# Proof Narrative: Multivitamins and most supplements provide meaningful health benefits for the general healthy population.

## Verdict

**Verdict: DISPROVED**

Four independent authoritative sources — including the U.S. government's top preventive medicine advisory body — agree: for healthy adults, supplements don't deliver the health benefits most people assume they do.

## What was claimed?

The idea that taking a daily multivitamin or popular supplements like vitamin E, beta-carotene, or fish oil meaningfully protects your health is widespread. Many people take supplements expecting real protection against heart disease, cancer, or early death. This claim asks whether that expectation holds up — whether supplements actually move the needle on health outcomes for otherwise healthy adults.

## What did we find?

The most direct answer comes from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent federal advisory body that reviews clinical evidence to guide doctors and patients. In 2022, it examined the research and issued its strongest negative recommendation — "recommend against" — for both beta-carotene and vitamin E supplements. These aren't obscure products; they're among the most widely taken. The USPSTF found that potential harms outweigh any benefits. Beta-carotene is linked to increased lung cancer risk in high-risk groups; vitamin E to increased stroke risk.

For multivitamins more broadly, the picture isn't better. The systematic evidence review commissioned to support that USPSTF evaluation — covering 84 studies — concluded that vitamin and mineral supplementation provides "little to no benefit" in preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, or death. There was a hint of a possible small benefit for cancer incidence from multivitamins, but the evidence was too limited and inconsistent for the USPSTF to recommend them. The verdict was "insufficient evidence" — not a green light.

The NIH's own Office of Dietary Supplements, which synthesizes clinical trial evidence on this question, reached the same conclusion: multivitamin/mineral supplements do not reliably reduce the risk of chronic diseases, even when people take them for a decade or more.

A large independent academic review published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2019 looked specifically at whether supplement use was associated with living longer. The answer was no — dietary supplements were not associated with mortality benefits in U.S. adults. Interestingly, getting nutrients from food was associated with reduced mortality. The supplements themselves were not.

Three potential counterarguments were examined. One study found a small cognitive benefit from multivitamins in adults averaging 72 years old — but this applies to older adults, not the general healthy population, and the effect was small enough that the USPSTF still couldn't recommend multivitamins after reviewing it. Fish oil, one of the most popular supplements on the market, was tested in a rigorous trial of nearly 26,000 healthy adults and did not significantly reduce heart attacks or strokes compared to a placebo. None of the counterevidence was strong enough to change the conclusion.

## What should you keep in mind?

This verdict applies specifically to healthy adults without nutritional deficiencies or known medical conditions. It does not apply to everyone. People who are pregnant, elderly with specific health risks, or diagnosed with a deficiency are different cases — supplements can be genuinely important for them, and their doctors may recommend specific ones for good reasons.

The evidence also focuses on hard clinical outcomes: does this supplement prevent heart disease, cancer, or early death? It doesn't address every possible use. Someone taking vitamin D on their doctor's advice because their blood levels are low is in a completely different situation than a healthy adult popping a daily multivitamin as general insurance.

One thing that stood out: getting nutrients from food was associated with health benefits in the same research that found supplements weren't. The nutrients themselves aren't the problem — the supplement form appears to be what doesn't work.

Finally, some supplements don't just fail to help — they can actively cause harm. Beta-carotene and vitamin E received the USPSTF's strongest negative recommendation precisely because evidence of harm was found, not merely an absence of benefit.

## How was this verified?

This claim was evaluated using a structured disproof methodology: four independent authoritative sources were required to confirm the claim was false, drawn from distinct institutions that each independently reviewed different underlying research. You can read [the structured proof report](proof.md) for the full evidence summary, examine [the full verification audit](proof_audit.md) for citation verification details and methodology, or [re-run the proof yourself](proof.py) to reproduce the findings.