In the latest repudiation of vitamin supplements, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has now issued new recommendations, formally stating there is insufficient evidence to suggest supplements deliver benefits to prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer, the two leading causes of death in the US.
The new USPSTF recommendations – the first in relation to vitamin supplements since 2014 – were not arrived at lightly, but only after taking into consideration 84 studies assessing the effects of supplements, encompassing almost 740,000 participants in total."We found that there is no benefit to taking vitamin E and that beta-carotene can be harmful because it increases the risk of lung cancer in people already at risk," says USPSTF vice chair Michael Barry.Linder, the co-author of a new editorial commentary on supplements use and the new USPSTF recommendations, says there are good reasons why people believe supplements will be good for their health.