Do You Need a Multivitamin?
The short answer is yes. According to the food pyramid; in order to receive the daily-recommended dosage of vitamins and minerals to keep you healthy, you would need to eat the following:
6-11 Servings of Bread, Cereal, Rice and Pasta.
3-5 Servings of Vegetables.
2-4 Servings of Fruit.
2-3 Servings of dairy like Milk, Yogurt and Cheese.
2-3 Servings of Red Meat, Poultry and Fish.
This equals about 6000-8000 calories per day! Are you eating this daily? (could you?) Not if your goal is to slim down! Besides, who has the time? A multivitamin is the solution, because it’s nutrition without calories. It’s easy, fast and fairly inexpensive with no food preparation needed.
However, vitamins should not be a substitution for a healthy diet because it has been shown that vitamins in food tend to be much more easily absorbed than those in pill form. Furthermore, food often contains beneficial ingredients that one can’t get from vitamins.
Taking too many vitamins has also shown to be largely ineffective. Most vitamins, when taken in excess, are simply excreted through urine and don’t provide much benefit. In fact, as important as it may be to take certain vitamins, it is equally important not to take too many.
The best bet is to get recommendations from a physician so that any suggested vitamin intake meshes well with your dietary needs, medications or medical conditions that may be present.
I’m a huge critic when it comes to supplementation. This stems from clever, misleading marketing and the fact that a large majority of supplements are exactly the same except for the label. There are several companies that business owners can go to and say; “I want a private label vitamin C.”, and for a nominal fee, you have your start to a new vitamin line. No unique formula, no fancy ingredients, and no new scientific break through.
And because supplements are not regulated by the FDA they can say almost anything when it comes to marketing. I recommend not to go the cheap route when choosing vitamins either. The cheaper you go the more fillers are added to give bulk to the product. Likewise, the quality of the vitamins will not be very good and your body won’t absorb them very well. As always: check with a qualified professional to get recommendations on what you need.
Recommendation: New Chapter. They can be found at most vitamin shops, Whole Foods or for discounted prices click on these links below:
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