Multiple dietary supplement users have overall better health

A study published in the peer- reviewed Nutrition Journal (October 24, 2007) reveals that people who used multiple supplements for at least 20 years were in over-all better health than both non-supplement users and individuals who only consumed a multivitamin/mineral supplement. This first-ever study on long-term users of multiple dietary supplements found them comparatively to have markedly better health.

The objective of the study was to describe the dietary supplement usage patterns, health, and the nutritional status of long-term multiple dietary supplement users, and to make appropriate comparisons to matched single multivitamin supplement users and nonusers of supplements. Using a cross- sectional design, information was obtained from online questionnaires and on- site physical examinations from a sample of long-term users of multiple dietary supplements from a single dietary supplement supplier.

The group of 278 long-term multiple dietary supplement users consumed a broad array of vitamin/mineral, herbal, and condition-specific dietary supplements on a daily basis for at least 20 years. As a group, they were 73% less likely to have diabetes and 39% less likely to have elevated blood pressure than non-users. Also, this group was less likely to have suboptimal blood nutrient concentrations, and more likely to have favorable levels of key biomarkers including serum homocysteine, C-reactive protein, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides than either non-users or multivitamin/mineral users.