A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined 31,671 women ages 49 to 83 with no history of cardiovascular disease to ascertain if a multivitamin supplement reduced the risk of a heart attack.
Researchers found that compared to women who did not use a multivitamin, women who did use a multivitamin reduced their risk of heart attack by 37 percent. Furthermore, those using a multivitamin for at least five years were found to have a 41 percent lower risk of a heart attack.
The authors concluded, that “the use of multivitamins was inversely associated [with heart attacks], especially long-term use among women with no cardiovascular disease.”
This study showed that a multivitamin supplement not only reduced the short-term risk of heart attacks in adult women, it also showed that women who took a multivitamin for at least five years had significantly lowered risk of a heart attack.
A good multivitamin product is a necessity in today’s world. Over the last 30 years, our food supply has become depleted of basic nutrients. Unfortunately, there are many poor-quality multivitamin supplements available.
So how can you tell if a multivitamin is of good quality?
You need to read labels. A good multivitamin should not contain any of the following:
• Soy
• Sugars
• Artificial sweeteners
• Synthetic vitamins
Yet many common over-the-counter multivitamins contain all of those substances. Beware of very inexpensive multivitamins — many times you get what you pay for!