Do Multi-vitamins work for anyone else?

Question

Hi All,

I've always taken a good, strong multi-vitamin and they work for me but alot of people will say they're a waste of money. What do you think? I love taking my multi-vitamin daily!

Answer 1

Pills are never a suitable replacement for daily fresh fruit and veg. 100mg of vitamin X in pill form is not the same as 100mg of vitamin X in fresh and natural form.

The placebo effect works well in vitamins supplements, apparently.

Answer 2

Yes multi-vitamins and other supplements do work and they are necessary. Why?
Firstly because years ago you used to be able to get mostly everything you needed from food alone. However these days with the increase of technology and science, food being over produced, treated with growth hormones, inscecticides, chemicals to lengthen life, packaged,travelling thousands of miles, being stored and etc etc food just doesn't contain the goodness that it should do.
Secondly because there are many factors that affect the way our bodies absorb food and extract the required nutrition from it. Things like stress, medication, free Radicals, polution, busy lifestyles, convenience foods, fizzy drinks, caffeine, smoking, drugs - the list is endless - all these can impair the way the body absorbs.
With food containing less nutrition and our bodies not absorbing well then the need for supplements, to keep us healthy , to prevent disease and to help to slow down the ageing process, is now becoming more and more widely accepted by nutritionists, scientists and doctors.
Also, there is are several myths, (and lots of advertising) for 1 a day type supplements containing everything your body needs. Your body needs some supplements in small doses throughout the day as it can't store certain things. They need to be combined with the correct ingredients to allow your body to use and absorb them.
'Cheap supplements'? As with 'cheap anything', well you get what you pay for!!! Some supplements don't contain what they say they do and some are coated and never actually disolve or get into the system!!
So go for good supplements.
The key is - do you actually feel physically better when you are taking them than you do when you are not? If you do then they are probably good and are obviously working.
And lastly, the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for supplements is the recommended daily allowance which will stop you becoming ill - some supplements contain the RDA which will help to make you feel well - not just prevent illness.
I personally eat well, exercise and use supplements advised by my Personal Wellness Coach.
I feel great. I'm 60 this year - but look and feel as if I'm in my 30's/40's!! And I haven't had any illness (not even a cough or a cold) in years!!

Answer 3

Firstly, they work for some and not others. It depends on your body's needs and the way your body digests food.

If you like taking them, they are certainly doing you no harm whatsoever. The only ones which could do you any harm in huge does are Vitamins A & D as these are fat soluble and not washed out of your system as easily as B, C and E. Also Vitamins A & E should not be taken at the same time.

There are benefits to taking them but often, the dosage on the bottles is not enough for the average person. There is a recommended daily allowance but this is not usually enough in today's busy lifestyles. This RDA has not changed in nearly 50 years.

Go on taking them if you feel they are doing you some good. They probably are.

Answer 4

It's good that you think consciously about your own well being but are you taking these supplements as an alternative to a balanced diet? My advise would be to assess your health by regular visits to your doctor. If you are a member of a gym they may be able to calculate you body mass index and give you a percentage of body fat you have. In a lot of cases taking vitamins is helpful but like many people will advise you, eating well is a bigger step. The function of digesting food is the body's way of staying functional. If your diet has enough carbs and protein then vitamins will not harm you, but have you considered essential fatty acids found in oily fish, if you don't eat fish there are omega-3's out there which are worth looking into. I get mine from a company in Norway called Provena. The UK website is attached http://www.provena.eu/uk/index.htm
Personally making sure I don't put too much fatty food in is a fundamental. But I seldon work out and really need a kick in the pants to get to the gym.
Last word, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Be well and healthy.
P

Answer 5

Started taking a multi vitamin a couple of years ago as I was feeling run down.
Since switching to one containing minerals as well, my PMT has totally disappeared! Only use a cheap one (£1 for 30) but they are great. Got 2 colleagues with PMT to try same thing and the difference was obvious to everyone.
I have a good diet but it certainly does no harm.
I have only had one cold in that time too.

Answer 6

Sorry they are working on your brain as a placebo.

assuming that you eat a well balanced diet with plenty of fruit and veg, no additional advantage is obtained from taking more vitamins than your RDA.

All that happens is water soluble vitamins in excess are peed out in your urine unchanged, and fat soluble vitamins accumulate and may be toxic.

Studies have also compared the effects of taking your vitamins as synthetics and in their natural form in food. The synthetics do not seem to have many of the protective effects, such as reducing cancer risks.

Answer 7

It depends on the person, their diet & activity levels.
A person who has a really vitamin packed diet may not feel any benefit from them because they aren't missing out on any vitamins. You dont notice the benefits of having vitamins, you only notice how you feel when you're not getting them

Answer 8

after I had my first baby I felt a Little run down and stated taking good Miltie vitamins within 3 months I was pregnant again it took 3 years to catch with my first
now I tell all the girls at work to take them if they are trying to get pregnant they have all got pregnant quickly after taking them

Answer 9

in user-friendly terms a observe. Anemia and different nutrient deficiencies have been linked to loss of diet C, no longer inevitably loss of meat. Milk has very just about no iron and eggs in user-friendly terms a average quantity, so veganism is genuinely extra effectual than vegetarianism in terms of iron intake. the better culmination/greens that vegans consume compensates for the iron because of the fact vit C will advance iron uptake.