[troutman]

Originally Posted by puckluck2

Because science has proven over and over that multi vitamins have wonderful positive effects.

Show, don't tell. I'm not aware of a landslide of quality positive studies, and I have looked.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?s=vitamins

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/...-multivitamin/

The Medical Letter is an independent unbiased source written by a group of experts who review all the literature and provide periodic updates. Their most recent review of vitamin supplements (Vol 47 No 1213, p.57-8, July 18, 2005) concluded,

Supplements are necessary to assure adequate intake of folic acid in young women and possibly of vitamins D and B12 in the elderly. There is no convincing evidence that taking supplements of vitamin C prevents any disease except scurvy. Women should not take vitamin A supplements during pregnancy or after menopause. No one should take high dose beta carotene supplements. A balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables may be safer than taking vitamin supplements. No biologically active substance taken for a long term can be assumed to be free of risk.

That’s it. That’s all science has to say about vitamins for the general population. Of course there are specific indications for individual patients with various health conditions.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/...and-mortality/

As is typical of observational studies, the results are somewhat mixed, depending upon the details of how such studies are conducted. There are also many variables to consider – which vitamins and which doses in which populations with what health conditions. There is therefore a great deal of noise in the data. I do not think we can conclude that the vitamins listed above actually increase risk of mortality. But neither can we conclude that there is any health benefit for routine supplementation. Years of research have failed to provide such evidence, and the mixed results we are seeing is consistent with there being no or only a small effect.

Based upon the totality of evidence the best current recommendation is to have a well-rounded diet with sufficient fruits and vegetables, which should be able to provide most people with all the micronutrients they require. There is no evidence to support routine supplementation. There is also reason to avoid taking megadoses of vitamins, as this can cause toxicity, and even short of toxicity the evidence becomes more compelling at higher doses of the risks of supplementation.

But there are also many situations in which targeted supplementation is evidence-based and appropriate.