Multi Vitamin Supplements

Multi vitamin supplements are specifically designed to provide a variety of both essential and/or non-essential nutrients for the body. The primary purpose of these supplements is to allow individuals the option of taking only one or a few dietary supplements that provides many nutrients to the body. Multi vitamin supplements can help to prevent both vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and are used by many to increase essential nutrients in the body to achieve additional health benefits.

Multi vitamin is the term applied to preparations intended to supplement the diet with vitamins, dietary minerals and other nutritional elements. Such preparations are available in the form of tablets, capsules, pastilles, powders, liquids and injectable formulations. Other than injectable formulations, which are only available and administered under medical supervision, multivitamins are recognized by the Codex Alimentarius Commission as a category of food.

Multi vitamin supplements usually contain at least 100, if not more, of the recommended dietary allowance of essential vitamins. While not all multivitamins contain minerals, in the case of high potency multivitamins, mineral content may also exceed 100% of Daily Value or U.S. Recommended Allowance (USRDA). Nutrients that should be included in what we consider a complete multivitamin include:

o Vitamin A
o Vitamin B-complex -including thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and/or niacinamide, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, pantothenic acid, and biotin.
o Vitamin C
o Vitamin D
o Vitamin E
o Vitamin K
o Calcium
o Magnesium
o Zinc
o Iodine
o Selenium
o Copper
o Manganese
o Chromium
o Molybdenum

While iron may be included in a good multi vitamin supplement, it is not necessary. Phosphorus is also another essential mineral required by the body, but so much is consumed in the human diet that additional amounts, via supplements, are not needed.

More recent research suggests that in order to obtain the adequate amount of essential and/or non-essential nutrients required for proper health that the corresponding multi vitamin would need to be quite large - and difficult for many individuals to swallow. Consequently, some companies offer multi vitamins which contain larger quanties of Vitamin A, B-Complex Vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin K, Magnesium, Zinc, Selenium, Manganese, Chromium and Molybdenum along with stand alone Calcium and Vitamin E supplements. While this requires an individual to take more than just one vitamin is also ensures essential nutrition requirements are met.

The majority of One-per-day multi vitamin supplements usually contain vitamin B-complex, along with variable levels of vitamins A and D, depending on the type of multi vitamin. While some one-per-day multivitamins contain high levels of vitamin A and vitamin D, many multivitamins do not. As the body does not require as many minerals as vitamins, most multi vitamins include small amounts of essential minerals including copper, zinc and iron.

Some one-a-day multivitamins may not provide sufficient amounts of many essential nutrients for people who eat a traditional Western diet, who usually require additional amounts of vitamin E, calcium, magnesium and vitamin C.

By supplementing the diet with additional vitamins and minerals, multi vitamin supplements can be a valuable tool for those with dietary imbalances or different nutritional needs. People with dietary imbalances may include those on restrictive diets and those who can't or won't eat a nutritious diet. Pregnant women and elderly adults have different nutritional needs than other adults, and a multivitamin may be indicated by their physicians.

Classified as a food, RDA centric multivitamins are not to be confused with the basic orthomolecular medicine daily recommendations. The proponents of that also generally recommend individually optimized, often higher, vitamin intakes. They also recommend more absorbable forms of vitamins and minerals, in inexpensive but higher potency formulas, spread across the day. Often iron-free, fluoride-free formulas, and sometimes copper-free formulas, are preferred.