People often take supplements with their diet to compensate for any lack of nutrients and improve their overall health. Additionally, numerous brands advertise multiple benefits of multivitamin capsules manufactured by them. But how much of it is true and backed by science? Turns out there isn’t enough solid research to back exaggerated claims for the advantages of multivitamin capsules. However, experts believe that taking multivitamins can support good health and may prevent certain chronic conditions. Here, you will learn about multivitamin capsules, benefits associated with them, and more.
What Are Multivitamin Capsules?
Multivitamin capsules are supplements that contain many different vitamins and minerals (sometimes with additional ingredients, such as herbs, fatty acids, and amino acids), depending on the type of multivitamin capsule chosen. Vitamins are essential for a person to stay healthy and play an important role in keeping your bones, muscles, and other organs functioning well. Vitamins are also important for making hormones and enzymes that have specific functions in the body. To stay on top of their health, many individuals use multivitamin capsules in their diet at regular intervals or start consuming them after a doctor’s recommendation.
Several multivitamin capsules are available in the market with varying compositions, which depends on the brand manufacturing them. It is important to review the ingredients of a multivitamin capsule that you are consuming or about to start as some ingredients may interact with other medication you are on and may lead to complications. If a doctor recommends a multivitamin capsule, they may also prescribe additional supplements to help with the digestion and absorption of the nutrients provided by the supplements or may change some of your medications to eliminate any contradictions.
The outer layer of a multivitamin capsule is generally made up of hard or soft gelatin and non-gelatin shells that may be derived from animal origins. However, they have no significant impact on your health.
Three major categories of multivitamins are available in the market, including the following:
- Basic multivitamins that provide most or all of the vitamins and minerals required by the body; the quantities in these capsules never exceed the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamins and minerals. Different formulations are available for different stages of life—childhood, pregnancy, adult life, and old age.
- High potency multivitamins that contain certain vitamins and minerals in significantly higher quantities than the RDA or sometimes even higher than the tolerable upper intake level (UL).
- The specialised multivitamin category that often combines several vitamins and minerals with speciality ingredients aimed at increasing energy levels, athletic performance, weight management, improving immune function, etc.
Benefits of Multivitamin Capsules
Many people use multivitamin capsules for different reasons. Listed below are some of the common benefits of taking multivitamin capsules:
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Increase in nutrient intake
One of the most prominent uses of multivitamin capsules is eliminating the nutrition deficit in the diet. People, at times, may not follow a balanced diet, which can lead to a nutrition deficiency over time. Consuming multivitamin capsules can help people obtain RDA for vitamins and minerals when their diet can’t provide them enough nutrition. Although there isn’t enough evidence that clearly shows how much dietary inadequacies a multivitamin capsule can compensate for, it is believed that taking them ensures that an individual won’t get affected by certain diseases.
Consuming the required amount of vitamins and minerals is extremely important for growing children, pregnant women, the elderly, and adults as vitamin/mineral deficiencies make a person prone to illness and cause many health complications.
Improved health or prevention of chronic diseases
Several studies have compared two groups of people to study the effects of using multivitamin capsules on an individual’s overall health and disease prevention, where one group consumed multivitamin capsules and the other didn’t. People who took multivitamin supplements also followed a healthy lifestyle and diet; thus, it is difficult to objectively assess the health benefits of taking multivitamin capsules in disease prevention and improved overall health.
Some experts have hypothesised that the benefits of taking multivitamin capsules include cancer prevention, improved outcomes for patients with cancer, reduction in fatality rate from cardiovascular diseases and their occurrence, and slowed vision loss from age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, further research is required to back these hypotheses.
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Healthy pregnancy and childbirth
Experts have also hypothesised that multivitamin capsules may increase the chances of a healthy birth. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends women who are trying to get pregnant or are pregnant should supplement their diet with folic acid either from fortified foods and/or dietary supplements and specialised multivitamin capsules for prenatal care.
Who Can Benefit From Taking Multivitamin Capsules?
People who eat a calorie-deficit diet, consume a restricted diet (vegans/vegetarians), have poor appetite or those who don’t get enough vitamins and minerals from their regular diet can consider taking multivitamin capsules. Doctors also recommend patients with certain medical conditions to take multivitamin capsules.
For example, pregnant women require a higher dose of nutrition than others to lead a healthy pregnancy and avoid complications before, during, or after childbirth. They are recommended to take about 400 mcg/day of folic acid and some multivitamin capsules rich in iron, iodine, vitamin D, vitamin B12, omega-3 fatty acids, etc.
Although many studies indicate the benefits of multivitamin capsules, consuming vitamins and minerals in excessive amounts can negatively impact your health. Therefore, it is better to consult a doctor before starting any new supplement, as the doctor can advise a suitable multivitamin capsule or individual supplement according to your medical history.
Things to Consider While Choosing a Multivitamin
With a plethora of options to choose from, any person can get confused about which multivitamin capsule to take. Here are some things you should consider before choosing a multivitamin capsule:
- The ingredients of a multivitamin capsule are one of the most important factors that should be considered to choose the right one for you. If you are confused, it is always better to consult a nutritionist or a doctor.
- Additional co-factors and co-enzymes in a multivitamin capsule help improve its efficiency.
- A multivitamin supplement that has phytonutrient compounds is better, as these compounds help with the absorption of vitamins and minerals.
