Why you should take quality multivitamins?

Why you should take a quality multivitamin?

Vitamins are natural substances. It doesn’t synthesize or partially synthesized by our body. Vitamins help our body to grow and maintain the internal environment in various ways. These are neither drugs nor a magical way to prevent or cure your body of any disease.

A multivitamin preparation usually contains different types of vitamins and used as a supplement. Sometimes they contain dietary minerals too. In USA, multivitamins or minerals defined as a preparation containing three or more vitamins or minerals. They are found in tablets, capsules, pastilles, powders, liquids, and injectable formulations.

Should we really need multivitamins as supplements?

The answer is ‘NO’.

Our body needs very few amounts of each type of vitamin. Our regular diet contains a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals. Maybe, 3-10 times of our daily requirement. So, if we take an appropriate diet, we don’t need vitamins supplements. Most of our diet plan contains more calories as well as vitamins than our requirements.

 

So, why we feel better after taking multivitamin supplements?

It is like a meditation practice. In meditation, you get relaxed by solid mental exercise. By using a multivitamin, you will get a strong placebo effect, and you may feel intense. For example, an inhaler is more potent than a nebulization for an asthmatic patient. But patient feels that nebulization relieves their symptom rapidly.

 

Do multivitamins have any preventive effects from diseases in our body?

Using multivitamins by a healthy person to feel better or to be more healthy or preventing disease is not proven in any study. All study shows taking vitamin supplement has no or minimal effect on prevention of disease. Here is one of the studies.

 

Do multivitamins have toxic effects?

If we use multivitamins in a low amount, it has no toxic effect. Extra vitamins will be metabolized and excreted, or stored in our body. But taking in a high dose may cause injury to our body. Vitamin A may cause hypervitaminosis and chronic intakes of excess vitamin A lead to increased intracranial pressure, dizziness, nausea, headaches, skin irritation, pain in joints and bones, coma, and even death. It also has a teratogenic effect on a fetus.

An excess amount of vitamin D ingestion is also harmful to a growing child.

 

So, we don’t intake multivitamins?

Of course, we should take vitamins. But when it is needed. Such as-

• Some Gastrointestinal tract disease causes decreased absorption of dietary vitamins such as crohn’s disease, pernicious anaemia, achlorhydria, etc. In that case, vitamin deficiencies should be corrected parenterally.
• Some diseases injure or impair the function of different organs of our body, such as the Liver, Intestinal tract, Kidney etc., which are responsible for synthesis, transformation to required molecular structure and regulation of vitamins. Then we need to take vitamin supplementations.

• At some stages, body demand increases, such as pregnancy. A pregnant lady needs extra folic acid and vitamin D.
• Some disease causes increased destruction or loss of vitamins and minerals, such as Iron deficiency anaemia, Hemolytic anaemia etc. Then a doctor should prescribe you vitamins and minerals as a supplement.
• Elderly age or any chronic disease which causes decrease appetite and a person takes poor diet. Then they need multivitamin supplements as well as food supplements too.
• In any health condition, when your physician prescribes you to use it.

 

So, don’t get biased by the attractive advertisement of food supplement companies. Taking multivitamins for the prevention of disease or maintaining good health, or feeling energetic are some misconceptions.

Take a regular nutritious diet. And use quality vitamin supplements when it is needed.

Never use a high dose of any vitamin or multivitamins in any amount without a prescription from a registered physician. If some vitamins of a multivitamin preparation are necessary for you, others may cause injury to your body.

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Dr. Hasan Ebna Amin