People who don’t eat fruits and vegetables miss essential nutrients that the body needs for proper functioning. A recent scientific study reported that vitamins and minerals are crucial in lowering the risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and other health conditions. Another study reveals that over 76% of people like fruits and 87% don’t like vegetables.
Now the question arises, how can they get the essential nutrients in fruits and veggies? The answer is multivitamins. To keep your body healthy, you must know some of the best health tips along with the use of multivitamins. Let’s discuss all the essential points regarding Multivitamins, their benefits, dosages, and side effects.
What are multivitamins?
The human body requires vitamins and minerals for proper functioning. For this purpose, there is a great need to adopt a healthy lifestyle with a well-balanced diet. Multivitamins are the combination of various vitamins available in food sources. The best thing is that multivitamins provide all the vitamins you don’t take through meals. In short, multivitamins overcome the nutrition gap and act as a bridge to meet the recommendations of these nutrients. These are some of the significant perks of taking multivitamins:
- Increased energy levels
The body starts working harder when a person doesn’t get enough minerals and vitamins. It takes more energy even for simple tasks and ultimately leads to anxiety, fatigue, and other health issues. Talking multivitamins, regulars act as a fuel in the body. They keep you active, fit and energetic all day. Moreover, multivitamins also keep the stress away, that we’ll cover in upcoming points.
- Reduces stress and anxiety
It is fascinating to know that multivitamins are also responsible for reducing overall anxiety and stress in the body. Let’s learn a little bit about mechanisms! Our body uses vitamin B to convert food into energy. Along with this, vitamin B also controls the stress hormones and keeps the nervous system functioning normally. Hence, taking multivitamins daily replenishes the human body’s supply.
- Maintained muscle strength
Remember that free radicals in the human body are responsible for various health issues. It also relates to muscle aging-related problems. However, multivitamins regularly keep these radicals in check and help flush them out of the body.
- Improved mood
Many medical studies have proven that intake of multivitamins regularly has positive effects on emotional well-being. The brain functions properly and keeps the mood fresh. Take multivitamins daily with some home health services, and feel the difference in your body within a couple of weeks.
- Improvement in short-term memory
A recent study on vitamins has shown that B vitamins play a significant role in preventing cognitive impairment. It supports short-term memory and reduces stress on the brain. In this research, the test subject with vitamin B12 performed well compared to those without supplements.
Who Can take Multivitamins?
For the last two decades, multivitamins have targeted people of a specific gender, age, and activity level. Here are some people who can get the benefits of using multivitamins daily.
- Athletes
There is a great need to know that individuals with an active lifestyle require more nutrients than non-active individuals. Nutrients help in muscle and reacting towards physical goals. For example, amino acid and creatine supplements support the muscle during intense exercise and aid muscle recovery—strenuous exercise linked with tissue damage. Oxidative stress means athletes need more antioxidants in the form of vitamin C and E.
- Deficiency
Several studies indicate that many people cannot achieve their dietary needs through regular meals. It may be because of low soil quality that fruits and vegetables are not as nutritious as they should be. Moreover, it can also result from ready-made food items that lose their nutrition during packaging and preparation. The daily recommendation of multivitamins is necessary for these people to protect the body from various deficiencies.
- Pregnancy and lactation
The health department advises pregnant women to take folic acid 400mcg regularly to reduce the overall risk of neural tube defect. Along with this, vitamin D 10mcg is responsible for fetus growth. Iron, vitamin D, and folic acid supplements are a significant need of pregnant ladies. Take the multivitamins as per recommendation of your doctor as it’s crucial for your baby’s health.
- Restricted diet
If you are on a restricted diet or struggling to shed pounds from the body, it misses some essential nutrients. Most vegetarians are low in vitamin B12 because it’s significantly present in meat and meat products. Atkins and Paleo diets also limit the overall diet intake; here, dietary supplements play a significant role in the body.
- Adults over the age of 65
Human nutritional needs change with time because the stomach starts secreting less HCL. Ultimately, it affects the food breakdown and absorption of the nutrients. Due to this, adults over the age of 65 should add multivitamins and a healthy diet. They should intake vitamin D, calcium, C, and iron to maintain bone health.
Before taking multivitamins
Keep in mind that many multivitamins can cause side effects and severe causes if you consume them in a large dose. Never take more than the recommendation of health experts or a doctor’s prescription. Tell your doctor about your multivitamins, medical condition, and allergies. Moreover, ask your doctor if you are a pregnant or lactating mother. Otherwise, it may harm the baby if you consume too much.
What should I avoid while taking multivitamins?
- You should avoid the usage of more than one multivitamin at the same time unless the doctor tells you to. Remember that taking similar vitamins together may result in a vitamin overdose and severe side effects.
- Restrain the regular use of salt substitutes in the diet if the multivitamin contains potassium. Moreover, if you are on a low-salt diet, consult with your doctor before taking multivitamins.
- Do not take multivitamins with milk. Avoid using calcium supplements with others, as calcium can make it harder for the body to absorb multivitamin ingredients.
Multivitamins side effects
You should get emergency medical help if you feel any sign of allergy, difficulty in breathing, hives, swelling of lips, throat, or tongue. Generally, multivitamins don’t cause any severe side effects, but some of the common ones are:
- Headache
- Upset stomach
- Unpleasant taste in the mouth
- Anxiety
However, this is not a complete list of side effects. You can call your doctor for medical advice regarding the side effects.
Essential considerations
Please read the label of the multivitamin product you take to ensure you know what it contains.
- Take multivitamins with a full glass of water.
- It would be best if you chewed the chewable tablet before swallowing it.
- Place the sublingual tablet under the tongue. Do not chew a sublingual tablet.
Always measure liquid medicine carefully. You can use the dosing syringe or medicine dose-measuring device.
- Use multivitamins regularly.
- Store the multivitamins at room temperature. Do not freeze.
- Store multivitamins in their original container.
