Or as Paul Offit, chief of the infectious diseases division of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, wrote in The New York Times, vitamin manufacturers have successfully prevented the Food and Drug Administration from regulating the vitamin industry and informing the general population of whether not vitamins are safe in any way.

Because of that, he says, “consumers don’t know that taking megavitamins could increase their risk of cancer and heart disease and shorten their lives; they don’t know that they have been suffering too much of a good thing for too long.”

So the next time some well-meaning person asks you if you took your vitamins, you can happily respond, “Absolutely not.” Save some money.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/do-vitamins-work-2014-12#ixzz3L4qzhjd7