Multivitamins
Multivitamins has been studied in 11 papers since 2007: 7 observational studies in people, 4 reviews. The newest paper, Sep 8, 2025: “Dietary supplement considerations during glucagon-like Peptide-1 receptor agonist treatment: A narrative review”.
11 papers study it16 findingsUpdated
“women who were current multivitamin users did not have a lower risk of incident total stroke compared to non-users [relative risk (RR) 1.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.93-1.11]”
2 of its findings point the other way.
- 6 independent labs in 4 countries
- 2 findings against
- Funders: National Research Foundation of Korea and others
- 3 of 16 findings with company ties
- Humans7
What did studies of Multivitamins find?
7Studies of Multivitamins measured 7 outcomes; the most studied are mortality (3 studies), liver cirrhosis (1) and liver-related mortality (1).
Mortality
no changein humans3HR 1
3 studies
Mortality
no changein humans3HR 1
Multivitamins have no effect on mortality in humans (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.88-1.12).
“post-diagnostic multivitamin use was not associated with risk of lethal prostate cancer (HR [95% CI], 0.98 [0.74-1.30]) or all-cause mortality (1.00 [0.88-1.12])”
Humansmen with nonmetastatic prostate cancermedian follow-up of 11 yearsmalesn = 4,756
British journal of cancer
Multivitamins have no effect on mortality in humans (RR = 0.94, 95% CI:0.87-1.01 (females); RR = 0.96, 95% CI:0.91-1.00 (males)).
“Multivitamin use was not associated with lower all-cause mortality risk in all female (RR = 0.94, 95% CI:0.87-1.01 daily vs. no use) or male cancer survivors (RR = 0.96, 95% CI:0.91-1.00)”
Humansdaily vs. no use
Multivitamin use and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in cancer survivors
British journal of cancer
Multivitamins have no effect on mortality in humans.
“There were no statistically significant associations of pre- or postdiagnosis multivitamin use with all-cause, colorectal cancer-specific, or noncolorectal cancer mortality.”
Humanscolorectal cancer survivors
JNCI cancer spectrum
Liver cirrhosis
no changein humans1
1 study
Liver cirrhosis
no changein humans1
Multivitamins have no effect on liver cirrhosis in humans.
“No significant reduction was found for liver-related mortality or liver cirrhosis incidence.”
Humansin individuals with MASLD7 years
Scientific reports
Liver-related mortality
no changein humans1
1 study
Liver-related mortality
no changein humans1
Multivitamins have no effect on liver-related mortality in humans.
“No significant reduction was found for liver-related mortality or liver cirrhosis incidence.”
Humansin individuals with MASLD7 years
Scientific reports
Prostate cancer
no changein humans1HR 0.98
1 study
Prostate cancer
no changein humans1HR 0.98
Multivitamins have no effect on prostate cancer in humans (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.74-1.30).
“post-diagnostic multivitamin use was not associated with risk of lethal prostate cancer (HR [95% CI], 0.98 [0.74-1.30])”
Humansmen with nonmetastatic prostate cancermedian follow-up of 11 yearsmalesn = 4,756
British journal of cancer
Stroke
no changein humans1RR 1.02
1 study
Stroke
no changein humans1RR 1.02
Multivitamins have no effect on stroke in humans (RR 1.02, 95% CI 0.93-1.11).
“women who were current multivitamin users did not have a lower risk of incident total stroke compared to non-users [relative risk (RR) 1.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.93-1.11]”
Humans32 yearsfemalesn = 86,142
Multivitamin use and risk of stroke incidence and mortality amongst women
European journal of neurology
Breast cancer
no changein humans1RR 0.1
1 study
Breast cancer
no changein humans1RR 0.1
Multivitamins have no effect on breast cancer in humans (RR 0.10 (95% CI 0.60 to 1.63; p = 0.98), OR 1.00 (95% CI 0.51 to 1.00; p = 1.00)).
“multivitamin use was not significantly associated with the risk of breast cancer.”
Review3 to 10 yearsn = 355,080
Multivitamin supplement use and risk of breast cancer: a meta-analysis
The Annals of pharmacotherapy
Myocardial infarction
no changein humans1
1 study
Myocardial infarction
no changein humans1
Multivitamins have no effect on myocardial infarction in humans.
“In the CVD group, use of multivitamins alone or together with other supplements was not associated with MI.”
Humansin the CVD group10.2 y follow-upfemales
Multivitamin use and the risk of myocardial infarction: a population-based cohort of Swedish women
The American journal of clinical nutrition
What is Multivitamins linked with?
7Studies link Multivitamins with 7 measures, most often chronic kidney disease (1 study), cardio-cerebrovascular disease (1) and mortality (1).
Chronic kidney disease
downin humans1HR 0.73
1 study
Chronic kidney disease
downin humans1HR 0.73
Multivitamins lower the risk of chronic kidney disease in humans (HR: 0.73, 95% CI 0.67-0.81, P < 0.001).
“Multivitamin use was also associated with the lower risk of CVD (HR: 0.72, 95% CI 0.68-0.76, P < 0.001) and CKD (HR: 0.73, 95% CI 0.67-0.81, P < 0.001) in the MASLD cohort.”
Humansin individuals with MASLD7 years
Scientific reports
Cardio-cerebrovascular disease
downin humans1HR 0.72
1 study
Cardio-cerebrovascular disease
downin humans1HR 0.72
Multivitamins lower the risk of cardio-cerebrovascular disease in humans (HR: 0.72, 95% CI 0.68-0.76, P < 0.001).
“Multivitamin use was also associated with the lower risk of CVD (HR: 0.72, 95% CI 0.68-0.76, P < 0.001) and CKD (HR: 0.73, 95% CI 0.67-0.81, P < 0.001) in the MASLD cohort.”
Humansin individuals with MASLD7 years
Scientific reports
Mortality
downin humans1HR 0.94
1 study
Mortality
downin humans1HR 0.94
Multivitamins lower the risk of mortality in humans (HR: 0.94, 95% CI 0.88-1.00, P = 0.037).
“Multivitamin users showed a significantly lower all-cause mortality risk in the MASLD cohort both before (HR: 0.88, 95% CI 0.81-0.95, P = 0.034) and after (HR: 0.94, 95% CI 0.88-1.00, P = 0.037) IPTW adjustment.”
Humansin individuals with MASLD7 years
Scientific reports
Cancer-specific mortality
downin humans1RR 0.65
1 study
Cancer-specific mortality
downin humans1RR 0.65
Multivitamins lower the risk of cancer-specific mortality in humans (RR = 0.65, 95% CI:0.48-0.88 (skin); RR = 0.79, 95% CI:0.65-0.95 (breast)).
“Multivitamin use was also associated with a lower risk of cancer-specific mortality in survivors of skin (RR = 0.65, 95% CI:0.48-0.88) and breast (RR = 0.79, 95% CI:0.65-0.95) cancer.”
Humanssurvivors of skin and breast cancer
Multivitamin use and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in cancer survivors
British journal of cancer
Cardiovascular mortality
downin humans1RR 0.75
1 study
Cardiovascular mortality
downin humans1RR 0.75
Multivitamins lower the risk of cardiovascular mortality in humans (RR = 0.75, 95% CI:0.61-0.92).
“a modest inverse association for CVD mortality was observed in female survivors of reproductive cancers (RR = 0.75, 95% CI:0.61-0.92) and male survivors of non-reproductive cancers (RR = 0.81, 95% CI:0.70-0.94)”
Humansfemale survivors of reproductive cancersfemales
Multivitamin use and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in cancer survivors
British journal of cancer
Myocardial infarction
downin humans1HR 0.73
1 study
Myocardial infarction
downin humans1HR 0.73
Multivitamins lower the risk of myocardial infarction in humans (HR 0.73 (95% CI: 0.57, 0.93)).
“In the CVD-free group, use of multivitamins only, compared with no use of supplements, was associated with a multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.73 (95% CI: 0.57, 0.93).”
Humanswith no history of cardiovascular diseasemultivitamins only10.2 y follow-upfemales
Multivitamin use and the risk of myocardial infarction: a population-based cohort of Swedish women
The American journal of clinical nutrition
Breast cancer
upin humans1RR 1.19
1 study
Breast cancer
upin humans1RR 1.19
Multivitamins raise the risk of breast cancer in humans (RR 1.19, 95% CI 1.04–1.37).
“The multivariable RR of women who reported the use of multivitamins was 1.19 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.37).”
Humans9.5 yfemalesn = 35,329
Multivitamin use and breast cancer incidence in a prospective cohort of Swedish women
The American journal of clinical nutrition
Funding
1 grant since 2021National Institute on AgingUS$688.3k