothing to prevent recurring heart attacks.

The utter lack of evidence on multivitamin health benefits is no impediment to their widespread popularity, with over half the U.S. population popping such pills.

The utter lack of evidence on multivitamin health benefits is no impediment to their widespread popularity, with over half the U.S. population popping such pills, lured by the illusory promise of better health.

Instead of wasting your money on supplement use, strive to get nutrients from whole foods instead. The infographic accompanying this article shows which foods provide top nutrient sources on the most popular vitamin pill choices — cheaper, healthier, and more delicious too! So forgo the multis and rely on Mother Nature instead.

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