Vitamin supplements can increase cancer and heart disease risk, study finds

A ten-year study out of the US has found that taking above the recommended doses of dietary supplements, such as the common multivitamin, could be doing "more harm than good" for the body.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center found that people who took high-dose or extra vitamins and minerals were more likely to have health problems.

Taking too many pills touted as health boosters was also seen to raise risks of developing cancer and heart disease by more than 20 percent, the study said.

After reviewing several trials involving thousands of patients over a decade, the researchers recommend people get their vitamins from a healthy diet rather than pills.