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Does a daily multivitamin help you live longer?

What you hear: “Taking a multivitamin every day keeps you healthy and adds years to your life.”

What the studies found

In a trial of 14,641 male US doctors followed for about 11 years, a daily multivitamin did not reduce heart attacks, strokes or heart deaths (hazard ratio 1.01) and did not significantly change death rates, though total cancers were 8% lower. The US Preventive Services Task Force concluded in 2022 that evidence is insufficient to say whether multivitamins prevent heart disease or cancer. A 2024 NIH study following 390,124 healthy US adults for up to 27 years found daily users were not less likely to die, and had a 4% higher death rate in the first half of follow-up (an observed link, not proof of harm). In the COSMOS trial, adults over 60 who took a multivitamin for 2 to 3 years scored slightly better on memory tests, roughly equal to 2 years less brain aging.

Take care: The Task Force recommends against beta carotene and vitamin E supplements for preventing heart disease or cancer, because beta carotene's harms outweigh its benefits.

What you could do

A basic multivitamin is a reasonable safety net if your diet has gaps, but a varied diet matters far more than the pill.

See it in the habit library, with what it means for your own longevity score.

Not medical advice. General information from published studies, not a diagnosis or a treatment plan. Talk with your doctor before starting a supplement or changing a medicine, especially if you are pregnant, take other medicines or have a health condition.

How we judged it

Partly true: Some truth, but oversold as usually said. We judge the claim as it is usually said online, not the habit itself. Trials assign people at random, so they can show cause; observed studies follow people and show a link, not proof. Last checked: October 2026.

The studies, in their own words

1. Sesso et al. JAMA 2012 (PHS II, heart)

   Compared with placebo, there was no significant effect of a daily multivitamin on major cardiovascular events (11.0 and 10.8 events per 1000 person-years for multivitamin vs placebo, respectively; hazard ratio [HR], 1.01; 95% CI, 0.91-1.10; P = .91).

2. Gaziano et al. JAMA 2012 (PHS II, cancer)

   Compared with placebo, men taking a daily multivitamin had a statistically significant reduction in the incidence of total cancer (multivitamin and placebo groups, 17.0 and 18.3 events, respectively, per 1000 person-years; hazard ratio [HR], 0.92; 95% CI, 0.86-0.998; P=.04).

3. US Preventive Services Task Force. JAMA 2022

   The USPSTF concludes that the evidence is insufficient to determine the balance of benefits and harms of supplementation with multivitamins for the prevention of cardiovascular disease or cancer.

4. Loftfield et al. JAMA Netw Open 2024

   MV use was not associated with lower all-cause mortality risk in the first (multivariable-adjusted HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.07) or second (multivariable-adjusted HR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.99-1.08) halves of follow-up.

5. Vyas et al. Am J Clin Nutr 2024 (COSMOS)

   The meta-analysis of COSMOS substudies showed clear evidence of MVM benefits on global cognition [mean difference (95% CI) = 0.07 SU (0.03, 0.11); P = 0.0009] and episodic memory [mean difference (95% CI) = 0.06 SU (0.03, 0.10); P = 0.0007]; the magnitude of effect on global cognition was equivalent to reducing cognitive aging by 2 y.

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