Do Dietary Supplements Lower Mortality Risk?

Use of dietary supplements does not appear to be associated with mortality benefits, according to the results of a recent study.

Despite widespread use, the health benefits of consuming dietary supplements are controversial.

In order to evaluate the effects of dietary supplement use on mortality rates among US adults, the researchers conducted a prospective cohort study using data from 30,899 individuals who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999 to 2010).

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Participants answered survey questions regarding dietary supplement use in the previous 30 days and levels of nutrient intake from food and supplements. Outcomes included all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer.

During a median follow-up of 6.1 years, 3613 of the participants died. Of these, 945 were CVD-related and 805 were cancer-related. While adequate intake of vitamin A, vitamin K, magnesium, zinc, and copper was associated with reduced all-cause or CVD-related mortality, the associations were limited to nutrients from food intake.

Further, excess calcium intake was associated with increased risk of cancer-related death (adjusted rate ratio 1.62), which appeared to be related to calcium supplement intake (adjusted rate ratio 1.53 for ≥1000 mg/d vs no use).

“Use of dietary supplements is not associated with mortality benefits among US adults,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Chen F, Du M, Blumberg JB, et al. Association among dietary supplement use, nutrient intake, and mortality among US adults: a cohort study [published online April 9, 2019]. Ann Intern Med. doi: 10.7326/M18-2478