A multivitamin is not bad, but different vitamins need different other substances to be available for the body. Eg. some are soluble in water (like the B group) some, like vitamin D need fat to be solved in (and it's good to acompany it with vitamin K to make D work as intended). Be careful with vitamin A - people in developed countries usually have too much and it can cause serious problems. It's generally good to know what you're taking and why. But if you just need a quick fix, a multivitamin is usually ok.
this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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I think this is the best take. OP, multivitamins do work. Of course you need to fix your diet, of course it’s better to ingest the vitamin with the food so it can be absorbed better. Of course you should talk to a doctor. But if you have a deficiency of an important vitamin such as C or D, you will notice the difference.
Regarding overdoses, it is almost impossible to hurt yourself by taking a typical OTC multivitamin pill.
Consider some specific foods which give you a boost of the vitamin, such as canned tuna for Omega-3, Brazil nuts for selenium, etc.
But, at the end of the day, the general recommendation is that multivitamins are safe and pretty decent. I wouldn’t recommend any drug to a random person on the internet but multivitamins are fine.
Source: my wife is a nutritionist and we do talk about this a lot. I have a great diet but do take vitamins regularly as a complement or when I’m sick.
If you eat a truly balanced diet you’ll have little reason to take a multivitamin. However, many people do not eat well. In those cases a multivitamin can help fill in the gaps. Arguably it would be better to improve your diet but something is better than nothing.
They can help when your body is under stress,illness, dieting, moderate exercise. otherwise the don't do much.
For me, they do seem to have an effect. I sleep better, my nails become strong and generally I feel more enegized. The latter is of course very subjective.
Yeah I knew someone who was a real wtf in so many ways …. They gave up on multi-vitamins because their nails grew faster. Wtf, one of the few people with proof of a deficiency being helped by a multivitamin and they give up? Because inconvenient to be healthier?
If you're deficient and the form of the vitamin/mineral is something your body can absorb, supplements can be helpful. If you aren't deficient, some supplements have little effect (water soluble ones just get peed out, though can cause wear and tear on your kidneys and/or liver in the meantime), while others can cause overloads which can be as bad as or worse than deficiencies.
Personally, I try to meet my micronutritional needs with foods but I occasionally take supplements to "top up", either a multivitamin if there's no specific signs of deficiency, or specific supplements if there's signs I might be low in that one (each has a set of symptoms that are associated with deficiency).
Yeah I respect that and I’m not suggesting anyone to take supplement - it works for my lifestyle, but it might not work for others. For me it’s easier to take a pill than eat all the foods I should.
Our Pharmacology prof at med school always told us, as long as you live in the western hemisphere and don’t just eat pizza you only produce expensive urine with those vitamins. Ymmv though
One thing a doc told me is that your body can only absorb so much. Some people go so crazy on certain supplements that they end up blocking the body’s ability to absorb other essential nutrients.
If you want to supplement, a single multi each day isn’t going to be a massive game changer, unless you’re already missing something.
It's like when you have a Berocca and your wee is a luminous yellow for your next few trips because your body can't absorb all of the extra vitamins isn't it?
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It's easy to find out if you take blood tests. You shouldn't be taking vitamins just for fun.