Think you Know your Multivitamins? Here's what you Should Know

Think you Know your Multivitamins? Here’s what you Should Know : With all the drugs and medicines that have come to the front through big pharma, multivitamins have proven to be the most popular among the lot. Many people believe that multivitamins can improve your health, reduce your chances of getting chronic diseases, and possibly even serve as a replacement for food.

Let’s see if science supports these beliefs.

What are Multivitamins?

These are dietary supplements that contain a variety of vitamins and minerals, among other ingredients. Multi minerals is another term used to describe these supplements. You may consume them in numerous forms such as capsules, chewables, tablets, powders, so forth. As a rule of thumb, multivitamins are to be consumed a maximum of two times a day.

What can you find in Multivitamins?

Multivitamins generally contain the essential vitamins and minerals your body needs. These vitamins aid in growth, maintenance, reproduction, and regulating bodily processes.

Multivitamins offer these vital minerals and vitamins, but not necessarily in the required amounts. Multivitamins may contain nutrients that may be synthetic or nutrients derived from whole foods.

Who benefits from Multivitamins?

Multivitamins may not work for everyone. In some cases, they could also be potentially harmful. It is vital to understand under what circumstances you should opt for multivitamins. Here are examples of groups that typically need to lean on multivitamins:

Pregnant Women

Pregnant women ought to make sure they take the right vitamins. Before consuming multivitamins, it is essential to know which ones may be good for them and which ones can potentially cause harm.

Non-Meat Eaters

Vitamin B12 is known to be found only in animal-based foods. If you do not consume meat, you are putting yourself at a considerably higher risk. However, you may continue with your plant-based diet if you can supplement it with multivitamins.

This is critical because you may have a significant lack of nutrients apart from vitamin B12, including iron, vitamin D, calcium, zinc, and so forth.

Old People

A common problem that older adults face is the decrease in the absorption of vitamin B12 and a dip in vitamin D in the body. They can certainly benefit from consuming multivitamins.

Athletes

If you are an athlete and have an active lifestyle, it should not surprise you that you may need more nutrients than the average joe. Muscle repair and recovery, or just about any other fitness goal, calls for an increase in the consumption of nutrients.

For instance, creatine is known to boost energy and help you work out more effectively. Regular strenuous exercise can lead to tissue damage and, often, oxidative stress. If you find yourself suffering from this, you may need to up your intake of nutrients like vitamin C and vitamin E.

Smokers

If you are a regular smoker, chances are you need relatively higher doses of vitamin C to have a steady body reserve. Vitamin C is required to nullify the effect of the free radical molecules produced when you smoke cigarettes. Smokers also tend to have relatively lower vitamin B12 levels.

While multivitamins can act as a bandaid for an issue like this, they are by no means a long-term solution. Multivitamins cannot be used to compensate for a hazardous habit like smoking.

Those who do not have enough exposure to sunlight

Sunlight is known to be an excellent source of vitamin D. It is essential to get a part of your vitamin D from sunlight and not entirely depend on your food for the same.

However, in some places, the sun rays do not suffice during the winter, and as a result, the skin barely synthesizes vitamin D.

Will Multivitamins Suffice?

Multivitamins make for an excellent supplement for those who need them. However, given how different people have different health conditions and requirements, one should never approach health with a one-size-fits-all mindset.

While multivitamins may work seamlessly for some, others may not benefit from them or may have health issues because of multivitamins. This is part of the reason why multivitamins generally do not help treat poor digestion, lack of sleep, and so forth.

Multivitamins or Personalized Vitamins?

This is a question that comes up often. As mentioned above, multivitamins cannot function as a one-size-fits-all option, which is why people are advised to stick to personalized vitamins to address their individual health issues.

While multivitamins may be convenient to pick up and consume, they may not give you the nutrients your body needs in adequate amounts. Also, the need for different nutrients stems from a variety of reasons, which is why you are better off opting for personalized vitamins after consulting a doctor.

Types of Multivitamins you should look for

If you plan on incorporating multivitamins into your diet, it will befit you to know what you need to look for in multivitamins. Multivitamins that are free of allergens, easily absorbable, natural, tested for purity, and created without additives are ideally what you should be looking for.

Additionally, you need to look for supplement companies that will have scientific evidence to back up their claims that their product is better than the rest.

Benefits of Multivitamins

Multivitamins are being consumed at scale because they offer a variety of health benefits. Here are a few benefits worth noting:

A surge in energy levels

This is one of the essential advantages of multivitamins. Taking multivitamin patches can help you run your daily errands and tasks without issues and keep your energy and fitness levels up.

Less Stress and Anxiety

The B series of vitamins are used to convert food into energy, thereby ensuring your nervous system operates at optimal levels. Consuming an adequate amount of B vitamins can significantly reduce your stress and anxiety levels.

Better memory

B vitamins are said to have an impact on short-term memory. According to a study in Australia, participants who were given vitamin B12 exhibited much better short-term memory functions in comparison to people who did not take supplements.

Increasing and maintaining muscle strength

Free radicals mainly cause deterioration of muscle strength. You can take multivitamins daily to remedy this problem and mitigate the damage caused by the free radicals.

When are Multivitamins Harmful?

The impact of multivitamins on your health primarily depends on your existing health conditions and the dosage you take. Some minerals and vitamins can be consumed in large amounts. However, not all vitamins are healthy in high dosages.

A healthy dosage is generally predicated on solubility. There are two categories vitamins in this regard: water-soluble and fat-soluble. The body generally expels water-soluble vitamins in large amounts. Fat-soluble vitamins, however, are relatively challenging to get rid of. It is quite common for excess quantities of vitamins to accumulate over long periods.

Should you take Multivitamins?

This seems to be the crux of the topic whenever it is discussed at length. In a nutshell, you cannot entirely depend on multivitamins for your health.

Ideally, you should make sure you eat whole fruits and vegetables every day to boost your energy levels.

Multivitamins can work well if added to a healthy diet like this that is balanced. However, on the off-chance that you cannot manage to put together a well-balanced diet, multivitamins can do the trick. To find out about more about how multivitamins can benefit women, check out: https://healthtrends.com/multivitamin-for-women/