. . . Older Iowan women do just as well or better without taking a multi The first study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, followed almost 39,000 women for 19 years. The women were age 55-69 when the study began. By the study's end, about 40% of them had died: 41% of multivitamin users died compared to 40% of non-users. Similar close comparisons were found for women taking or not taking individual nutrients; sometimes the supplement-takers came out a little ahead, and sometimes the non-supplement-takers fared a bit better. Not a big difference, and a far cry from proof that supplements increase the risk of death (as implied by some media headlines reporting this study). At the same time, these results are not encouraging if you're spending your hard-earned money on supplements hoping to improve your chances of a long, healthy life. There've been many criticisms of this study, which has been called a good example of "junk science," but here's the main problem: all the dat…