However, smokers who take beta-carotene supplements to prevent lung cancer are likely to experience the opposite effect.

The guideline evaluated the benefits of single or combined vitamin supplements such as beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin D, calcium, vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin B12, vitamin B3, vitamin B6 and selenium for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer and for the reduction mortality. And it came to the aforementioned conclusions.

In an editorial accompanying the guideline, Jeffrey A. Linder, MD, chief of general internal medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, along with his colleagues, stated that instead of spending money on and paying attention to supplements, low-risk, high-impact activities should be emphasized. Examples include a healthy diet, exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, and avoiding tobacco use.

It makes people wonder if buying health supplements is really a waste of money and harmful to their bodies. After all, not everyone can enjoy a well-balanced meal on a regular basis.

In this regard, Titan Lin, nutritionist and CEO of Learneating Co. Ltd, said that the intake of a single nutrient supplement often involves high doses; but supplementing a combination of vitamins is much safer.

On the other hand, a balanced diet can indeed reduce cancer and cardiovascular risks, and eating natural foods can supplement multiple nutrients at the same time.

However, some nutrients are more difficult to obtain in effective doses from food, such as fish oil, and can therefore be supplemented with supplements.

There are also a number of factors that make it necessary for people to obtain essential nutrients from supplements.

USPSTF recommends that pregnant women take a daily supplement of 0.4 to 0.8 mg (400 to 800 mcg) of folic acid to prevent congenital neural tube defects in infants.

Lack of vitamin B12 can affect memory, but vitamin B12 is mostly found in animal-based foods. And long-term vegetarians are prone to vitamin B12 deficiencies and need to take supplements.

In addition, the supplementation of astaxanthin, sesamin, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and other non-essential nutrients still brings some benefits.

If it is relatively difficult to obtain them from food, we can also choose supplements. For instance, people who are stressed and have poor sleep quality can supplement sesamin and GABA; and people who work too much and have sore eyes can supplement astaxanthin.

Lin pointed out that the advantage of vitamin and other nutrient supplements is that they can quickly supplement the needed effective doses, or when people really have difficulty improving their diet, they can get the nutrients they need from supplements.

However, he stressed that “you can’t think that you don’t have to have a balanced diet if you take supplements.”