For most people, taking your share of multivitamins for the day has become a force of habit. You don’t notice yourself following the same routine unless you deliberately watch over what you put in your body. As a result, the vast majority of people don’t question its effectiveness and end up doing the same thing over again because everyone’s led to believe that it provides a net benefit.
However, when you get into the nitty-gritty, the only purpose multivitamins serve is to contribute to our micronutrient intake for the day, something you can generally attain by making healthier food choices as well. So, it now begs the question of whether multivitamins are important to living a healthy lifestyle or if following a well-balanced diet is more than enough to maintain robust well-being.
Multivitamins Help Round Out Your Micronutrients
On the positive end, multivitamins help round out your micronutrients. And if you’re talking about people who don’t generally make the best meal choices, it might be the one saving grace that’s balancing out all the negatives. In practice, multivitamins cover any possible vitamin and mineral deficiencies, are more suitable for personalized care, and can be taken by virtually anyone. Here are some ways multivitamins work:
- Cover Any Possible Deficiencies: Deficiencies aren’t typically an issue for people from affluent backgrounds. This is because full-course meals often guarantee meeting your daily micronutrient requirements. However, if your diet primarily revolves around fast food, take-out, and convenience over quality options, then multivitamins can help fill in the gaps and keep you healthy. For example, if you don’t get a lot of calcium intake, multivitamins can bring you closer to the desired amount. The right amount of calcium you take daily can help promote healthy teeth. But just to be sure, don’t forget to visit your dentist regularly to keep your mouth all safe.
- Perfect for Personalized Care: Apart from the objective benefits of covering possible deficiencies, multivitamins are the ideal supplements for personalized care, especially for individuals with conditions that inhibit them from the usual meal preparations. And since some people can’t obtain their share of micronutrients either due to allergies or disabilities, multivitamins make it possible to lead a healthy life regardless of the limitations of a specific food. So, if you ever find yourself in the same predicament, multivitamins can be the workaround.
- Super Easy to Take: In terms of accessibility, multivitamins are widely available, and all it takes is a few seconds to pop a tablet and flush it down with water. And as long as you follow directions and dosages according to the instructions, you won’t ever have to worry about missing your daily micronutrient intake goals. Plus, there’s a sense of relief and level of convenience attached with boosting immunity from something that doesn’t take a lot of effort to prepare.
However, a Well-Balanced Diet Can Do Things Way Better
Nevertheless, while multivitamins may have upsides, you can achieve many of these potential benefits through a well-balanced diet and at a much better level as well. So even if you skip out on the habit of taking multivitamins twice a day, anyone who plans their meals for the week ahead accordingly and uses quality ingredients to cook will have nothing to worry about in terms of missing their micronutrients. Here are reasons a well-balanced diet trumps multivitamins:
- Satisfaction and Satiety: Firstly, one benefit you cannot gain through tablet intake is the satisfaction and satiety you receive from eating a delicious meal. Nothing beats a steaming chicken tortilla soup on a cold day, and some cold yogurt soft serve on a hot morning. You see, micronutrients are best paired with macronutrients, and that’s because both are always present when eating a proper dish served with love.
- Save on Unnecessary Costs: Secondly, despite multivitamins being readily available at your local pharmacy or supermarket, some brands can get a little pricey, and the costs do stack up over time. So, while the convenience factor is nice to have, it’s all for naught if it starts eating into your budget. As a result, preparing healthy meals becomes the wiser option because it can save you a fair bit in the long run.
On the Risks of Excess Intake
One notable downside with multivitamins and taking in your micronutrients through tablet form is the risk of excess intake that can lead to an upset stomach, minor headaches, or an unpleasant aftertaste. And, in worst-case scenarios, if your body starts reacting in a way that’s not expected, you will need to get in contact with a physician ASAP for a checkup.
At the end of the day, multivitamins should never be used alone because these are nothing more than supplements to reach your goals. And that means these tablets won’t be replacing your meals anytime soon.
