Men Should Swap Multivitamins for Vitamin D, Says Harvard Health Watch

Feb. 28, 2008 - Although physician-scientists and supplement manufacturers are often at odds, they don’t spend much time sparring over multivitamins. In fact, half the physicians on the Harvard Men’s Health Watch advisory board report taking a multivitamin themselves.

In recent years, Harvard Men’s Health Watch has also endorsed these popular supplements, reasoning that even if they don’t help, they won’t hurt. However, the March 2008 issue of the newsletter states that a reappraisal of that advice is in order.

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Harvard Men’s Health Watch notes that some recent studies have linked multivitamin use to prostate cancer. More convincingly, studies have linked high intakes of folic acid to colon polyps, the precursors of colorectal cancer.

Researchers speculate that high intakes of folic acid, which was first added to grain products in the 1990s, may have contributed to an increase in colorectal cancers in the mid-1990s.

What does all of this have to do with multivitamins? Now that folic acid is added to so many grain products, it’s easy to see how a healthy diet, combined with a multivitamin, could boost a person’s daily intake to 1,000 mcg or more, potentially increasing the risk of colorectal and possibly prostate and breast cancers.

In light of this research, Harvard Men’s Health Watch suggests that the average man give up the multivitamin, at least until scientists solve the puzzle of folic acid and cancer.

However, if you stop taking a multivitamin, consider taking a vitamin D supplement, the newsletter says. The typical diet for most men and women doesn’t supply enough of this crucial vitamin, and while sun exposure boosts vitamin D production, it has health risks of its own.

Also in this issue:

● Lifestyle changes for heartburn
● Causes of changing PSA levels
● On Call: Toenail fungus infections

Harvard Men’s Health Watch is available from Harvard Health Publications, the publishing division of Harvard Medical School, for $24 per year. Subscribe at www.health.harvard.edu/men or by calling 1-877-649-9457 (toll-free).

More links to archived stories below:

Vitamin D Does Not Deter Cancer Deaths but Does Reduce Colon Cancer Risk

Highly hyped vitamin D takes a blow from massive study but not dead yet

Oct. 30, 2007

Vitamin D Supplements Appear to Lower Death Risk from Any Cause

Editorial: ‘moderate sun exposure, food fortification with vitamin D and higher-dose vitamin D supplements for adults need to be debated’

Sept. 11, 2007

Adequate Vitamin D3 Could Prevent 600,000 Breast, Colon Cancer Cases

Aug. 22, 2007

Report Highlights Benefits of Vitamin D Supplements for Senior Citizens

Aug. 20, 2007

Calcium, Vitamin D, Magnesium in Milk Reduce Risk of Type 2 Diabetes