Multi-vitamin question

[missnikki217]

Hey all. Will make this brief.

Have read the book thousands of times, but am still confused on whether I need to take my multivitamin ONCE a day, or THREE times (with each meal)

Thanks in advance!

[Diver Down]

You need to investigate the nutritional content of the foods you're eating in order to answer the question. Taking a multivitamin once a day is a safe baseline, but if you're falling way short of certain vital nutrients then you need to kick up your supplements to compensate. I always advocate getting as many nutrients as possible from the foods you're eating and not pills, but the main thing is to get them one way or another vs. being malnourished.

Find out what kinds of nutrients you're getting from the foods you're eating (and in what quantity) to make an informed decision. You may be fine taking a daily single multivitamin, but need to increase calcium supplements, for example. A multivitamin is not a one-size-fits-all wonder pill; broaden your supplement horizons based on the needs of your body according to the particular foods you're eating.

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by missnikki217

Have read the book thousands of times, but am still confused on whether I need to take my multivitamin ONCE a day, or THREE times (with each meal)

There should also be a note on the label. Mine says:

Suggested use: For best results, take one tablet daily with a meal.

[msanjelpie]

It all depends on what is in your multivitamin...

Mine contains:
Serving Size: One tablet

Amount Per Serving - % Daily Value

Vitamin A - 2500 IU - 50%
Vitamin C - 120 mg - 200%
Vitamin D - 400 IU - 100%
Vitamin E - 33 IU - 110%
Vitamin K - 20 mcg - 25%
Thiamin (B1) - 4.5 mg - 300%
Riboflavin (B2) - 3.4 mg - 200%
Niacin - 20 mg - 100%
Vitamin B6 - 6 mg - 300%
Folic Acid - 400 mcg - 100%
Vitamin B12 - 25 mcg - 417%
Biotin - 30 mcg - 10%
Pantothenic Acid - 15 mg - 150%
Calcium - 120 mg - 12%
Iron - 0 mg - 0%
Iodine - 150 mcg - 100%
Magnesium - 100 mg - 25%
Zinc - 22.5 mg - 150%
Selenium - 105 mcg - 150%
Copper - 2 mg - 100%
Manganese - 4 mg - 200%
Chromium - 180 mcg - 150%
Molybdenum - 90 mcg - 120%
Potassium - 40 mg - 1%
Lycopene - 600 mcg

As you can see most of the percentages are around or above 100% of the RDA. If I were to take more than one tablet per day I would be getting too much of certain elements.

Looking at the percentages I see that potassium, calcium and magnesium are really low. So I supplement with a pill to make sure I get the RDA of those minerals, especially needed with exercising...

What's in your pill?

[missnikki217]

Thanks all