Recently, many Canadians have raised an important question: “Is it worth taking a multivitamin with minerals on a regular basis? The answer, according to the latest research, is vivid: “YES!”
Previously, nutrition experts recommended the multi not only for certain groups such as the elderly or sick. In recent years, this position has changed, and this, in large part, is due to the growing research indicating that taking a multi can have a protective effect against a variety of chronic diseases.
In the summer of 2002, scientists at the Harvard Medical School, Dr. Kathleen Fairfield and Robert Fletcher, have studied the data to conclude that all North Americans should take a multi as a preventive measure. They published their findings and recommendation to take a multi prestigious publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The report was published just after the publication of an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine which also suggested that the relatively low cost of regular consumption of a multi offers a valuable measure of preventive health.
Those who reject this recommendation on multi often mention the availability of vitamins and minerals required in a diet based on a wide variety of foods and particularly on fruit and vegetables. Basically, this assertion is correct, but it ignores the reality that two-thirds of Americans do not consume the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables. Moreover, it does not respond to the recent research indicating a decline in nutrient content, both in Canada and USA.
However, one must remember that a dietary supplement meets precisely this role. It acts as a supplement rather than substitute product. The multis should be considered as insurance policy nutrition. Take, for example, research demonstrates that many Canadians have a deficiency of vitamin D during the winter months or research showing that the intake of some nutrients can vary considerably depending on the season (vitamins C, E and beta-carotene). Take a multi ensures that a minimum intake of essential nutrients is bridged, even in the context of modern lifestyle, seasons and the environment. Dr. Walter Willet, chairman of the department of nutrition at Harvard, suggests that a multi daily should be included in the famous food guide American who is in the form of a pyramid (Food Guide Pyramid), while an emphasis on ensuring the adequate intake of folic acid, as well as vitamins B6, B12, D and E. Vitamins and minerals are essential for the proper functioning of the immune system, the state antioxidant, enzymatic reactions, growth and development, as well as for cardiovascular and bone health. Therefore, this council is very wise.
In seeking a multitude of good quality, avoid those containing sugar, starch and food dyes. Surprisingly, several contain these ingredients. Do not convince by the hype surrounding vitamins supposedly “natural”. With the exception of vitamin E (search d-alpha-tocopherol, natural vitamin E), synthetic vitamins are similar in terms of structures, they are inexpensive and perform their work as vitamins “natural source food”.
As for minerals, is another story, because their absorption depends significantly on the form in which they arise? In general, consumers should seek citrate calcium and magnesium citrate because of the form easily absorbed and used by these two minerals. By cons, regarding the micro mineral (zinc, manganese, selenium, chromium, iodine, molybdenum), new innovative forms highly absorbable are now available in Canada (they are called Bioactive MC). In this case, inorganic minerals are processed and converted to proteins in a highly bio available organic form.