Multivitamin and Mineral

Multivitamin and Mineral supplements provide you with beyond the Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for the major vitamins and minerals, also known as micronutrients. These important nutrients help to keep your body functioning optimally, and can even assist in reducing the risk for some chronic diseases. Examples of vitamins are the B complex vitamins and retinol (vitamin A), and minerals such as magnesium and zinc. Minerals are generally "taken-up" by plants from the soil, while the vitamins are synthesized within the plant.

You may have noticed, that with any good multivitamin, the content of each nutrient is much higher than the RDI. Interestingly, the RDI is the smallest amount of each nutrient required to prevent a deficiency disease. For example, scurvy is a vitamin C deficiency which results in a number of signs and symptoms—some of which are ulcerations of the gums, anemia and pain in the limbs—which is fortunately rare in Western nations.

By consuming the RDI for adults of vitamin C at 45mg per day, you are covered for scurvy prevention. A multivitamin and mineral, however, can contain around 90-100mg per tablet. Some pure vitamin C products contain 1,500mg per tablet! So remember, the RDI is the smallest and most basic amount of a nutrient required to prevent a deficiency disease. The amount of a nutrient required to achieve optimal health, however, is another story entirely. In fact, research was published back in 2001 in the International Journal of Sports Medicine indicating that 1,500mg of vitamin C taken after exercise assists in reducing inflammation and cortisol levels. 

To dig a little deeper into this Vitamin C, it is required for catecholamine synthesis (adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine), collagen synthesis (skin health) and research published in 2009 in Free Radical Biology and Medicine indicates that it may assist in the prevention of cognitive decline. And this is just one of the many important micronutrients found within a high quality multivitamin and mineral product.

Multivitamins are especially useful when the diet is lacking in quality whole foods, or even when food intake is low, such as during dieting or illness. A good multivitamin and mineral covers all of your bases for these micronutrients, and can deliver more optimal levels of nutrients, easily covering the RDIs. Some formulations even include herbal tonics, to assist with general health maintenance, such as Dong quai for women and Tribulus terrestris for men. Other gender specific additions can be Vitex Agnus Castus to support hormonal health in women, and lycopene (found in tomatoes) for prostate health in men. 

Multivitamin and minerals are a great addition to your supplementation regime—the quintessential supplement?—given that the mineral content of food is not quite what it used to be, due to over-farming and unsustainable farming practices used by many today. This leads to reduced health of the plants and lower synthesis of vitamins, leading to less of these valuable health-promoting nutrients on our plates.