There's a lot of controversy over multivitamins. Some people think everyone should take them. Others think only certain people should. And many people say they are a complete waste of money. But what's the truth? Well for starters, let's define what a multivitamin is.
A multivitamin is a supplement that has more than one vitamin. So technically, something containing vitamin A and vitamin C could be considered a multivitamin. But generally speaking, it's a supplement with a lot more vitamins than that. In fact, sometimes multivitamins will even have other substances like saw palmetto or ginseng which aren't vitamins at all. But who actually needs to take a multivitamin?
According to doctors, a good multivitamin could be beneficial for you if you meet the following conditions:
1. You're at risk for several nutritional deficiencies and can't change your diet to fix the issue.
2. The multivitamin you plan to take has a sufficient amount of the vitamins you need to negate the deficiency.
3. Buying the multivitamin is a cheaper option than buying individual vitamins.
Generally speaking, people that can't consume a well-rounded diet will benefit the most from a multivitamin. This is often people on specific diets like gluten-free diets, low carb diets, or people that live in areas that don't have access to certain types of foods. People that have low incomes often don't have access to a well-rounded diet as well, but unfortunately, they often can't afford to buy supplements or multivitamins either.
But there are also some specific groups of people that might benefit from taking a multivitamin.
Current evidence suggests that in pregnant women, multivitamins can reduce the risk of the fetus being too small for its gestational age. Multivitamins may also reduce rates of problems in the neural tube, cardiovascular system, and extremities. These findings are still tentative though and further studies need to be done.
Elderly people may be more likely to be deficient in certain nutrients like calcium, vitamin B12, and vitamin D. But more research needs to be done to see if supplementing these nutrients can help improve health.
People that have had bariatric surgery to lose weight can suffer from nutritional deficiencies. They undergo a surgery to reduce the size of the stomach but this can also lead to lower levels of several different vitamins. But a multivitamin could help these people maintain good nutritional health.
Individuals with certain illnesses like Celiac disease or Crohn's disease can also be at risk. This is due to the fact that many nutrients are poorly absorbed in their bodies. In these cases, a multivitamin will be less effective than if the issue were caused by low nutrient intake, but it could still be helpful to a degree.
In type 2 diabetes people often have low levels of magnesium. Metformin, a drug often taken for diabetes, can also cause low levels of vitamin B12.
There are also other medications that can cause vitamin deficiencies. If you're on any medications it's a good idea to ask your doctor if any of them could lead to problems with vitamin absorption. If so, you may want to discuss the possibility of taking a multivitamin.
If you decide to take a multivitamin there are some things you should look for.
1. Choose one that is close to your RDA (recommend daily allowance) of vitamins. If you take too much you could become sick and if you don't take enough you'll still have a deficiency.
2. Don't confuse pills with servings. A pill or capsule might say 300mg but make sure to read the bottle. If it says you need to take two a day then a serving is two pills which is actually 600mg. You might think a bottle of 60 pills is a great deal because it'll last two months but it's only going to last one month.
3. Check into the company's reputation. Unfortunately, supplements are not regulated the same way medications are by the FDA. However, independent companies often study the companies that sell supplements from time to time and analyze the content of the supplements to check the purity of what they're selling. See if there have been any recent negative news articles about the company selling the supplement you want to buy.
Credit: Trainer Academy
References:
Healthline.com. Do You Need To Take Vitamins? Accessed at https://www.healthline.com/health/do-you-need-take-vitamins#benefits on August 8, 2018.
Examine.com. Should You Take A Multivitamin? Accessed at https://examine.com/nutrition/do-you-need-a-multivitamin on August 8, 2018.
