Do multivitamins really work?

Question

I heard that they don't. Do they really make a difference?

Answer 1

They make a difference if you are lacking in some vitamins and trace elements. But most people eat a varied enough diet to not actually be lacking in anything. So for most people they are a waste of money that is excreted down the pan fairly quickly...;

Answer 2

Multivitamins work if what is listed on the bottle is really what you get, if it is in the proper usable form, and you get the entire complex and not just a piece of the complex. Multivitamins are not regulated by the FDA, so there is no guarantee the contents are consisitent. Buy from a company who is third party assayed and verified. "Total" cereal supposedly has 100% RDI/RDA, which is true since it technically contains that amount. However they are in unusable forms (L versus D, etc...) and therefore useless and possibly harmful. So what's a vitamin complex? Vitamin E for example is probably listed on most multivitamins as alpha (or beta/gamma/delta)-tocopherol. Naturally occuring Vitamin E contains xanthine, selenium, lipositols, 4 other factors encased by the 4 tocopherols.
The site below explains in more detail, and offers a simplified image to sum everthinig up.
At a minimum I recommend you take a B complex. The Bs are necessary in processing energy from the foods you eat and preventing fatigue etc....

Get whole food supplements (made form real food and not heated, which destroys the enzymes) instead of synthetics. Find a non-MD physician (they know very little about nutrition) like an osteopath or chiropractor and ask about Standard Process. They make whole food supplements available ONLY through a health care physician.

Answer 3

Work for what? They will help only if you are deficient in some vitamin, either due to dietary deficiency, increased demand or malbsorption. An excess of water -soluble vitamins is excreted in urine, but fat- soluble vitamins are stored in the body, and may be harmful.

Answer 4

Yes they do work, however only a small amount of the vitamin is actually absorbed from the pill. Your better off buying a liquid multi vitamin. Centrum sells one.

Answer 5

I heard that chewables get absorbed better but you don't see the benefits until years later.

Answer 6

multivits supplement what you lack in your body. if it is not required in your body, the body will discard it by way of **** or urine. that's why they are harmless.