Healthy people without a known deficiency shouldn’t take dietary supplements. Neeta Lind

“This paper looks at the Iowa Women’s Health Study, which started in 1986, and prospectively examines mortality or death rates through to 2008.

“The average follow-up period was 19 years for each person. The subjects were older, post-menopausal women with an average age of 61 at the start of the study.

“I don’t know if this is a great paper because there are so many variables that the authors have corrected for: there were clear differences between the women who took the supplements and those who didn’t at baseline.

“The women who took the supplements were more likely to be non-smokers; they were twice as likely to be taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT); they had higher education levels and lower body-mass index; and they were more physically active.

“What’s more, they were different on every single measure of dietary intake that was reported in the paper.

“The authors have tried to correct for these differences with their analyses and found certain effects of the supplements.

“But I can’t find the absolute death rate in the paper in either of the two groups before the authors start their corrections. And you’ve got to be wary when people make corrections for a variety of variables.

“These are statistical corrections and there are ways to do them but they don’t allow for underlying factors.

“Women who are unwell, for instance, might start taking multi-vitamins or minerals. And they could die because they were unwell, not because of the multi-vitamins or minerals.  Click here to read the rest of the article … click here to read an article from the October 14, 2011 Harrisburg Patriot News.