Multivitamins: Friend or Foe?

How you choose your multivitamin determines if it is your friend or foe. If you grab the first multivitamin you see off the shelf then you are leaving quality entirely to chance; read the label carefully and you will have a friend for life. I hear you saying there are so many out there how can you possibly know what to choose? Read on.

If you believe the commercials, all you have to do is pop this pill in your mouth and this meets all your nutritional requirements for the day. For one tablet or capsule to contain everything you need in one day it would have to be the size of a golf ball. I personally would find this just a little hard to swallow. For a child or adult the purpose of a multivitamin is to supplement a healthy diet not to replace a bad one.

Many studies have shown that most diets, even fairly healthy ones, fall short of the nutrients we need each day. Vegans, who consume no animal products, may not be consuming enough B12, zinc or calcium. The fruits and vegetables that you think you are buying fresh are picked in the fall and stored for distribution throughout the year. This means that by the time the fruits and vegetables reach your local market they have lost their nutrients. The scientific and medical communities are rapidly accumulating powerful evidence about the role of nutritional supplements in both health promotion and disease prevention.

Read labels carefully; this can make a difference as to whether the money you spend is going in your body or down the toilet. One of the first things to check is the expiration date; you need to know not only if it is out of date but also if you will use it before it expires.

Look for extra frills such as ginseng, ginkgo or green tea. These ingredients are usually in such small amounts that the only purpose they serve is to increase the price of the multivitamin. The same is true if the product claims high potency, super or complete. Chances are the product does not contain anything different from a regular multivitamin; are you paying for artificial food coloring and flavoring, additives such as shellac or chlorine? DCP(Di-calcium phosphatel) in a multivitamin is just an inexpensive way to hide odors and will not break down completely in your body.

If you see UPS on a label this means that the product has been tested by U.S. pharmacopeia and once in your stomach will dissolve in a minimum amount of time. The faster the vitamin dissolves the faster it gets into the blood stream and the more effective the multivitamin will be.

Our food supplies us with as much as we need of iodine, manganese, chloride, molybdenum, boron and biotin. Phosphorous, the less the better and should be under 500mg. There is no evidence that humans need nickel, silicon, tin or vanadium.

Red Flags and Precautions

Vitamin A, important for your eyes, bones, skin, immune system and antioxidant properties that fight free radicals but it is impossible to get too much of a good thing.

There are two types of vitamin A, retinol and beta-carotene. Retinol comes from animal sources and is a fat soluble vitamin. This means that the body stores excess amounts and may be toxin to your body. Too much of this type vitamin A can cause liver damage, bone and joint pain, vomiting, nerve damage and birth defects. The safe limit of vitamin A in the form of retinol is 10,000 IU a day.

Beta-carotene comes from orange, red and yellow fruits and vegetables. Another great source is your dark green leafy vegetables. It is almost impossible for you to get too much beta-carotene from food you eat. If you take beta-carotene in supplement form look for the word natural, mixed carotenoids or beta carotene with d.slania. Beta-carotene has not been shown to cause birth defects but has been shown to cause cancer in smokers. If you take beta-carotene in supplement form I would limit to 15,000IU a day.

Unless your physician has advised you to take extra iron buy a multivitamin that is iron free. Just as with vitamin A too much iron will become toxin to your body.

If your physician has prescribed a blood thinner it may be dangerous for you to use vitamin E, vitamin K or garlic in combination with a blood thinner. Vitamin D is important to aid the absorption of calcium but another example of too much of a good thing may be bad. Vitamin D seems to be added to everything so it is easy to over dose. Unless other wise advised by your physician and depending on your age you should need 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D a day. Most important, if you are pregnant check with your physician before taking anything!

Check List

So the next time you are buying vitamins take this check list with you. It may save you money as well as preventing unwanted side effects.

• Look for expiration date, over time the ingredients will lose their potency.
• Extra frills such as ginkgo, ginseng and green tea, these ingredients usually serve no purpose other than to increase the price of the multivitamin.
• Does the multivitamin contain DCP(Di-calcium phosphatel). This is just an inexpensive way to hide odors and does not break down well in your body.
• Claims that the multivitamin is high potency, super or complete, chances are the product does not contain anything different from a regular multivitamin.
• Most people get enough iodine, manganese, chlorine, molybdenum, boron and biotin through the food they eat. Here again you may be paying for unnecessary ingredients.

Know before you buy.

Category: Label Language