This Healthy Daily Habit Doesn't Reduce Your Risk Of Early Death

Longevity requires adopting many habits, particularly as you age. You know you can't eat the way you did as a kid if you want to live a long, healthy life. Smoking can definitely take years off your life because it's associated with cancer, heart and lung diseases, and type 2 diabetes. More and more research is emerging about how moderate alcohol consumption is linked with some cancers and stroke. Exercise is a habit that can lead to better health now and in the future.

Even if your diet isn't so stellar, one way you can meet your recommended daily amounts of vitamins and minerals is by taking a multivitamin. These days, you can buy a multivitamin that fits your sex and stage of life because different stages sometimes require different amounts of vitamins and minerals. You might think that taking a multivitamin every day might add to your longevity because you're getting what might be missing from your diet. However, a 2024 cohort study in JAMA Network Open found that taking a multivitamin doesn't reduce your risk of early death.

Per the cohort study in JAMA Network Open, about a third of the U.S. population takes a daily multivitamin to improve their health or prevent disease. The researchers pulled the results of three studies involving almost 400,000 people, keeping track of who died almost 30 years later. After considering different factors such as age, sex, and ethnicity, the people who took a multivitamin weren't more or less at risk for death.

It's also worth noting that because supplements such as multivitamins aren't regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, there's no guarantee that the amount of nutrients stated on the bottle is what's in the pill itself. The National Institutes of Health said supplements aren't necessary for everyone, and research doesn't support claims that certain supplements can reverse chronic disease. A 2024 commentary in JAMA Network Open maintains that eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can do more for your longevity than taking a multivitamin. 

Taking specific supplements can worsen some conditions or weaken the effectiveness of certain medications. But that doesn't mean that supplements are completely useless, particularly for older populations.

Getting adequate nutrition can be difficult for older adults, so taking a multivitamin could help address nutritional deficiencies, according to a 2020 study in Nutrients. Although a multivitamin didn't improve their immune function, older adults taking the daily multivitamin improved the levels of vitamin C and zinc in their blood after 12 weeks. They also said they felt healthier.

A 2023 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that older adults who took a Centrum Silver multivitamin every day improved their memory after just one year. This improvement continued over three years, and the researchers concluded that taking a multivitamin reversed age-related memory decline by three years.

If you're thinking about becoming pregnant, you might consider prenatal vitamins that focus on folic acid. According to a 2021 article in Preventive Medicine Reports, you might want to check with your doctor before taking high doses of folic acid to prevent birth defects. If you know you're at a low risk of having a baby with birth defects, it's safe to take a multivitamin with 0.4 milligrams of folic acid three months before becoming pregnant until you're finished breastfeeding.