Should I take a multivitamin or not?
As the world population grows, there is a need for simple ways to maintain the health of many people. As the quality of life improves, interest in health increases. Accordingly, the supplement business such as multivitamins has grown rapidly. Now, it is common to see people taking vitamin supplements for health management purposes.
Multivitamins are a type of nutritional supplement made to provide vitamins and minerals, and are classified as metabolic drugs according to the drug classification of the Korea Pharmaceutical Association. Multivitamins that can be easily purchased online are health functional foods, and there is no difference from pharmaceuticals in terms of type, content, and quality. Whether it is a pharmaceutical or health functional food depends on how it is approved. I once read an article written by a pharmacist who said that vitamins are more effective when taken as pharmaceuticals, but even experts often talk about their own opinions when they deviate slightly from their field. This is especially true for experts who blog, YouTube, or appear on TV in addition to their main job. It is easy to be deceived by what experts say, but any knowledge heard from people can be added or subtracted.
Vitamins and minerals are essential for the body to function properly. However, multivitamins are not comparable to natural foods. Multivitamins are not intended to replace natural foods. The primary cause of vitamin deficiency occurs when there are not enough vitamins and minerals in the food, and the secondary cause occurs due to lifestyle habits such as smoking, drinking, and using drugs that interfere with vitamin absorption. Unless there are special circumstances, the first step is to eat well and correct lifestyle habits. One multivitamin pill is not a panacea.
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Vitamins are not as effective as natural foods?
Natural foods contain a wider variety of vitamins and minerals than supplements, and are also a source of fiber and phytochemicals. Since they provide more health benefits through synergy effects, healthy adults who eat a balanced diet do not need to take a multivitamin separately. Since supplements are generally more expensive than food, eating well is a much more economical way to manage your health.
However, modern people eat a lot of processed foods (energy-dense, nutrient poor foods, EDNP foods) that are high in calories but low in nutrients, and sometimes they do not eat meals on time because they are pressed for time. Poor people, children, the elderly, those who diet hard, those who have no appetite, pregnant, have digestive diseases, vegetarians, and others who cannot get enough nutrition from food can also have vitamin and mineral deficiencies. In such cases, taking vitamin supplements can help maintain health. If you use them properly when necessary, they are very useful. In cases such as pernicious anemia caused by vitamin B12 deficiency, vitamin administration can sometimes be life-saving.
Is it safe to take multivitamins every day?
There is not enough scientific evidence to say whether healthy people benefit from taking vitamin supplements every day. There are also studies that show that vitamin supplements do not prevent diseases in healthy people and do not need to be taken regularly (S.Shreenidhi, 2020). However, insufficient evidence does not mean that they are ineffective, and there do not seem to be any serious side effects, so it may be better for busy modern people to take vitamin supplements.
Multivitamins that are sold as health functional foods come in various forms, including candy and gummies. This is good news for people who have difficulty taking pills or children who hate taking medicine. I tried it and it was okay. No, honestly, it was so delicious that I had a hard time eating just one. I ate about a dozen at a time without thinking. I almost died from severe headache and nausea. I drank a lot of water and felt better after about an hour. Another time, I had no appetite in the morning and thought it would be better absorbed on an empty stomach, so I took a multivitamin on an empty stomach. Suddenly, I felt dizzy and broke out in a cold sweat and collapsed on the spot. I felt like I needed to eat something, so I grabbed something to eat and drank a lot of water. After about 10 minutes, I felt better. Since then, I have been taking it after meals. But at this point, I wonder. Are vitamin and mineral supplements really safe?
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Multivitamins contain many nutrients, so you can overdose on unnecessary nutrients for your body. Most people take them because they feel happy that they are taking care of their health by taking vitamins every day, rather than because of the effects (Ramesh et al., 2016). It is best to consult a doctor and choose and take appropriate vitamins according to your health condition, but not many people take vitamins that way. Most people choose and take supplements based on self-diagnosis, so they can easily overdose. Since the side effects of excess vitamins are generally more serious than deficiencies, you should always be careful about overuse.
Not all vitamins and minerals are used as needed and the rest is excreted from the body. For example, vitamin A can easily accumulate in the body when taken in excess (Hypervitaminosis A), which can cause chronic intoxication, such as fatigue, headaches, loss of appetite, itching, hair loss, and dry skin. As a side note, it is safer to obtain vitamin A from fruits and vegetables than from supplements.
Some vitamins can cause acute toxic reactions such as nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and vomiting when taken in large quantities at once like I did. This varies depending on the individual's age, health, etc., and most of these acute reactions are mild or temporary and recover within a short period of time. However, severe overdose can lead to coma, low blood pressure, liver failure, and even death. You must take the correct dosage, and if you miss the time, it is better to skip a day than to take it late. It is recommended to take it after a meal with a large glass of water to help the supplement disintegrate and the water-soluble vitamins dissolve, and to protect the stomach.
You don't have to take it, but if you must, it is safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective to take additional nutrients that your body needs rather than a comprehensive vitamin. For example, if you are a vegetarian, take a separate vitamin B12 supplement or iron supplement.
The type and amount of nutrients needed vary depending on the individual's health status. It is best to consult with a professional to decide what and how much to eat. It is safer to eat intermittently rather than every day. One thing to remember is that any vitamin or mineral has more side effects when it is excessive than when it is deficient, and supplements cannot replace a balanced diet. If you are already taking various vitamins and nutritional supplements, you should be careful not to take them in high concentrations with duplicate ingredients.