Nutrition

Choosing the best multivitamin

by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP

Choosing the right multivitamin can be confusing. There are conflicting claims about nutrients and dosages, as well as contradictions about recent research on multivitamins reported in the media. We do know that science in this area is rapidly evolving. But the number of choices at the vitamin and grocery store is overwhelming. How do you find the best multivitamin for women?

Understand the essential nutrients your body needs

Every day we need certain raw materials to support the vast biological mechanisms that fuel our physical and mental activity, support our immune defenses, and regenerate skin, muscle, blood, tissue, and bone. This fuel comes in the form of macronutrients — protein, carbohydrates, and fat — and micronutrients — vitamins and minerals. We also require essential fatty acids, which are often overlooked. Our bodies need a ready supply of all these nutrients on hand to function properly.

Vitamins and minerals work together

Every essential nutrient has a vital task in our bodies and each one usually works in concert with one or several others. For example, vitamin E works more efficiently in the presence of vitamin C. Calcium has a much higher absorption rate when taken with magnesium. And zinc may assist a variety of other nutrients to bolster the immune system. It’s impossible to isolate the effect of each vitamin — just as it’s impossible to isolate a single vitamin deficiency as the cause of any given symptom. For example, vitamin B deficiency can result in symptoms resembling vitamin D deficiency, and so on. That’s why the best multivitamins are well-rounded — to ensure that we benefit from the synergistic effect of all the nutrients working together.

How much is enough? The controversy over Recommended Daily Allowances

Diseases like rickets and scurvy led to the development during WWII of the Required Daily Allowances (RDA’s) for vitamins and minerals, but these RDA’s were meant to be bare minimums, not optimal dosages. Unfortunately the RDA’s are not a good guide for modern consumers who want to use nutritional supplements to support optimal health and prevent disease. And while nutritional science has made stunning progress in the last 60 years, there is no consensus yet about optimal dosages for multivitamins or multi-minerals.

What we do know today is that significantly higher doses of vitamins and minerals are needed for optimal health than are recommended in the RDA’s. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, for example, established therapeutic dosages many times higher than the RDA’s. What’s needed is long-term study of the effects of different dosages, plus a better understanding of how nutritional supplements might be personalized to each individual’s needs. In the meantime, we recommend a conservative but therapeutic dose based on the latest nutritional science.

6 characteristics women should look for when choosing the best multivitamin:

1. Complete. Based on the latest nutritional science, women need at least 30 vitamins and minerals, plus a rich essential fatty acid formula (i.e., EPA and DHA).

2. Bioavailable. Scientists use the term bioavailability to measure what’s absorbed by the body versus what passes through it. To get nutrients past the digestive tract and into the blood stream, high-quality vitamins are chelated (tied to another molecule) to be escorted to the blood. The way multivitamins are processed can also destroy nutritional value or make nutrients unrecognizable by the body. So look for brands that use minimal processing.

3. Natural. Look for multivitamins that avoid artificial preservatives, dyes, sweeteners or other contaminants. The fatty acid formula (derived from marine lipids) should be tested for mercury and lead. Each production batch of our Omega-3’s is tested and molecularly distilled for purity.

4. Reliable. Multivitamin manufacturers should follow the FDA’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP’s) and be held accountable for these GMP’s by a third party. The manufacturing partners we use to make our Essential Nutrients are validated by NSF International to meet or exceed all of the FDA’s GMP’s.

5. Laboratory tested. As is true for pharmaceutical drugs, every production batch of a nutritional supplement should be tested in a laboratory (i.e., “standardized”) to ensure that it contains exactly what is on its label.

6. Makes a difference. You are the final test. If the nutritional supplement doesn’t make you feel better within the first 30 days, try another formula. It may not resolve all your symptoms in that time, but you should feel a real improvement after a month.

Nearly half of the Americans who take multivitamins aren’t noticeably healthier than the half that doesn’t. This is because they are taking ordinary vitamins that lack the range of nutrients their bodies need. Or they take low-price or discount vitamins that are less effective due to processing methods and limited bioavailability of their nutrients.

Our Essential Nutrients is an exceptionally good foundation for all women, with all the qualities outlined above. There are only a few companies in America capable of producing a nutritional supplement of this quality. You may find another multivitamin that suits you as well or better. Just be sure it has the qualities listed above.

Many of our patients and Members like Essential Nutrients because it makes them feel fit, energized, and well. We want you to live well and enjoy every minute in the best of health. We know this can be possible with the help high-quality multivitamins like ours that meet pharmaceutical production standards.

 

Last Modified Date: 11/08/2012
Principal Author: Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP