Vitamins & Unexplained Weight Gain

Vitamins have no calories, and by themselves cannot cause weight gain or loss. However, they do have a number of side effects that might lead to weight gain if you're not careful. When taking multivitamins, keep a food diary. This will help you track what you're eating and whether your eating patterns change over a period of weeks. If you notice a weight increase, you might need to adjust your food portions or change what you're eating.

Appetite Increase

Lack of certain vitamins can make you lose your appetite. For example, doctors often recommend a B-vitamin complex to children with poor appetites. Deficiencies of vitamin A, C, biotin and folate can also lead to loss of appetite. If you're taking a multivitamin, you'll be stabilizing your vitamin levels and your appetite may return as a result. If you're suddenly gaining weight, take a closer look at your diet and try to figure out if you're eating larger portions or more frequently. This could be the reason for your weight gain.

Improved Sense of Taste and Smell

A zinc deficiency can not only decrease your appetite, but it can also affect your sense of taste or smell, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Zinc deficiencies can also cause weight loss. When you take a multivitamin that contains zinc, you might experience an improvement in your senses of taste and smell. Suddenly, food seems more appetizing and you experience more cravings. This could lead to your eating more or to be tempted by foods you didn't eat before, such as pastries or chocolate, both of which have an attractive smell.

Bloating

What you think is unexplained weight gain could actually be just bloating. Iron and calcium supplements can cause gastrointestinal distress, including bloating and gas. Both of these minerals are commonly part of multivitamins. Some multivitamins have added fiber or chemical additives that can cause bloating in some people.

Check the Labels

Poor-quality vitamins might contain added ingredients that could cause weight gain. Check labels for sugars, starches and fiber. These could provide empty calories or cause bloating. Choose a multivitamin that has no added ingredients except for preservatives, needed to keep the vitamins fresh.