In recent years, the physicians over at Harvard Men’s Health Watch have promoted multivitamins on the basis that taking them can’t hurt, and may even do the body some good.

In fact, half the doctors on the advisory board take a multivitamin themselves.

But now they’re so concerned that multivitamins create a greater risk for colorectal cancer that they’re advising men to stop taking the supplements until scientists can confirm their safety.

The problem? Supplements may be giving men more folic acid than they need, which could lead to colon polyps, the doctors say.

Men already get plenty of folic acid from what's added to grain products, like bagels and bread. The practice began about a decade ago as a way to get more folic acid, a preventer of birth defects, into Americans’ diets.

But, taking a multivitamin may push a man’s daily intake to more than 1,000 micrograms – 2.5 times more than the recommended daily amount.

Thinking about dropping your multivitamin (or your feelings of guilt about forgetting to take one)? Consider replacing the multivitamin with a vitamin D supplement, says Harvard Men's Health Watch.

The vitamin is important good for bone health and something that men and women often don’t get enough of, but it's hard to get naturally from food.

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