The Multivitamin, From Wartime Pills to the Daily Habit

The vitamin pill came of age during World War II, and the large trials of the daily multivitamin since 1997 have found modest results. The Physicians' Health Study II found a small drop in total cancer, and a later COSMOS analysis found no significant reduction in COVID-19 incidence.

Jump to: - [Metagen and the first pills](#metagen-put-vitamins-in-front-of-doctors-in-1920) - [The 1941 nutrition push](#the-1941-nutrition-push-put-vitamins-on-the-table) - [B-complex pills in the 1940s](#b-complex-pills-reached-millions-in-the-1940s) - [The Physicians' Health Study II](#the-physicians-health-study-ii-tested-the-daily-habit-in-men) - [COSMOS](#cosmos-added-covid-19-and-blood-marker-results) - [What a current label lists](#what-a-current-label-lists) The daily multivitamin reached shoppers more than fifty years before the large trials that tested it began, and those trials have found modest results. The Science History Institute describes the vitamin pill as having come of age during World War II ([Science History Institute](https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/vitamins-come-to-dinner/)). ## Metagen put vitamins in front of doctors in 1920 In 1920, Parke-Davis launched Metagen, a five-grain (325 mg) capsule of "Concentrated Vitamine Extracts" that purportedly held all the vitamins then known. It was meant to be prescribed by a doctor and was advertised to the medical profession. Patent and proprietary medicine makers pitched vitamin pills straight to consumers. One early product, Mastin's Vitamon Tablets, held three vitamins along with iron, calcium and phosphorus. The article calls it perhaps the first multiple vitamin-and-mineral tablet on the market. ## The 1941 nutrition push put vitamins on the table In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the National Nutrition Conference for Defense to address the inadequacies of the American diet. Early that year, the first table of recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) listed daily requirements for six vitamins and two minerals. The same year, FDA issued regulations governing the labeling of fortified food and vitamin and mineral supplements. Under those rules, a label that made a specific vitamin or mineral claim had to show the percent of the "minimum daily requirements" for that nutrient ([Institute of Medicine, 2003](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK208873/)). Flour enrichment began in the late 1930s, and the War Food Administration mandated it in 1943. By 1942, thiamine cost 53 cents a gram, down from $300 a gram in 1935, and the industry could synthesize vitamins on an industrial scale by the eve of World War II. The Science History Institute says vitamin pills came of age in a country preoccupied with economic depression and war, and grew with a return to prosperity and a consumer-oriented culture. ## B-complex pills reached millions in the 1940s B vitamins were little understood until the mid-1930s, when components including thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, B6 and calcium pantothenate were isolated and synthesized. By the early 1940s, pills named Vimms, Stams and Benefax were distributed in millions. Stams held five B-complex vitamins, vitamins A, C and D, and nine minerals, which the article counts as seventeen ingredients. Vitamin B12 came in 1955, which the article calls the point where the multivitamin pill was nearly complete. ## The Physicians' Health Study II tested the daily habit in men According to PubMed, the Physicians' Health Study II randomized 14,641 male US physicians, initially aged 50 or older, to a daily multivitamin or placebo. The trial began in 1997 and followed men through June 1, 2011, a median of 11.2 years ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.14641)). Total cancer was the primary outcome. The multivitamin group had 17.0 total cancer events per 1,000 person-years, against 18.3 in the placebo group, a hazard ratio of 0.92 (95% CI 0.86 to 0.998; P = .04). The authors concluded that the daily multivitamin modestly but significantly reduced the risk of total cancer. The other outcomes were flat. Prostate cancer had a hazard ratio of 0.98 (95% CI 0.88 to 1.09), colorectal cancer 0.89 (95% CI 0.68 to 1.17), and cancer mortality 0.88 (95% CI 0.77 to 1.01; P = .07). Men with a cancer history had a larger drop (hazard ratio 0.73), but that was not significantly different from men without one. A 2015 review in Postgraduate Medicine by Mary Hardy and Karen Duvall set this result against randomized trials of individual vitamins or small combinations. According to PubMed, those trials had largely shown a neutral effect on cancer risk, and in some cases an adverse one ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1080/00325481.2015.993284)). ## COSMOS added COVID-19 and blood-marker results According to PubMed, the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study (COSMOS) was a 2 by 2 factorial trial of a daily multivitamin-mineral supplement and a cocoa extract in older US adults ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877261489739)). It ran from June 2015 to December 2020 and enrolled 21,442 United States adults. According to PubMed, a 2026 secondary analysis in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looked at COVID-19 during 2020. The hazard ratio for COVID-19 incidence was 0.93 (95% CI 0.81 to 1.07), and the authors report no significant reduction. Among 338 cases with detailed symptom data, the odds ratio for symptomatic COVID-19 was 0.70 (95% CI 0.44 to 1.11). In per-protocol analysis of participants who took their study pills, it was 0.60 (95% CI 0.37 to 0.99). The authors conclude that the multivitamin does not significantly reduce incidence among older adults, but shows a promising signal for lowering the odds of symptomatic illness ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101355)). A separate 2026 ancillary study measured two-year changes in three blood-based markers of neurodegeneration: neurofilament light, an N-terminal tau fragment and oligomeric amyloid-beta. The multivitamin group did not differ significantly from placebo on any of them. The analysis included 506 participants with NfL or tau data and 498 with amyloid-beta data ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877261489739)). ## What a current label lists Over half of Americans took some dietary supplement in the 2003 to 2006 surveys, and multivitamins and minerals were the most popular, according to the Science History Institute. [Women's Multi with KSM-66 Ashwagandha](https://mtangelvitamins.com/products/womens-multi-cap-60ct?utm_source=learn_hub&utm_medium=content&utm_campaign=blog_post&utm_content=history-of-the-multivitamin-from-wartime-pills-to-daily-habit), one of our daily multivitamins, lists 23 vitamins and minerals in a 2-capsule serving, with 30 servings per 60-capsule bottle. Its Supplement Facts panel shows eight B vitamins: thiamin (5 mg), riboflavin (5 mg), niacinamide (50 mg NE), vitamin B6 (5 mg), folate as calcium folinate (680 mcg DFE), vitamin B12 as methylcobalamin (25 mcg), biotin (1,000 mcg) and pantothenic acid (20 mg). It also lists vitamin D3 at 25 mcg, 300 mg of KSM-66 ashwagandha extract, 50 mg of coenzyme Q10, and no iron. Calcium is 13 mg, magnesium 20 mg and potassium 40 mg per serving. If a mineral dose matters to you, our [magnesium monograph](/ingredients/magnesium) covers the mineral itself. The [vitamin D complete guide](/health/vitamin-d-complete-guide) covers vitamin D, and our [iron history](/blog/history/history-of-iron-supplements-and-the-ferritin-test) covers the iron story. ## Bottom line Read the Supplement Facts panel before the front of the bottle. The trials so far show modest results, so treat any claim that a multivitamin prevents a named disease with suspicion. ## Frequently asked questions ### When did multivitamin tablets first reach ordinary shoppers? No first-sale date appears in the sources we checked. They do show Metagen, a 1920 capsule aimed at doctors, and millions of Vimms, Stams and Benefax pills distributed by the early 1940s. ### Who made the early multivitamin tablets, and what was in them? According to the Science History Institute, Parke-Davis made Metagen. Francis B. Mastin's Vitamon held three vitamins with iron, calcium and phosphorus, and Standard Brands made Stams, with five B-complex vitamins, vitamins A, C and D, and nine minerals. ### What did the Physicians' Health Study II find? According to PubMed, a daily multivitamin modestly but significantly reduced total cancer among 14,641 male physicians (hazard ratio 0.92). Prostate and colorectal cancer showed no significant effect, and neither did cancer mortality (P = .07) ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.14641)). ### Did COSMOS find that a multivitamin reduces COVID-19? No. The hazard ratio for COVID-19 incidence was 0.93 (95% CI 0.81 to 1.07). The authors describe a promising signal for symptomatic illness ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101355)). ### Did COSMOS find changes in blood markers of neurodegeneration? No. According to PubMed, two-year changes did not differ significantly from placebo for neurofilament light, the N-terminal tau fragment or oligomeric amyloid-beta ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877261489739)). ### How do multivitamin trials differ from single-nutrient trials? A 2015 review by Hardy and Duvall covered randomized trials of individual vitamins, a few select vitamins and complete multivitamin-mineral supplements ([DOI](https://doi.org/10.1080/00325481.2015.993284)). The single-vitamin and small-combination trials had largely shown a neutral effect on cancer risk, and sometimes an adverse one. ## Next reads - [Who Found Vitamin B12, and the Liver Cure That Started It All](/blog/history/history-of-vitamin-b12-from-liver-cure-to-cobalamin): the B12 story behind the B12 on this label. - [Folate and Folic Acid: From 1930s Bombay to Fortified Bread](/blog/history/history-of-folate-from-lucy-wills-to-fortified-bread): the folate story behind the calcium folinate on this label. ### Related reading - [the 1940s vitamin pill and fortified food](/blog/history/history-of-food-fortification-from-iodized-salt-to-folic-acid-flour) - [the 1941 RDA table and the vitamin pill](/blog/history/history-of-the-recommended-dietary-allowance-from-1941-to-daily-value) - [the B-complex pills of the 1940s](/blog/history/history-of-the-b-complex-from-one-factor-to-eight)