Highlights
- Researchers conducted a rapid review of 19 meta-analyses on multivitamins and multimineral (MVM) supplementation and their health effects on different populations
- The review found benefits in Cognitive and psychological outcomes
- Mild positive effects on blood pressure and colorectal cancer
- Reduced risk of hip fractures
- Ultimately the review concludes that a universal MVM supplementation is not supported by the data. Instead, a personalized approach to supplementation would be more helpful.
A helpful review of many meta-analyses and some caveats on MVM supplementation
Millions of people around the world take a multivitamin and mineral (MVM) supplement daily hoping that it will extend their healthy years and possibly delay the onset of disease. A large review of meta-analyses from two research groups in Singapore and Amsterdam aimed to answer that question by analyzing a collection of published papers on clinical trials and observational studies. And the answer? A definite maybe!
First it is important to mention a big caveat: it is difficult to compare studies on MVM. There is a lot of variability in what qualifies as a multivitamin or multimineral (MVM) supplement because the number/type/dose of ingredients all vary from study to study. This makes cross-study comparisons difficult and may dilute or obscure true effects. Then there is the bias that often healthier people will take MVMs daily, who are also eating a healthy and balanced diet. This has the effect of making it look like someone does not improve from taking MVMs because additional supplementation over their already healthy diet does not improve health outcomes.
The mains findings of the review
That having said let’s delve into the review and see if we can derive any insights. The team reviewed 19 meta-analyses of MVM use with a total of 5.5 million participants across 19 meta-analyses published between 2000 and 2025. They synthesized both rigorous randomized controlled trials as well as less rigorous but still informative observational studies.
Cognitive and psychological outcomes:
- Improved global cognition and episodic memory in older adults and improved immediate recall in cognitively healthy adults.
- Reduced perception of stress, and mild psychiatric symptoms, anxiety, fatigue and confusion.
- Benefits were stronger with MVM that contained high dose B-vitamins
- There was no significant effect on depressive symptoms
Cancer risk:
- Slight (8%) reduction in colorectal cancer incidence
- No change in breast and prostate cancer incidence
- Cardiovascular health:
- Slight reduction in systolic blood pressure
- Blood pressure lowering benefit was stronger in people with hypertension or other chronic diseases
- But it did not change blood pressure in people with normal pressure, neither did it prevent the onset of hypertension
Infection risk:
- No change in risk of infection in older adults
- But there were fewer infections in people <65 years
- No effect on COVID-19 infections, ICU admission, hospital stay, oxygenation or mortality
Eye health:
- People taking MVMs had reduced cataracts
- No improvement in visual acuity in people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
- Surprisingly there seemed to be increased risk of AMD progression with greater MVM use
Bone health:
- 50% lower risk of hip fractures among people taking MVMs
Mortality:
- There was no change in all-cause mortality
- No change in cardiovascular or cancer mortality
The review ultimately concludes that a universal multivitamin that’s one size fits all, is not universally beneficial, but shows benefits in specific populations (older people, stressed young people etc.). So, a targeted and personalized approach to supplementation would be more beneficial. However, it is also worth asking whether there is a downside to taking a daily multivitamin in case supplementation is helpful for specific health conditions. Ultimately this should be an individual choice.
Wang, W., Wazny, V. K., Mahadzir, M. D. A., & Maier, A. B. (2026, January). Multivitamin and mineral use: A rapid review of meta-analyses on health outcomes. Ageing Research Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2025.102965