Common, safe nutrients and ordinary multivitamins are being blamed for everything in the book — and now, a new study claims any number of vitamins will cause women to die early.

But don’t panic, ladies — because like the other studies that claim vitamins come with risks, this one’s not even worth the paper it’s printed on.

First, the details meant to impress and frighten you at the same time: A study of some 39,000 women tracked for 19 years finds that those who took multivitamins, vitamin B6, folic acid, iron, magnesium, zinc, and/or copper had an ever-so-slightly higher risk of death from any cause than women who took no vitamins at all.

But here are some details that aren’t as prominent in the over-the-top coverage of this vitamin panic: The women were asked about their vitamin habits just three times in that 19-year period.

No one was actually given vitamins or placebos… no one’s habits were actually monitored… no one gave blood and the researchers don’t even know much about the overall health of the individual women in the study beyond what they reported in those surveys.

At best, you’ve got the weakest of all weak associations you could possibly make from an observational study — but it’s actually even worse than that.

Much worse — because an analysis by the Alliance for Natural Health finds that the supposed increase in death risk only appeared after some statistical “adjustments” that look to me more like statistical torture.

For example, women who had a healthy lifestyle and took vitamin C lived longer — but for that, the credit went to the healthy lifestyle.

There was a similar adjustment for “healthy eating” despite the fact that only two of the three surveys — spaced 18 years apart — even asked about food.

“(T)he authors just manipulated the data until they got what they wanted and more: Supplements not only didn’t help–they were killers!” the ANH wrote in its analysis. “And the lazy, biased, or naïve major media took it from there.”

You can get the “rest of the story” right here.

Here’s the bottom line on vitamins: Over the past 27 years, there have been exactly 11 deaths blamed on vitamin overdose. Medications, on the other hand, killed more than 37,000 Americans in 2009 alone — making legal drugs the nation’s leading cause of accidental death.

You tell me which is safer.

But it turns out they may not have to face any risks at all to get a leg up on dementia — because the latest research confirms that simple, safe and widely available B vitamins can dramatically slow the rate of cognitive decline.

Researchers gave 266 men and women older than 70 either a placebo or a blend of B vitamins — 0.5mg of B12, 0.8mg of folic acid, and 20mg of vitamin B6 — and tracked them for two years.

Those who got the real vitamins did 70 percent better on memory tests than those who took the placebo. They improved in just about every way, with real boosts in semantic memory (the memory of facts and concepts) as well as overall global cognition.

And the biggest boost of all came in “episodic memory,” or the part of the mind we use to remember our daily tasks. That’s the first part of the mind to go in dementia patients, so you can see why these results are so exciting.

The good news doesn’t stop there: In some cases, patients who were already battling memory lapses before the study actually improved their memory after two years of B vitamins.

The researchers say the biggest benefits were seen in patients with the highest levels of homocysteine at the start of the study. (Homocysteine is an inflammation marker with strong links to dementia, heart disease, and more.) Those benefits went well beyond anything measured on cognitive tests.

In fact, patients who took the vitamins had real and visible changes in the physical structure of the brain itself.

Before I get into that, a little background: All our brains shrink a little as we age. It’s a frightening thought, but it’s perfectly normal.

In dementia patients, however, the brains often shrink at a much faster rate — so researchers believe anything that can slow that loss of gray matter may also slow or stop the disease itself.

And the vitamins were able to slow that loss of gray matter by an average of 30 percent overall and 50 percent in those with high homocysteine levels — with one patient seeing a shocking improvement of 500 percent.

It’s clearly too early to say whether B vitamins can stop or even slow Alzheimer’s disease. But it’s also pretty clear you need more of the Bs than the tiny levels the powers-that-be recommend — so talk to your doctor today about adding a B complex to your regimen.

That’s green as in those wonderful leafy green veggies like lettuce and spinach. They’re rich in folic acid, otherwise known as vitamin B9, which new research finds can help manage asthma and allergy symptoms.

The study, published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, looked at the medical records of 8,000 people between the ages of 2 and 85. And researchers found that people with higher levels of folic acid in their blood had fewer allergies and were less likely to develop asthma and its symptoms.

These patients also had fewer IgE antibodies, which are one of the markers in your immune system that increase in response to an allergen.

As I’ve mentioned before, asthma and allergies are two of our most overmedicated disorders. What makes it worse is that these meds never treat the underlying condition, they merely manage the symptoms – making those who take them even more dependent on them.

The sad truth is these meds were never necessary to begin with, because asthma and allergies can be managed without them – if your doctor looks in the right place.

These conditions are almost always triggered by a specific allergen, or a nutritional deficiency. Once you identify that cause, you can correct the condition without drugs by either removing the allergen or correcting the deficiency.

One of the reasons folic acid deficiencies are causing so many problems is because they come from foods too many of us just don’t eat often enough: leafy greens, beans and nuts.

Now, you really shouldn’t have any trouble working these into your daily diet. In addition to being rich in folic acid, they’re packed with other great nutrients too. But if you want to be safe, you can also work a folic acid supplement into your regimen.

You’ll also want to make sure you get some more thorough tests from your own doc. Folic acid may not be your only deficiency, and you’ll also want to know if there are specific allergens you need to avoid. You see, the identities of the true allergens lie in the often untested IgG class of antibodies.

Those of you suffering from asthma and allergies may find it hard to believe, but there are simple drug-free alternatives to that steady stream of meds you’ve become dependent upon.

Now all you need to do is find the ones that are right for you.

There are few more terrifying parts of aging than vision loss. It’s one thing to need a stronger prescription for eyeglasses every few years or so – but it’s quite another when your deteriorating vision starts to rob you of your independence.

Folks suffering from age-related macular degeneration can lose the ability to read, drive, and even recognize the faces of their friends and loved ones. It’s an agonizing condition, but new research shows that a simple vitamin regimen can help you prevent it.

A new study out of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that women who took a combination of B vitamins – specifically B-6, B-12 and folic acid, reduced their risk of macular degeneration by one-third compared to women who took a placebo.

The reduction didn’t happen overnight. The study charted the women over the course of seven years. It proves what I’ve been saying all along – one of the greatest benefits of vitamins and supplements is what they can do for you through long-term, repeated use.

The researchers think that B vitamins may help prevent macular degeneration because they lower homocysteine, a substance in your blood that’s been linked to heart disease. Lowering homocysteine may be particular important for the small, sensitive blood vessels of the eye.

If you’re concerned about vision loss – and if your worried about macular degeneration in particular – it makes sense to consider vitamin B supplements or a multi-vitamin with a full supply of vitamin B. Aside from helping your vision, B vitamins are important for metabolism, central nervous support and even for staving off depression.

These vitamins are inexpensive, widely available and safe – and their only side effect is overall good health.