The real news is there aren’t enough studies to provide any conclusive evidence either for or against.
Studies are expensive so if there isn’t a pay off somewhere they aren’t conducted.
Some people swear by them and I figure if you think they help you then take them. Pretty cheap therapy. The present theory is your body rids itself of excess water soluble vitamins so it doesn’t pay to take more than the RDA. I’m not so sure.
I have a very old book where someone collected all the studies on vitamins they could find–it’s fascinating. Many have very limited patients (for example, those who have stomach surgery and how fast they heal afterwards by taking certain vitamins). Most of these studies would be discounted now because of limited data or not being as controlled a study as maybe it should be. Interesting reading though.
I take supplements daily (quite a few) and have for years. I can tell the days I miss (travel, crazy schedule) - I don’t know if they make me “healthier” in the long run, but I certainly FEEL better with them.
Dunno, we went away for 3 weeks and didn’t take many of the supplements. H said he had more joint pain and inflammation than usual. This trip, we brought along and took 5 of our supplements and H didn’t have the pain.
We have been adding supplements as we age. We take a slew of them:
Bio-Astin
Tumeric with pepper (recommended by D’s rheumatologist)
Coconut oil
Vitamin E
Vitamin D (my level is low)
Multivitamin
Ocuvite (seems to have helped out night vision)
Calcium
I take about 6 different supplements over the course of a day. How I feel when I don’t take them is also my litmus test. All I know is that when I neglect my supplements for more than 2 days I have much less energy. So I am sticking with them.
Wouldn’t exposing some skin to sunlight for a few minutes be the easiest and cheapest way to get a vitamin D supplement?
CoQ10 is one more I take.
Both H and I have extensive exposure to Sun but Vitamen D deficiency. As we age, out bodies are less efficient at absorbing D from the sun.
“Wouldn’t exposing some skin to sunlight for a few minutes be the easiest and cheapest way to get a vitamin D supplement?”
Easier said than done. Ask 80% of Seattle residents who are bit D deficient. 
Vit. D is cheap and the capsules are small. Easy to supplement. Much easier than handling the consequences of rickets.
Supplements seem suitable for those who are willing to study them, without ideological premises, in their full complexity. For example, Vitamin E comes in two major types (tocopherols and tocotrienols), which further divide into four fractions each. Since supplementation with only a single fraction of this vitamin can interfere with the dietary absorption of the other fractions, the overall effect of imbalanced supplementation can be negative in this and other examples, at least in theory. However, the benefits of a proper supplementation regimen may be both real and substantial, and therefore easily worth the discipline required in its creation.
As suggested above, vitamin D (in the D3 form) might be best taken seasonally/conditionally.
Sunscreen can keep you from getting benefit from the sun in Vit D production.
I take a multi vitamin and a cinnamon supplement daily. The cinnamon regulates my blood sugar. I can tell when I haven’t taken it, I start craving cookies and have a hard time leaving them alone. The cravings go away when I am consistent with the supplement.
Many of the things mentioned here are mostly benign. Placebo effect should not be underestimated. Other things, like a multivitamin are useless and can be drain on one’s budget. Think about it… can one reasonably formulate a number of oil-soluble and water-soluble compounds in one tiny, solid pill? Some of those maybe not very compatible with others or can decompose upon typical household storage.
There’s no proof either way, if supplements are worth it, but I take a multi vitamin most days. I also eat a healthy diet and exercise.
I don’t think $15 +/- for 200 tablets is going to drain my budget.
I take vitamin D (I was tested deficient and my doctors says most women over 50 are, but I’m not sure I feel any difference) and magnesium (definitely helps, otherwise I start having leg cramps).
There are certain foods I just don’t eat and my multivitamin helps make up for that. I can go days without any dairy and I rarely eat red meat. I do tend to get deficient in iron, so the multivitamin helps with that and also with getting calcium.
I take a daily multivitamin and an iron supplement (my iron levels were dangerously low when tested by my PCP). I can definitely tell when I miss the iron, but not so much the multi.
Well, my dad is 96 and swears that vitamins have kept him going. Not going to argue.
@BunsenBurner " Other things, like a multivitamin are useless and can be drain on one’s budget. Think about it… can one reasonably formulate a number of oil-soluble and water-soluble compounds in one tiny, solid pill? "
You may say no on multi-vits, but they put folic acid in a tiny pill, Vit D capsules to raise levels, B vitamins ,iron pills that raise levels that have definite effects then yes. And it would be GREAT if it was a TINY pill–most of them are huge. And honestly for all the things that drain budgets I think vitamins might be a better investment.
Here’s a summary of research on Vitamin D –
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vitamins/vitamin-d/
I take calcium & Vit D at different times during the day.
“You may say no on multi-vits, but they put folic acid in a tiny pill, Vit D capsules to raise levels, B vitamins ,iron pills that raise levels that have definite effects then yes. And it would be GREAT if it was a TINY pill–most of them are huge. And honestly for all the things that drain budgets I think vitamins might be a better investment.”
My comment was specifically directed to multivitamins. Formulation does not mean a mixture. Formulation means making your API bioavailable and stable to storage conditions. Do you know how fast Vit A decomposes when exposed to air? There is a reason it is called and anti-oxidant. My point is that yes, while the vitamins and minerals you mention can be individually formulated into a small capsule or even a horse pill, it is next to impossible to efficiently formulate a mix of such a large number of not always compatible organic and inorganic compounds. So no, I am keeping my thumbs down on multivitamins. I do think that D, B, iron, calcium, and certain other supplements can be beneficial. Just not a pill that has A through Zinc.