Many of us take a daily multivitamin and we think that they’re good for us and will improve our health but is this true are multivitamins healthy? There is limited research on the subject but some people seem to think that taking one may not be good for our health.

I have many of my clients ask me about multivitamins. I usually tell them the same thing if you have a balanced diet you likely don’t need to take a multivitamin. If you have a high that is high in whole foods and plants you should be covered. If you feel that you are missing vitamins from your diet you can take a simple blood test to find out if this is true.

Do I take a multivitamin? I do take a performance multivitamin from lifetime fitness because I feel that it covers areas that might be missing in my diet. After my last bottle, I will take a break from taking it and get a test to see if there are any gaps that I need to fill.

What the experts are saying

 Lately my wife and I have been watching a lot of shows on Netflix and reading books about diets. Most of these shows are saying that taking vitamins are foolish and the health benefits that are claimed are not based in science. In the book Diet cults by Matt Fitzgerald he says that most of the body builders that recommend supplements are wrong and the can be harmful because lack of regulation supplement industry. I’ve known about this and I’ve always shrugged it off and continued to take my supplements without much thought.

After watching these shows and reading Matts book I decided to consider the issue myself on the internet. After reading about multivitamins on the Harvard medical school blog I found that multivitamins may not cause harm but there is little evidence to show that they’re helpful. You can take them but you could be wasting money. If you’re ok with that then keep on taking them.

Where should you buy your multivitamins?

 With lack of regulation supplement industry where should we buy our supplements? This is a great question because the last thing we want to do is take something that could be harmful. The best idea when you’re picking out your multivitamins is to make sure that what you’re buying is actually in the pill. There are tons of companies out there that claim that they have certain ingredients in supplement and lab testing finds this to be untrue. Many supplements only have 1% of the thing that they claim to be in the pill. Worse yet is that some supplements may contain heavy metals.

Before you buy a supplement consider looking on https://www.consumerlab.com/ to see if it’s safe to take. Consumer lab isn’t the FDA but It’s better than nothing.

The Verdict

 With all the noise on the market about multivitamins what should we do. Well the first thing you should do is talk to your doctor about it. With everyone giving advice on the internet and TV you might feel confused about what you should be doing for your health. Listening to people online or Dr OZ might not be the best idea because what they are recommending for you might not be healthy. Trusting your doctor is always the best idea when it comes to your health. The copay might save you a lot of money down the road if they recommend that you don’t take any supplements.

According to most experts taking a multivitamin is fine but it might not be doing you any good but most likely not doing any harm. If you’re eating an unbalanced diet, then you might want to consider a multivitamin. Vegans usually are low in b-12 and people living in the north might be low in vitamin-D. Like we talked about before get checked and speak with your doctor.

I hope this helped you feel more informed on the subject. Our goal is not to take sides but to make you have the tools for a healthier life.

Check out our blog about if eggs are bad for you https://www.onthegofitnesspro.com/are-eggs-bad-for-you/

References

 https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/do-multivitamins-make-you-healthier

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/vitamins/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/vitamin-b12-deficiency-can-be-sneaky-harmful-201301105780

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/health/policy/26herbal.html