We’re back at it creating more tips and info on all things healthy for you! This week we will talk about multi-vitamins– hoping to shed some light on the broad subject!

What is a multi-vitamin:
A multi-vitamin is simply a combination of several different essential vitamins and minerals (i.e.- vitamin A, B, C, D/Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, etc.) combined into one supplement for general wellness. (This may seem pretty self explanatory, but just in case you’ve never heard of a multi-vitamin!)

Some multis will contain whole food coupled with isolates (vitamins/minerals extracted and isolated from various sources).  This type of Multi-vitamin is called a whole food vitamin.  Studies have shown that coupling whole food with the isolates improve the absorption rate and helps deliver more nutrients to the body.  They tend to be easier on the stomach as well.  Most vitamins on the market that are lower priced tend to only contain isolates.  Although this may not be the highest quality of vitamin on the market, it can be more affordable and still an option to receive extra vitamins and minerals that you may not be receiving from your diet.

Some multis will include foods or herbs that are known to contain lots of health benefits like- mushrooms, adaptogen herbs, or specific herbs for males or females.  Choosing a women’s vitamin will have a little extra calcium and magnesium for bones and also herbs that help with hormone balancing.  The men’s multis tend to have herbs and nutrients for the prostate.  These specific types of vitamins can help minimizing buying multiple different supplements and help the budget by just buying one good multi-vitamin.

Benefits:
There’s many different opinions about whether a multi-vitamin provide health benefits. What is unique about multi-vitamins is that they depend on the individual.  Most people that take a multi notice an increase in energy.  This tends to be the reason people decide to take a multi- to increase their energy.  Other benefits that multis can provide are:

• Helps support digestion
• Enhanced focus and brain clarity
• Beneficial for improving eye sight
• Increased hair and nail growth
• Skin health improvements
• Increased endurance with exercise
• Supports bone health or bone strength
• Helps boost immune system
• Supports healthy blood sugar levels
• Helps with mid-day fatigue
• Helps increase quality of sleep
• Convenient way of receiving extra nutrients

You also have the option to do one tablet per day (once daily) or more than one per day.  The one a day multis are convenient and easy to remember to take. The multis that you take more than once a day are nice for people that want to receive nutrients throughout the day rather than all at once.

As always, do what you feel is best for YOUR body– if you aren’t sure, ask your doctor.  We are health ENTHUSIASTS not licensed practitioners.