5 Things to Look for in Your Multivitamin

The interest in healthy living continues to grow and with it, the explosion in health products such as multivitamins. With so many companies selling them, it’s hard to know what to look for. What is the perfect multivitamin? In most cases, multivitamins carry the same nutrients. However, different nutritional needs and your health will determine what you need from your multivitamin dietary supplement.

Basics

Every multivitamin supplement has to have certain basic vitamins needed for daily health. Many of them are commonly known. For example, vitamin C is known for boosting the immune system as well as keeping skin, teeth, and bones healthy. Calcium is good for bone and teeth health as well. There are also vitamins that only exist in certain foods. B 12 is such being an important vitamin that only occurs in animal products. A basic nutrition chart will give a list of the nutrients you absolutely need.

Age-Specific Nutrients

As our bodies age, we continue to need certain vitamins and nutrients that our body no longer produces efficiently. Among them are vitamins A, D, C, and calcium. Vitamin A promotes eye health reducing the risk of diseases such as macular degeneration. Vitamin D is important for seniors as their bodies get less of the sunlight needed to produce it naturally. Vitamin C becomes more important for seniors as an important immune booster. Good multivitamins for seniors include antioxidants and high intake vitamins such as vitamin E. However, men and women also have different nutritional needs and this plays a role in the kind of dietary supplement they need to buy.

Gender-Specific

Multivitamins by necessity have to vary for men and women due to their different health needs. Women’s bodies undergo many changes from menstruation and pregnancy to menopause. At each stage in a woman’s life, she needs different nutrients. Folic acid is normally prescribed to pregnant women to promote the healthy development of babies. Also, women of all ages need vitamin E to boost naturally produced estrogen in the body. This becomes even more important as women enter menopause when the body’s estrogen levels drop. Also greater doses of calcium and vitamin D become more important to fight osteoporosis. Men also need supplements with vitamins that promote the health of the prostate and urinary tract.

Vitamins Not Found In Your Diet

It’s emphasized elsewhere, but it’s important that your multivitamin provides vitamins you need extra servings of. This includes B complex vitamins, Vitamin E, Antioxidants, and trace metals known to be essential for good health. A good exercise is to look at what vitamins the foods you eat give you and look at the requirements for your daily serving of nutrients. If there are any that need a larger than normal serving, this should be another consideration when buying a multivitamin supplement.

USP Approved

Another important thing to look for in a multivitamin supplement is that it is FDA approved and meets other government standards. The USP or United States Pharmacopeia is now the official body that governs standards on the purity and safety of nutrient supplements. If you want to be sure the multivitamins you buy meet basic standards, look for the USP.