Heart protection: Food supplements are ineffective
Lisa Vogel studied departmental journalism with a focus on medicine and biosciences at Ansbach University and deepened her journalistic knowledge in the master's degree in multimedia information and communication. This was followed by a traineeship in the editorial team. Since September 2020 she has been writing as a freelance journalist for
More posts by Lisa Vogel All content is checked by medical journalists.Just swallow a few pills to protect your heart? Unfortunately it's not that easy. Dietary supplements with vitamins and minerals do not protect against heart attacks or strokes. The German Society for Neurology (DGN) and the German Stroke Society (DSG) point this out.
Food supplement with no effect
The occasion was a large overview study from the USA, which takes 3249 studies from the past decades into account. In total, data from more than two million participants flowed into it. The scientists working with Joonseok Kim from the University of Alabama came to the same result over and over again in various scenarios: taking the dietary supplements has no effect on the risk of heart disease and strokes.
"That is sobering and means that there is no benefit from such a measure for the general population," says Prof. Peter Berlit, DGN General Secretary and former chief physician of the Clinic for Neurology at the Alfried Krupp Hospital in Essen.
No nutrient deficit in Germany
Dietary supplements can be very useful if there is actually a corresponding deficiency. But the majority of the German population is already adequately supplied with nutrients. A balanced diet already provides all the important vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Food supplements are therefore usually superfluous, emphasizes the consumer advice center.
A healthy diet keeps the blood vessels fit
However, it has been clearly proven that a healthy diet with salad, fruit and vegetables counteracts dangerous vascular diseases, says Prof. Armin Grau. The chairman of the German Stroke Society continues: "Five servings a day are considered optimal". DGN and DSG advise consumers to invest their money in membership fees for sports clubs instead of expensive food supplements.
Heart conditions are the number one killer
Cardiovascular diseases are still the most common cause of death in Germany. In 2015, according to the Federal Statistical Office, they were the cause of death in more than a third of cases (38.5 percent). Coronary artery disease (76,013 deaths) and myocardial infarction (49,210) account for the largest share.
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