Astoundingly, some doctors and defenders of old-school western medicine continue this line of dogma that belongs in the history books, not in modern medical science. One of the most misinformed yet popular family doctors continues to call vitamins "quackery," in fact, blatantly denying decades of undeniable evidence supporting the health benefits of nutritional supplements.
The question today isn't whether vitamins are helpful, it's more along the lines of what form of vitamins work best. And here's the short answer: synthetic vitamins should be avoided. Most cheaper-brand multivitamins are synthethic. Vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients should always be sourced from natural plant-based sources. In other words, your multivitamin should be made from whole foods, not from isolated chemicals that are similar to plant-based vitamins. Even if they share the exact same molecular structure, there's a qualitative difference that greatly impacts your health. This is why I've remained such a strong proponent of superfoods like spirulina and broccoli sprouts. You'll get more vitamins and minerals from a daily dose of chlorella and spirulina than from any drug-store multivitamin.
One thing I'm wondering about in all this is: where is the apology to vitamin manufacturers? Western medicine was wrong about vitamins, and now that nutrition is finally starting to take its rightful place in medicine, somebody owes the makers of nutritional supplements a whole-hearted apology. And what's with the FDA continuing its war on nutritional supplements anyway? Hasn't anybody told the agency that vitamins are actually good for you now?
Final word: they say that in medicine, progress only takes place when the older generation of doctors and medical researchers pass away. That's because doctors are typically so egotistical and deeply invested in their distorted beliefs that they are simply unable to accept any new ideas. So they take their misguided beliefs to their graves, and that's the only way medicine actually moves forward.