There is no association between regular multivitamin use by healthy adults and a lower risk of death, a large analysis of data from nearly 400,000 US adults followed for more than 20 years has found.

The results were adjusted for factors such as ethnicity, education and diet quality.

What did the research show?

Many adults in the US take multivitamins in hopes of improving their health. However, the benefits and harms of regular multivitamin use remain unclear.

The analysis showed that:

1. People who took daily multivitamins did not have a lower risk of dying from any cause than people who did not take multivitamins.

2. There were also no differences in mortality from cancer, heart disease, or cerebrovascular disease.

However, the researchers note that it is important to evaluate multivitamin use and risk of death in other populations as well, such as those with documented nutritional deficiencies, as well as the potential impact of regular multivitamin use on other aging-related health conditions.

The study, led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, was published in the journal JAMA Network Open.