Taking multivitamins is a great way to supplement your diet and fill any nutritional gaps that may exist. But when is the best time to take them? Turns out, taking multivitamins with food is the best way to ensure your body gets the most out of them. There are two main reasons why you should take multivitamins with food. Firstly, your body absorbs some of the individual vitamins in this pill better when taken with food than without it.
Secondly, taking a multivitamin when you haven't eaten often causes stomach discomfort. For example, you absorb approximately 15 percent of the riboflavin in a multivitamin without food, while this amount increases to at least 60 percent with food. Similarly, eating a meal with healthy fats, such as lean meats, can increase vitamin C absorption by nearly 70 percent. While these effects aren't as dramatic in the case of minerals, the body absorbs significantly more magnesium and zinc when ingested with food.
Unless you're following a perfectly balanced diet, you may be able to benefit from taking a multivitamin. In addition to helping to fill nutritional gaps in the standard diet, the supplement taken once a day may be especially useful for people with certain dietary restrictions or health problems. Vegans and vegetarians, for example, can benefit from the vitamin B12 found in multis, since we normally get that nutrient from animal foods. Of course, taking a multivitamin is no substitute for a healthy diet, but there is growing evidence to suggest that taking a multivitamin is actually good for your health.
Turns out there's a very legitimate reason why taking a multivitamin on an empty stomach can make you feel dizzy. Not to mention, taking the multivitamin with food also ensures that you absorb the fat-soluble vitamins it contains. All vitamins A, D, E and K need fat to be absorbed by the body. Not all of the nutrients in your multivitamin are fat-soluble.
However, you might want to pair your multivitamin with a snack or meal to promote full absorption. Beale recommends including healthy fats such as avocado, olive oil or nuts in your meals to help your body get the most out of those fat-soluble vitamins. For the new habit to continue, set an alarm on your phone to remind you to take the multivitamin at mealtime. If you're still feeling nauseous after taking your multivitamin, even when you combine it with food, you might want to consider changing your vitamin protocol or try changing the type of multivitamin you consume.
The Cleveland Clinic agrees and suggests that some people may be better able to tolerate multiple forms that are easier to digest, such as gummies. Multivitamins are best taken with food and plenty of water. Eating a meal with a multivitamin is preferred and lunch is a good time. In addition, nutrients tend to work better when combined with other nutrients so a meal increases the chances of this happening.
However, if you feel that it's best to take your multivitamin with water alone, the effectiveness won't decrease as much. If you don't get all your vitamins from your diet it's better to take a multivitamin than not to. Many individual vitamins can also be absorbed on an empty stomach but when it comes to multivitamins it would be best with food. The question of whether multivitamins and other dietary supplements are necessary for the general population is a source of debate.
If you don't know when you should consume the multivitamin consult your doctor and he will tell you the best time and the right multivitamin for your health. Multivitamin labels often recommend taking them with food which increases the body's ability to absorb many of the vitamins. However since these aren't the only forms of minerals in multivitamins minerals aren't always better digested when taken with food. The amount of compounds in most multivitamins makes it difficult to determine the best way to use these supplements while the body can better process and utilize most of the nutrients in multivitamins when taken with food this is not the case with all vitamins and minerals.
Improves digestion: Multivitamins taken with food can help increase the amount of stomach acids required for proper digestion. A multivitamin is a supplement that combines a variety of vitamins minerals and other ingredients in order to fill any nutritional gaps that may exist in a person's diet however if there is the slightest doubt that you cannot meet the recommended nutrient intake of any nutrient it is advisable to focus on multivitamins take your multivitamin and any fat-soluble vitamins (A D E and K) with foods that contain some fat keep calcium and iron separate and you'll be fine.
