What To Look For When Choosing a Multivitamin
Getting all the vitamins we need in a day can be challenging, and we don’t always have the time to give our body what it needs. Fortunately, taking multivitamins can help our bodies get the nutrition boost they need to stay healthy. However, not all multivitamins are the same, nor are they made equally. If you want to find the best supplement for you, let’s review what you should look for when choosing a multivitamin.
Pick a Multivitamin With a Purpose
When choosing a multivitamin, your first job is to ask yourself what you need a multivitamin for. Due to the strides health science has made, you can find a vitamin that can help you meet a variety of needs. Are you looking for a natural way to improve your energy and focus? Do you want a vitamin to bridge the gap that your diet may not meet? Maybe you’re looking to reduce stress, or you have trouble absorbing vitamins.
When you know what you want your multivitamin to do, it becomes much easier to find the right one for you.
Pay Attention to the Dose
The Food and Drug Administration has dosage recommendations for all of the vitamins your body needs. However, many vitamins aren’t FDA regulated, which doesn’t make them dangerous, but it means that you need to pay attention to the dosage. Otherwise, you run the risk of mega-dosing, which can interact with medications and general vitamin absorption and have adverse health effects. It’s best to cross-reference the dose on your multivitamin with the recommended FDA dose. If you’re still unsure if the dosage is right for you, speak with your doctor–your body may need more of a particular vitamin than others.
Look for Third-Party Testing
Remember that because vitamins don’t receive the same regulations as medications, people can put false claims on their packaging. The best way to avoid falling for this is to look for a product that went through some form of third-party testing. The packaging should have a stamp or logo that indicates it went through testing that verifies what’s in the vitamin. Consumer Lab, GMP, and NSF are a few third-party verifiers that can ensure what’s on the packaging is true.
Watch Out for Unnecessary Additives
Your multivitamin shouldn’t have any dyes, fillers, or ingredients that aren’t easy to recognize, research, or understand. The best multivitamins should have as few ingredients as possible to ensure you’re getting a clean product. Additionally, you should make sure that the capsule itself doesn’t have any additives that might interfere with your diet or lifestyle. For example, many capsules contain animal gelatin, which interferes with vegan diets.
Now that you know what to look for when choosing a multivitamin, you’re ready to shop with confidence and find a supplement that works for you. Remember, if you ever have any questions or concerns about drug interactions or whether a vitamin is right for you, always speak with your GP or a registered dietitian. Having a team of people with your health and safety in mind is never a bad thing.