We often see people consume multivitamins alongside their regular meals, especially as they age. After all, one’s nutrient needs do increase with age, and doctors and nutritionists often recommend these supplements to meet the growing nutritional needs of the body, plug in any nutrient deficiencies or just support a wholesome and healthy lifestyle. But are multivitamins truly important? Do men and women have different multivitamin requirements, and how do multivitamins benefit one’s health? Let’s find out as you read along. But before that, let’s look at what multivitamins are.

What Are Multivitamins?

As the name goes, multivitamins are a mixture of essential vitamins and minerals usually available in the supplement form of tablets or capsules. People usually take them when their hectic and on-the-go lifestyle renders it difficult to have a nutritious diet. Lack of sufficient nutrients can lead to deficiencies that can further lead to the development of certain chronic diseases. Consuming multivitamins daily has the potential to help plug in the nutritional gaps to bolster our health naturally. They are also an instant way to fulfill our everyday demands of energy and get our daily servings of essential vitamins and minerals.

Why Are Multivitamins Important?

Your nutritional requirements could differ based on your age, gender, and lifestyle, among other factors. That’s where multivitamins can come to your rescue. Let’s look at some of the reasons why multivitamins are important for health.

• Eating habits: A balanced diet comprises a plethora of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, good protein sources, and healthy fats and is likely to provide most of the nutrients that are beneficial for good health. However, it is difficult to fulfill our nutrient requirements just by food alone. Work, expenses, lack of availability, and gut issues can hinder nutrient absorption. As per the data from the National Academy of Medicine, most adults get less than adequate amounts of certain vitamins and minerals that are essential for the body. Our diet and lifestyle choices also affect our nutritional status. If you’re vegan, then there’s a lot that you can’t eat and may have to depend on some nutritional supplements to meet the body’s requirements. At the same time, if you’re a hard-core non-vegetarian, there are many nutrients that you may miss out on due to the exclusion of fresh vegetables from your diet. The same is the case with those who are strict vegetarians. Nutrients like Omega-3 fatty acids, and Vitamin B12, which are predominantly obtained from non-veg sources are easily excluded from their diet, for which they will have to depend on dietary supplements. In such cases, multivitamins can truly help.

• Age: People between the age group of 18 and 49 are likely to have different nutritional requirements than those between the age group of 50 and above. While some young people could have poor eating habits due to a hectic schedule and on-the-go eating habits, older people have a poor appetite due to several reasons such as difficulty in chewing, swallowing food, unpleasant taste alterations due to the consumption of many antibiotics, or just a depressive state of mind due to loneliness and isolation. With age, their digestion and metabolism, among other things also slow down, all of which affect nutrient absorption and lead to deficiencies. That’s why, there are multivitamins for people across all age groups and if they do fall under any one of these categories, they must make multivitamins a part of their daily routine- one that is easily digestible and bioavailable.

• Gender-specific requirements: Although most nutrient needs are the same for men and women, they need different nutrition with age, which are specific to their gender.  For instance, adult women (18-49years) have menstrual cycles. If they have a heavy flow, they stand the risk of iron deficiency anemia, which can be a serious issue. They are also more prone to urinary tract infections (UTI), mood swings, and hair fall, for which they need to take the required supplements. On the other hand, 50+ women may experience frequent mood swings, UTIs, and a fall in estrogen levels because of menopause. Due to low estrogen levels they are at a higher rosk of osteoporosis and therefore will require calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, collagen for bone support & zinc, and other trace minerals to help them control hot flushes, and improve their mood and other post-menopause symptoms, which may hinder their overall health and wellbeing. Men, on the contrary, are likely to see a testosterone drop post the age of 45, for which they may need testosterone supplementation along with multivitamins.

• Optimum Prenatal and Postnatal Care: Women who are pregnant or are trying to conceive also need multivitamins. The requirements during pregnancy and post delivery are higher hence along with a balanced diet, prenatal & postnatal vitamins are advised. For instance, pregnant women need enough folate- a type of B vitamin as it can help healthy birth and prevent the baby from developing the risk of getting spina bifida or anencephaly. Similarly, they require other essential nutrients like calcium, magnesium, iron, etc as these nutrients play a crucial role in keeping both the mother and foetus healthy. Due to morning sickness and nausea during pregnancy can make it difficult to get everything from the diet alone. Post pregnancy as well the vitamins need to be continued to keep the optimum breast milk production, nourish the newborn and also maintain the mothers healthy nutritional status. That’s why the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that all women of childbearing age (ages 15 to 45) must consume essential nutrients for pregnancy—iron, calcium, vitamin D, and DHA in recommended dosages for safe delivery.

• Prevent Diseases in The Long Run:  While the data on multivitamins in the short term may not show its efficacy to a great extent, there’s ample research that shows its effect and benefit over a long period of time, especially when it comes to chronic/auto-immune diseases. A study showed that men who took a multivitamin daily were 43% less likely to get a heart attack or stroke after two decades than those who didn’t. Meanwhile, another study showed an 18% decline in non-prostate cancers among men who took multivitamins regularly.

While more studies are awaited at this point to ascertain this hypothesis, it doesn’t harm to take multivitamins a part of one’s daily routine as they also tend to cater to several other aspects of one’s health (which one tends to neglect) such as gut health problems, skin health, hair health, and the like, that may stem out of unhealthy lifestyle habits or certain nutrient deficiencies. That is why it makes sense for those who are in their 20s all the way to their 50s to start taking a multivitamin so that they can prevent the risk of some deficiencies and ailments in the long run.

What Kind of Multivitamins Can One Go For?

If fulfilling your daily requirements with a healthy balanced diet is difficult, opt for nutritional multi-vitamin supplements that make use of the best natural ingredients sourced from all across the globe, backed with future-ready science to produce an innovative range of products, enriched with vitamins, minerals & antioxidants. Go for multivitamins supplements that are:

• In the form of a small oral thin or Melts strip that instantly dissolves in your mouth and works from within to naturally deliver 100% RDA of all key nutrients, minerals, and vitamins.

• In the form of effervescent tablets containing essential nutrients and goodness of daily greens and natural superfoods. They keep you well hydrated, ensure 100% bioavailability, and are almost twice as effective as regular synthetic pills. Additionally, they dissolve easily in any liquid and come in delicious flavours, which will make them a healthier substitute for an otherwise sugary drink.

• You can also go in for an innovative capsule in capsule delayed-release formula designed to deliver potent nutrients in fast-acting oils released over a sustained period of time, in the absorptive, less sensitive areas of the gut to ensure maximum bioavailability. These are gender specific and pertain to different age groups.

• Also, ensure that the supplements you consume, don’t contain sugar or any other allergens like gluten, soy, etc. Go for one with all-natural ingredients, so that you can be sure that you’re safe and healthy when using them.