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Multivitamin supplements are a convenient way to prevent
vitamin deficiency when your diet does not provide
adequate nutrition. While multivitamin supplements don't
mean you can eat unhealthy foods all the time and get
away with it, they do provide backup nutrition when your
diet falls short of optimal.
Multivitamin supplements often include minerals. Some of
the minerals that people are prone to be deficient in
are iron, magnesium, zinc, and calcium. Multivitamin
supplements contain many different kinds of vitamins,
including the ones listed here.
Vitamin A is found in many multivitamin supplements.
Deficiency in vitamin A is uncommon unless you are
elderly. It is vital for your immune system to function
optimally, and it is sometimes taken to prevent bone
loss and certain types of birth defects. But vitamin A
should never be taken in large doses because it can be
dangerous.
Beta carotene is an antioxidant in multivitamin
supplements that helps increase white blood cell numbers
and boosts the body's disease fighting immune
activities. Together, vitamin A and beta carotene keep
the cells in your eyes healthy.
Folic acid is especially important during pregnancy and
is included in prenatal multivitamin supplements. Folic
acid deficiencies can lead to low birth weight and an
increased risk of neural tube defects such as spina
bifida in babies.
There are quite a few B vitamins, and most of them are
found in multivitamin supplements. Folic acid is
technically a B vitamin. Pyridoxine is another. Along
with B12, pyridoxine is important for controlling levels
of homocysteine in the blood. High levels of
homocysteine can lead to heart disease, strokes, and
Alzheimer's disease. Vitamin B12 can also help fight
heart disease, anemia, and memory loss. Thiamine, also
called vitamin B1, is important for proper brain
function. The vitamin niacin, also called B3, prevents a
disease called pellagra. Pellagra is relatively rare,
but it is caused by a deficiency in niacin and results
in scaly sores on the skin, inflamed mucous membranes,
diarrhea, and mental confusion.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant and a booster of the immune
system that helps keep skin healthy and helps in healing
of wounds and scars.
Vitamin D is essential to proper absorption of the
mineral calcium. A deficiency of vitamin D can lead to
bone loss, fractures, and a disease called rickets,
which can result in severe bone pain. Though vitamin D
can be manufactured by the human body from exposure to
sunlight, it is included in multivitamin supplements too
because the deficiency can be so painful. However, that
doesn't mean that you should take mega doses of it.
If you shop around, you can find multivitamin
supplements that contain vitamin K. Deficiency in
vitamin K can cause bleeding and leads to easy bruising
and osteoporosis (brittle bones).
Along with vitamin D and vitamin K, calcium is a mineral
found in many multivitamin supplements. It is necessary
for building and maintaining adequate bone mass.
Consuming enough calcium reduces the risk of bone
fractures in older people.
While multivitamin supplements may provide more than
100% of your recommended daily allowance of some
vitamins, it is not a good idea to consume enormous
amounts of any vitamin or mineral. The levels in
multivitamins are generally considered safe, but
supplements containing individual vitamins sometimes
contain doses large enough that they could be risky.
Theoretically, your diet is supposed to be sufficient to
provide 100% of your recommended daily allowance of the
basic vitamins and minerals, but the person who eats a
balanced diet with adequate vitamins and minerals every
single day is rare in today's fast-paced world. There
are many multivitamins available, and it may take some
research to decide which kind is best for you. If you
start taking a multivitamin supplement and experience
any side effects, it is a good idea to stop taking them
and see if the problem goes away. If so, you should ask
your doctor to recommend a multivitamin supplement.
There are about a dozen recognized vitamins that humans
are recommended to consume in certain quantities. A long
term shortage in any of them can cause symptoms of
vitamin deficiency. While multivitamin supplements can
do a great job of preventing vitamin deficiencies,
they're not a substitute for a healthy lifestyle,
including a healthy diet and regular exercise.
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