I was watching my son’s soccer practice years back with another dad when this subject came up. Brian and I would hang out down at one end of the pitch away from others in order to enjoy distance from the soccer moms and other loud ones.
Until they moved away, he was a general practitioner in our family doctor’s practice. We were talking smack and checking up on each other as we usually did and he asked about my health. I told him all seemed good and followed up with my own question which the OP has raised. “Should I be taking vitamins or supplements?”
Brian asked about my general health and well being ( he did not know details as another Doc is my primary) and I told him all seemed well. He asked if we ate a well rounded diet with fresh vegetables and fruit routinely included. I said yes as we could... He replied that unless there is a certain need for a vitamin, mineral or supplement (iron poor blood for instance), there is basically no need for supplements as we would get our needs accounted for in our routine diet. Iodine in table salt is an example he cited, not that we use much salt. A small amount goes a long way.
The other thing he mentioned is now in question due to a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine(?). He suggested that I consider taking a baby aspirin per day, but recent evidence suggests this may not be of benefit. Again, this was some 12-15 years ago.
Understand that I am not an avid weight lifter or workout warrior, but rather a physically active guy both at work and play. I don’t do muscle building supplements or the like, but can understand those who do.