Many people believe that taking vitamins regularly will help them prevent diseases, but this is not necessarily true, researchers say.

 

According to the most recent study on the matter, supplements appear to be useless when it comes to developing cancer in postmenopausal women. Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City led by Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, a professor of epidemiology and population health, followed the health of 161,800 postmenopausal women in the US for a period of weight years.

 

About 42 percent of the women said they used multivitamins regularly. After eight years, however, the number of people developing cancer in the multivitamins group equaled those in the nonuser group. Overall, there were 9,619 cases of cancer, including cancers of the lung, breast, ovary, colon and stomach. Also there were 8,751 cardiovascular ailments including heart attacks and strokes. In addition, 9,865 women died, also at similar rates in multivitamin users and nonusers.

 

Co-author of the study Marian Neuhouser, PhD, said it was a "surprise" to find that “multivitamins did not lower the risk of the most common cancers and also had no impact on heart disease.” On the other hand, “whole foods are better than dietary supplements. Getting a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is particularly important,” he added.

 

The conclusion is simple then: as long as you maintain a healthy lifestyle you won’t have to worry about diseases. Therefore, eat healthy, exercise and be happy!