Multivitamins and other nutritional supplements can be helpful for people who are deficient in certain nutrients or who, for various reasons, are unable to meet their needs through diet alone. But can vitamins help fight cancer?
Supplements for Cancer Prevention
If you don’t currently have cancer, vitamins and supplements may seem like a smart way to prevent cancer. Unfortunately, there is a lack of evidence on vitamins and cancer prevention. The American Institute for Cancer Research recommends getting nutrients from food instead of supplements.
For example, eating one orange provides nearly all of your daily vitamin C needs and is a good source of dietary fiber and potassium, so eating an orange has many advantages over taking vitamin C supplements, which often contain far more vitamin C than you need.
Supplements during cancer treatment
Always talk to your healthcare provider before taking any vitamins or supplements during cancer treatment, as they may have adverse effects on your cancer treatment. These products may increase side effects or make certain treatments less effective. If you still want to take supplements, your doctor can determine if they are safe and recommend supplements to fill any nutritional gaps caused by your treatment.
Checking for Vitamin Deficiency
If you’re not sure if you’re deficient in a particular vitamin, ask your healthcare provider to check. If you are deficient, talk to a registered dietitian (RD) to find ways to increase your intake of necessary vitamins by changing your diet. For example, if you’re deficient in iron, an RD might recommend that you include more lean beef and legumes in your diet.
Taking vitamins safely
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends getting nutrients from food rather than supplements, but if you want to take supplements safely, you should read the label before buying a multivitamin and avoid products that contain more than 100% of the recommended daily intake of any of the listed nutrients.
The FDA does not approve the safety or effectiveness of supplements, so be an informed consumer and look for third-party validation testing from sources like NSF, USP, or ConsumerLab.
