Multivitamins are the keys to nutritional wellness. Multivitamin formulas may be customized for individual needs.** They are popular for:
- Promoting overall health & well-being.**
- Compensating for nutrition your diet may lack.**
- Optimizing whole-body health.**
What are Multivitamins?
Multivitamins are dietary supplements that supply a variety of vitamins and minerals, often along with other nutrients, antioxidants and herbs. Available as multivitamin tablets, chewable tablets, capsules and liquids, multivitamins are prominent since many people do not meet the RDAs (Recommended Daily Allowances) of vitamins and minerals through their regular diet alone. For example, research indicates that approximately 75% of Americans don’t get enough vitamin D, 40% are deficient in B12 and 50% fall short in calcium. Multivitamins compensate for nutritional shortfalls.**
Multivitamin supplements supply nutrition amounts that meet or are close to RDAs, making them a “foundation” for any health-promoting supplement regimen.** According to the National Center for Health Statistics, multivitamins have steadily increased in use during the last few decades. Multivitamins are the most popular type of nutritional supplement. Roughly 40% of women and men use general multivitamins and tailored multivitamin formulas.
Common nutrients found in multivitamins include vitamins A, C, D, E and forms of B, as well as calcium, chromium and zinc. One a day vitamins may help simplify multi vitamin intake. Some prefer whole food-based natural vitamins, which help meet RDA requirements but usually have higher potency multivitamin pills than one a day vitamins, which requires more servings. Liquid multivitamins supply nutrition in a form that is easily absorbed, and may be helpful for older adults who have difficulty swallowing multivitamin pills and absorbing multivitamins’ nutrition.**
Multivitamin Supplements
While some get most nutrients they need through daily diet, multivitamins may help those that require additional vitamins and minerals, including children, seniors and pregnant women.**
Multivitamin supplements are often tailored with different herbs and varying potencies of vitamins for specific needs. Women’s multivitamins, for example, include prenatal multivitamin formulas that supply extra folic acid for healthy pregnancy.** Best multivitamin for women formulas may be customized with herbs like black cohosh for menopause support, evening primrose for PMS support and extra calcium for bone health.** Best multivitamin for men formulas may bolster the typical multivitamin with saw palmetto for prostate health and ginseng for energy, while reducing or eliminating iron.** Children’s multivitamins may include extra calcium for bone growth as well as DHA for brain development.** Seniors’ multivitamin formulas may be tailored with lutein for vision health, calcium for posture and extra antioxidants for healthy aging.** Additional multivitamin products may be customized: there are multivitamins with special support for vision, joint health, energy and otsher concerns.**
Multivitamin Directions for Use
Multivitamin dosage may vary across brands. Always consult with your physician before taking a multivitamin or starting any supplement regiment. Multivitamin supplements are often available in one a day form. Some multivitamin products are made for twice-daily use or more. Multivitamins target current RDA ranges. These RDAs for some common vitamins and minerals include 400-600 IU of vitamin D, 2,500-5,000 IU of vitamin A, 75-90 mg of vitamin C and 800-1,300 mg of calcium. Multivitamins will often contain 50-200% of the RDAs of many nutrients.**
