Many of you have been told by your doctor to take a multivitamin. After all, a multivitamin is a great concept. Most people don’t get the required amounts of vitamins in a given day from their food, so a multivitamin should theoretically fill in the gaps. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really work out this way. Here is the reason why.

Multivitamins are comprised of various micronutrients. Micronutrients are nutrients required by humans throughout life in small quantities. The major problem with multivitamins is “micronutrient competition.” When taken at the same time, many of the micronutrients in a multivitamin will break each other down, rendering them useless. There are about 34 micronutrients found in a multivitamin. Almost 90% of these micronutrients are affected in some way by the other micronutrients. Iron is probably the most commonly affected one because it has to compete with several micronutrients.

Multivitamins have also shown little proof that they are capable of preventing disease. Isn’t this the main reason for taking a multivitamin? Isn’t it supposed to keep you healthy by supplying the necessary amount of vitamins each day?

A multivitamin might seem like the easier alternative, but as most of you know, the easier way isn’t always the better way. Ditch the multivitamin, and fill your diet with fruits, nuts, green leafy vegetables, and whole grains. This will guarantee that you are getting a sufficient amount of vitamins in your diet, and these vitamins will have a much better chance of working in your favor. The multivitamin is a great concept, but it’s been around for many years, and it needs to be heavily revised. A multivitamin won’t necessarily hurt you, but there is very little proof that it will help you. In this case, you might as well save your money spent on multivitamins and spend it on something more useful.

-Tom