Multivitamins - Do You Need Them?

Not too long ago, the conventional wisdom among medical experts was that individuals who eat a balanced diet do not need multivitamins. After all, they argued, supplements are intended to make up for what you don't get from food. Today though, there is growing consensus in the medical community that anyone can benefit from taking one or two pills of standard multivitamins each day.

So, what's changed? What's changed is that there is evidence that the benefits of daily multivitamins extend beyond protection against deficiency diseases. We now know that they can provide an extra dose of protection against infections and other common diseases. More importantly, they can lower your risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancer.

If you do not eat a balanced diet - and majority of Americans fall in this category, you definitely need a daily multivitamin supplement to prevent deficiency diseases, some of which can result in serious medical conditions and even death. In addition to low consumption of dietary vitamins, other factors and conditions may make it necessary for you to take multivitamins.

For example, you may need a multivitamin supplement to prevent deficiency if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. A pregnant woman needs more of all nutrients, but she especially needs extra folic acid, iron, and calcium throughout her pregnancy. Folic acid protects her fetus against birth defects like neural tube defects. Iron protects her and her baby against anemia, and calcium supports bone development for her baby.

Typically, menopause initiates a chain reaction in a woman that ultimately reduces her body's ability to store calcium. The drastic reduction in estrogen production after menopause, for example, accelerates bone loss in postmenopausal women. So, a daily intake of multivitamins that provide extra calcium makes sense for them.

Women who experience heavy menstrual bleeding lose large amounts of iron each month. Iron is a component of hemoglobin, a protein found in red blood cells. Because iron is a trace mineral, meaning that it is needed only in small amount, its body stores is easily depleted through bleeding. Therefore, these women may benefit from daily multivitamins with iron formula.

Age is a major cause of vitamin deficiency. All individuals who are 50 or older need to take daily multivitamins for several reasons. First, older people eat less food, but they excrete more nutrients in urine and stool. Secondly, most of them absorb fewer nutrients from food. Furthermore, older adults have reduced ability to synthesize vitamin D in their skin. In a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, for example, 30 - 40% of older people with hip fracture were vitamin D deficient. For vegans, daily multivitamins may be necessary. The reason is that strict vegetarian diets are low in vitamin B12, iron, and zinc. While fortified foods may provide these nutrients, the amount they provide may not be enough to prevent deficiency.

It is widely known that cigarette smoke produces harmful toxins in the body, and extra vitamins and other essential nutrients are needed to protect cells from oxidative damage by these toxins. For example, it is estimated that cigarette smoke reduces blood vitamin C levels by up to 50%, thus placing smokers at increased risk of vitamin C deficiency. Low blood vitamin C levels also increase their risks of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases. For this reason, the Academy of Sciences recommends that smokers should get extra 35 milligrams (or a total of 125 mg) of vitamin C over the amount needed by nonsmokers. Even so, some experts argue that 125 mg is not enough to protect smokers. They suggest that smokers need at least 200 mg of vitamin C a day.

If you drink too much alcohol, you are a candidate for daily multivitamins. Alcohol reduces the blood level of many nutrients through decreased absorption and increased excretion. Also, heavy alcohol drinkers are more likely to substitute alcohol for food, which over time may lead to deficiency.

While food remains the best way for you to get your vitamins, medical experts now agree that anyone can benefit from a daily intake of standard multivitamins. This view is based on scientific evidence suggesting that multivitamins do more than simply replace what you don't get from food. They can provide extra protection against common diseases as well as reduce your risk of chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, and diabetes.

Chima Njoku is a biochemist, freelance medical writer, and publisher of free consumer friendly information on vitamins and minerals. Increase your knowledge about vitamins and minerals at http://healthsolutionsontheweb.com/Vitamin.html

Understanding Supplementation Is Important
No longer is exercise and a healthy diet enough if a person wants to keep their body in tip top shape. Supplementation is often required to make up for vitamin deficiencies in one's diet.However, a person may be wondering, with all the items on the m...

What to Look for in a Multivitamin
You've undoubtedly read the news reports that indicate that taking a multivitamin every day can provide long-term health benefits. If you're like most people you probably are interested in making a multivitamin a part of your strategy for good health...

If You Want to Enjoy Optimum Good Health A Multivitamin Can Help
Its never too late to change your habits, and if you are not in the habit of taking a multivitamin supplement regularly, its time you did. Altering your behavior in this one respect will greatly improve your chances of living a long and healthy life...

Understanding The Purpose Of Vitamins And Minerals
Vitamins and minerals are an integral part of our daily lives, yet people quite often overlook them. However, by eating a healthy diet people should get the necessary daily supply. Sometimes though, even by eating good, wholesome food, a person can b...

Benefits of Chromium - Not the Chromium in the Movies
What are the benefits of chromium, if any?Chromium gets a bad rap. You might know it as that pollutant that gets into the ground water supply and causes all kinds of diseases. Well, that's hexavalent chromium, the bad stuff.This article is about diet...

Vitamin E - Just the Facts, Ma’am
It is important to understand that we are ultimately responsible for our own well-being and should do whatever is necessary to maintain our health and assist our bodies in resisting and fighting disease. Since health practitioners agree that vitamin...

Should I Be Taking A Multivitamin?
Patients ask me this all the time. My answer is: yes. But make it a good one. Better still: get informed advice to help you get the most out of supplements. Did you know that you need more vitamin C if you are a smoker, more B-vitamins in times of st...

Buy Vitamins Supplements: Tips, Myths, and Facts - An Inside Story!
With dietary supplements making their way in our daily life, we find it difficult to survive without them. We have very smartly and effectively heralded these supplements as panacea for all ills. But as the saying goes, too much of even good things c...

Beyond Vitamins and Minerals - Glyconutrients
It is well known and scientifically proven that vitamins and minerals are essential to our diet to prevent or remedy health problems. One of the most well known examples of this is the disease scurvy, which is prevented and cured by vitamin C. Many...

This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 10:38 am and is filed under Health Supplements . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.