With the continuing depletion of nutrients in the food chain, the general public has embraced the use of multivitamins to support its vitamin and mineral requirements. Dr. Michael Colgan, a New Zealand-born nutritionist and the author of “The Sports Nutrition Guide," explains that you cannot obtain optimum amounts of many nutrients without the use of supplements, and recommends a broad-spectrum multivitamin as a starting point.
Nutrient Amounts
When it comes to multivitamin formulations, health stores and pharmacies offer a long list of brands and products. The actual amount of each ingredient stands out as the most immediate difference between competing products. Many manufacturers simply stick to offering the government's Recommended Dietary Allowances, often referred to as RDAs. However, Colgan offers evidence to show that while these amounts may prevent scurvy and rickets, they remain insufficient for optimum health. He recommends the use of higher potency supplements.
Co-Factors and Co-Enzymes
Beyond simply the list of essential compounds, another way to analyze supplements involves looking at the additional ingredients they offer. The body needs many co-factors and co-enzymes to use vitamins and minerals properly, so an absence of these compounds may adversely impact any benefit a supplement offers. For example, the body needs a variety of co-factors to properly utilize the B complex vitamins, including folic acid, biotin, choline, para-amino benzoic acid and inositol, but many cheaper supplements only include folic acid.
Mineral Forms
Sometimes, 15 milligrams of zinc pales in comparison with 15 milligrams of zinc. If one product offers zinc oxide and another contains zinc citrate, you can expect your body to notice a big difference. Although the amount offered remains the same, the form of the mineral has a crucial effect on absorption and bioavailability. Magnesium oxide stands out as one of the cheapest forms to produce, but offers little bioavailability of magnesium, according to Thorsten Bohn in a 2003 study conducted at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Citrate forms, or picolinates, ascorbates and glycinates, represent better choices.
Phytonutrients
Many multivitamins include ingredients such as magnesium stearate to act as a lubricant for quick and easy production and to fill space in the capsules. Although the jury is out on whether this harms absorption or results in any negative effects in the body, Dr. Brian Clement, head of the Hippocrates Institute and the author of “Supplements Exposed," delivers a damning verdict on the presence of synthetic chemicals, explaining that the body's set-up suits naturally occurring molecules. Instead, he prefers supplements that fill spaces with a base of herbs, such as alfalfa and parsley.
Multiple Doses
Water-soluble vitamins, which include vitamin B complex and vitamin C, can only increase availability to the cells for a short period of time. When you consume these compounds, the concentration in the bloodstream increases, but because of their water-solubility, they cannot enter fat stores, and the kidneys remove them from the body. As such, a split-dose multivitamin, which refers to one that you take twice a day, may enhance vitamin potency over a once-a-day dosage.
References
- “Sports Nutrition Guide”; Dr. Michael Colgan; 2002
- “Supplements Exposed”; Brian Clement; 2009
- ETH Institutional Repository; “Magnesium Absorption in Humans”; 2003
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