Can Taking Vitamins Help Prevent Weight Gain?

According to at least two large investigations, there may be a direct correlation between obesity and the lack of several nutritional elements found in common vitamin regimens. 

Dear Health Enthusiast,

One study investigated long-term (10-year) use of 14 nutritional supplements marketed as weight control aids among individuals aged 53 to 57 years.  A form of statistical analysis known as linear regression was used to create representations of 10-year weight change among study subjects divided into categories according to sex and body mass index.  The resulting statistical models were controlled for race, education, caloric intake, physical activity, weight at age 45 years, and smoking history.  Among overweight and obese men and women, long-term use of multivitamins in general, vitamins B6 and B12 in particular, as well as the trace mineral chromium was significantly associated with lower levels of weight gain and, in the case of obese men and chromium, it was actually associated with a slight weight loss.

A second recent study compared serum and blood vitamin concentrations in morbidly obese individuals with those of normal weighted individuals.  Investigators found low concentrations of vitamin C, vitamin B6, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and vitamin E among the obese group.2  Though this study did not directly address supplementation, it adds to a growing body of evidence that obesity is a multifactorial disease paradoxically associated with many forms of nutrient deficiency.

REFERENCES

1.  Nachtigal MC, Patterson RE, Stratton KL, Adams LA, Shattuck AL, White E. Dietary supplements and weight control in a middle-age population. J Altern Complement Med. 2005 Oct;11(5):909-15.
2. Aasheim ET, Hofso D, Hjelmessaeth J. Birkeland Kl, Bohmer T. Vitamin status in morbidly obese patients: a cross-sectional study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Feb;87(2):362-9.

Yours for better health,

Chris Lydon, M.D.

Contributor and Editor