New research from Mass General Brigham suggests that taking a daily multivitamin might help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of developing hypertension — but only for certain older adults.
The findings come from a detailed analysis of data from a large health study called COSMOS (COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study).
The researchers studied over 8,900 older adults who did not have high blood pressure when the study began. These participants were randomly assigned to take either a daily multivitamin (Centrum Silver) or a placebo and were followed for a median of 3.4 years.
Overall, the researchers found no big difference in new cases of high blood pressure between the multivitamin group and the placebo group.
However, when the team looked more closely at certain subgroups, they noticed something interesting. People who started the study with lower-quality diets saw a small but meaningful benefit from taking a daily multivitamin.
In these individuals, the risk of developing high blood pressure was lower compared to those who took a placebo. Additionally, older adults who had normal blood pressure at the beginning of the study and took multivitamins daily experienced slight drops in their blood pressure levels over a two-year period.
The research team used tools like the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) and the Alternate Mediterranean Diet (aMED) score to measure how healthy participants’ diets were. These diet scores helped them identify which participants had poorer diets and might benefit more from added vitamins and minerals.
Dr. Rikuta Hamaya, one of the lead authors, explained that nutrition is a key part of managing blood pressure. For people who don’t get enough nutrients from their regular diet, a multivitamin might offer some help.
But he emphasized that it’s not a solution for everyone. Dr. Howard Sesso, another senior researcher, agreed that multivitamins are not a “one-size-fits-all” fix, but they might be helpful for specific groups of older adults who are at risk.
To support these findings, the researchers also studied two smaller groups of people (529 and 994 participants) and measured their blood pressure changes at clinics or at home. Again, they found small but significant improvements in blood pressure for people taking multivitamins — but mostly in those who had normal blood pressure when the study started.
While the findings are promising for some, the researchers caution that more studies are needed. They want to explore whether daily multivitamin use can help younger adults, middle-aged people, or those in different countries or with different health habits. There’s still a lot to learn about how vitamins and minerals affect long-term blood pressure health.
The study was published in the American Journal of Hypertension. It was led by researchers at Mass General Brigham, including Drs.
Hamaya and Sesso, with support from other institutions. Some support and study materials were provided by companies like Mars Incorporated and Pfizer Consumer Healthcare (now Haleon). The researchers disclosed funding sources and potential conflicts of interest in the publication.
In the end, while a multivitamin might not be a miracle pill for blood pressure, it could be a helpful tool — especially for older adults who do not eat a very healthy diet. This adds another piece to the puzzle in understanding how simple, affordable habits might support better health as we age.
If you care about high blood pressure, please read studies that early time-restricted eating could help improve blood pressure, and natural coconut sugar could help reduce blood pressure and artery stiffness.
For more health information, please see recent studies about added sugar in your diet linked to higher blood pressure, and results showing vitamin D could improve blood pressure in people with diabetes.
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