According to the Food and Drug Administration, your daily diet is the ideal source of nutrients and vitamins. However, many women may not obtain all the essential nutrients from their food, for a variety of reasons related to today's lifestyle. Using alcohol, smoking and stress can all increase your vitamin needs. A daily medical grade multivitamin can be a quick, cheap and easy way to put your mind at ease and be more confident that you are getting the vitamins you need for health.
Folic Acid
Folic acid is a B vitamin that is important for all women who may get pregnant. Folic acid plays a vital role in ensuring that the neural tube in the fetus forms properly. The brain and spinal cord are formed inside the neural tube, and supplementing your diet with folic acid can prevent defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly. Folic acid is most vital in the first two weeks of pregnancy, before most women realize that they are pregnant. This is why folic acid is recommended for all women who may bear children. Your everyday multivitamin should therefore contain at least 400 micrograms, mcg, of folic acid.
B Vitamins
The other B vitamins are also important in your everyday multivitamin. The B vitamins support nervous system function and can contribute to brain health. Lack of B vitamins has been associated with depression, psychosis and other mental health difficulties. B vitamins and iron can both prevent anemia, a common condition in women that can cause tiredness, weakness and lethargy.
Vitamin D
Women are more vulnerable than men to skeletal diseases such as osteoporosis and osteomalacia. Vitamin D helps to strengthen the bones and prevent these deficiency diseases, and also strengthens hair and nails. Women with darker skin or women in higher latitudes may not synthesize the vitamin D that they need from sunlight exposure, and so at least 5 to 15 mcg of Vitamin D should be present in your medical grade everyday multivitamin.
Vitamin C
There is evidence that vitamin C deficiency can lead to your immune system becoming depressed. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, which means that any excess you consume is safely excreted by the body naturally. For this reason, high doses of vitamin C are perfectly safe and possibly very beneficial in your daily multivitamin.
Helpful Additional Substances
A good multivitamin for women will include a number of important minerals that boost the effectiveness of the vitamins included. For example, calcium is necessary for the adequate absorption of vitamin D, and iron aids the absorption of vitamin C. Other important minerals for health are sodium, zinc, copper, magnesium, iodine, phosphorus and potassium.
Other Possible Ingredients
A complete medical grade multivitamin will also contain vitamins A and E and possibly vitamin K. However, very few people suffer from deficiencies in these vitamins, so they are less necessary. Many everyday multivitamins for women also contain amino acids, herbal supplements and antioxidants. You should ensure that the multivitamin that you choose contains all of the essential nutrients mentioned above before focusing on these less essential supplements.
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