I’ve gone back and forth on taking a multivitamin since I know my diet isn’t all that great. Ideally I should be working to improve that diet but let’s say due to certain circumstances that’s a bit difficult at the moment.
Would it be worth taking a 1 a day multivitamin to at least correct some possible deficiency or is it very unlikely that it would have any effect?
Not asking for professional medical advice or anything, mostly looking to see if anyone else is taking a multivitamin and if so why?
You must log in or register to comment.
Ideally you’d want to get tested for deficiencies and/or plug your meals into something like MacroFactor or Chronometer for a few weeks to see if you’re over/under in anything. Then just take those vitamins individually (OR, even better, adjust your diet).
I get taking a multi as an insurance policy, but there some vitamins or minerals that you can get in excess or that don’t really help.
If you’re wondering if they might help you live longer, the answer seems to be no:
https://ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S0002-9165(23)05424-2/fulltext
Conclusion: Multivitamin-multimineral treatment has no effect on mortality risk.
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.
If your diet lacks certain vitamins, a vitamin supplement may help. If not, it won’t. Excess vitamins are eliminated by a healthy body.
Some vitamines can be had too much too, so “overdosing” is a real possibility. A and D for example.
Iron although you won’t overdose on that from a men’s multivitamin since it shouldn’t contain any and a women’s vitamin has like 18 mg or something. But if a child gets ahold of a bottle of iron they can do serious damage or die.
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
It’s generally not micronutrients like vitamins that are problematic for people with bad diets, it’s macronutrients that cause problems, and those can’t be fixed with supplements.
It’s pretty unlikely you’re going to notice much of anything from taking multivitamins, most likely you’re going to be paying a bunch to be pissing it right back out, but if you can trivially afford it then just buy a small pack and see if taking it makes you feel better.
Do buy the cheapest most generic one though, no reason to pay extra for fancy packaging.
I have created a handy chart to follow
Did your doctor recommend you take supplements?
If yes
Take those specific supplements
If no
You do not need to take supplements
To add to this, you really need a blood test to show what you need. Some docs will talk out their ass about dieting (this is rare, but it happens). Always get bloodwork to confirm.
Also, some vitamins are water soluble, others need to be taken with food. Your doc should know though
I’m a vegetarian and people assume I need B12, but my bloodwork shows I’m fine. I did need some D though, since apparently hiding inside for 3 years during a pandemic can impact your body… who would’ve guessed??
I did need some D though, since apparently hiding inside for 3 years during a pandemic can impact your body… who would’ve guessed??
D3 you smartass
I set myself up for that one though, huh?
Yes you did 😏
I’m always happy to share some D with those in need.
Heavily relatable ngl
If you are Australian all ‘medications’ have a code on them whether they have been scientifically proven to do what the label says. Aust R - right on they’ll do what they say, Aust - L - loser no scientific proof. So yes some iron supplements work really well, others less so for example
How about “U” – “Unstudied” If there’s no money to study a supplement, it doesn’t get studied. Or maybe “unmonied”, because the particular studies the governments want cost $$$.
Most doctors today will tell you NOT to take iron, especially if you are a man. Apparently iron has been associated with various health concerns.
It couldn’t hurt. But most medical professionals I know don’t recommend it.
If you want to get a multivitamin that’s more bioavailable, consider eating an egg a day, or liver. These are some of the most available multivitamin sources in nature
yeah but I know my diet is shit and I’m definitely not going to eat those things daily, so I think a multivitamin helps me at that point lol
The ones I take make my pee yellow. So it’s definitely doing something.
Those are excess vitamins that your body is eliminating.
Personally I have always taken a multivitamin/mineral and my labs have been good except for occasional low iron because periods. Now that I’m old (and yeeted the uterus) my iron was fine until I had bad hemorrhoid bleeding. So I got that taken care of, and my ass doc prescribed daily Metamucil to keep it from recurring.
I like the OneaDay Petites because it’s easier to swallow 2 of those (that’s the dose, because petites) than one of the regular horse pills. Gummy vitamins do not have iron or other minerals, btw.
I don’t think it’s necessary to take any super-supplement, just enough to keep me at the RDA once I add in my food. If your diet is bad, fiber might be missing as well, so consider Metamucil for both your ass and your heart.
I think multi-vitamins are more important as you get older. Your body simply doesn’t absorb as much of the vitamins in food as it does when you’re younger. So all that advice “Just eat a healthy diet” isn’t quite as true.
Basically, it could prevent vitamin deficiency. But in developed countries, vitamin deficiency is pretty rare, and many forms take years of constant deficiency to really show up.
Basically, it probably won’t hurt. The research is very vague about it because we generally don’t wait until someone actually gets a vitamin deficiency disease before correcting it. Nor can we deliberately starve someone of a vitamin for years and watch the effects. Any subtle effect is often masked by larger issues like genetics, diet, exercise, etc.
But in developed countries, vitamin deficiency is pretty rare, and many forms take years of constant deficiency to really show up.
Depends. Some people (myself included) simply don’t absorb vitamin D as easily as others. I had my vit D tested and it was so low that they couldn’t accurately give a result. Had to take a supplement once a week for 8 weeks which contained about 300 times the amount which is in a normal daily supplement, which I now take daily.
Posted this above, but reposting here since it’s relevant to your comment:
Vitamin D deficiency was also shown to be a co-morbidity with COVID. So to answer the question “do multivitamins do anything?” I’d say they could potentially have saved your life and you might not have noticed.
Before COVID, my wife nagged me into establishing a primary care physician since I hadn’t gone in a while. So I did, they did a blood test, and showed that I was vitamin D deficient. I took some prescription vitamin D for like a week then my doctor told me to start taking a multivitamin. When they later announced it being a co-morbidity, I felt like I dodged a bullet.
Multivitamins are pretty much like the train to Hogwarts. They only work if you believe they work!
I look at them the way Voltaire looked at going to church. To paraphrase (going from memory here), “If heaven exists then by going to church every Sunday I’ve saved my soul, if it doesn’t then I’ve only lost a few hours every Sunday.” Multivitamins are cheap enough that I can take them on a “just in case” condition.
This is not a good way to deal with anything.
Think of them like a seatbelt then. I have no intentions of benefitting from a seatbelt and over several decades of driving, I haven’t had any use for one. I’m still going to wear it “just in case”
This is simple (opportunity) cost/benefit analysis and is an excellent way of dealing with most things.
