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‘Why do I need a multinutrient, don’t I get everything from my diet?’ ‘Aren’t they just making me produce expensive urine?’
These are the questions sometimes posed when querying multinutrients. It is these questions that often lead to confusion, deferring people away from supplementation. However, choosing the right multinutrient can be an incredibly powerful tool to support many aspects of life, from stress and relaxation, to immunity, blood sugar balancing and detoxification. When a vitamin and mineral complex is carefully formulated, with great doses and active nutrients, it is so much more than just a bog standard supplement. You can synergistically support many body systems, helping us to adapt more comprehensively to our environment.
The truth is, most individuals nowadays have an inadequate intake of vitamins and minerals. The most obvious reason is a diet high in processed food and low in fruits and vegetables. However, even those who do manage a high plant intake may also be at risk due to the detrimental impact of intensive agriculture on the nutrient density of soils around the world which can go to reduce the micronutrient content of crops yielded, especially if non-organic.
Digestive health is also crucial to our overall nutrient status. Having low stomach acid or low levels of pancreatic enzymes can significantly affect our ability to digest food and absorb nutrients. Certain nutrients such as vitamin B12 and zinc require sufficient stomach acid for absorption. Many other aspects can also have an impact, such as the presence of inflammatory bowel conditions like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. This can affect the absorptive function of our digestive tract, further contributing to low nutrient status.
So, if you think you are eating everything you need – are you actually absorbing it?
Additionally, is your diet matching your lifestyle? With busy work and personal lives, stress is common for most individuals on a daily basis. Many nutrients are required to mount a stress response, and help us calm and recover afterwards. With more stressful stimulation, this can result in us using up these nutrients faster than we are replenishing them, potentially resulting in suboptimal levels.
We are all individual, with differing diets, lifestyles, and requirements, but dietary intake research is suggesting that most of us, in some way, may be lacking or deficient in certain nutrients. Of course, the first thing that needs addressing by most individuals is their diet. A multinutrient is by no means a replacement for a healthy diet and lifestyle, but rather a complementary addition to it, and a great foundation to build upon. Even if the diet is addressed, it still might not be enough.
Here are examples of key nutrients we may require more of:
Multinutrients come in different forms – capsules, tablets, and powders. Capsules can be really convenient to take, for example if out and about or travelling. However, to make supplementation more interesting and enjoyable, powders are a great choice. They can be mixed into morning smoothies or shakes, to give you a boost to start off your day. Another benefit to powdered supplementation is the dose, especially when it comes to minerals. With powders, there are no confinements due to capsule shell or tablet size, so it’s easier to get higher dosages in your daily serving without having to swallow large capsules or tablets.
Nutritional requirements vary from person-to-person, day-by-day, and even hour-by-hour. Our bodies will use what they need, and we need to trust the supplement formulation to include therapeutic, but safe levels. Surely it’s worth consuming more than you need and potentially excreting the excess, than not consuming enough and increasing the risk of deficiency?
A comprehensive multinutrient is a great and effective way of ensuring you are getting everything you need. They are a safety net for when our diet cannot quite match up to our lifestyle and overall requirements.
The brand you can talk to:
We have a team of Nutritionists at the end of our advice line, open to you, for product support and advice (5 days a week). 0121 433 8702 or clinicalnutrition@biocare.co.uk
Or head to our advice page where you can find Healthnotes.
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