Vitamins and minerals are essential for your body to grow, develop and function normally.
Following a well-balanced diet regularly provides all the vitamins and minerals required by your body.
However, sometimes in cases such as during pregnancy, illnesses like viral infection, typhoid, etc. where the immune system of the body is low, a weak body needs more nutrients than usual.
Also, it is very important to give good nourishment to children during their growing age for healthy growth and development.
Everyone has a common question, can we take multivitamin tablets daily? Yes, they will always keep you healthy and strong.
So, are you taking enough Vitamins and Minerals in your diet to satisfy your daily requirement? Not sure…right?
Don’t worry because that’s the case with almost everyone nowadays. How many people follow a well-balanced diet?
Well, the present hectic lifestyle and growing competition leaves little or no time to anybody pay attention to what they are consuming and how healthy are they able to keep themselves.
This has resulted in some or the other deficiency of nutrients in almost everyone, which calls for the need of these food supplements or vitamins and minerals tablets.
Why Are Multivitamins Prescribed?
Individuals who are unable to consume an adequate amount of nutrients in their daily diet need to fulfill their requirement through multivitamins capsules.
This supplementation if not taken will lead to several other health problems and illnesses such as stress, fatigue, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, arthritis, vision problems, etc.
Sometimes multivitamins may also be prescribed for those who are undergoing certain medical treatments, for instance if a patient is on antibiotics, to recover from the illness there is always a need for extra nutrients to the body as it becomes weak.
Some are recommended to take iron supplements based on their health condition and need.
Women planning for pregnancy or during their pregnancy phase also require additional nutrients; hence the need for multivitamins arises.
Also during old age, most parts of the body moves towards their retirement phase as the individual nears the end of their lifespan.
The appetite also becomes poor as digestive problems arise.
Hence to keep it going and combat old age problems intake of multivitamins for them becomes mandatory.
Health Benefits of Multivitamins and Minerals
There are many benefits of multivitamins and minerals for the betterment of our health, here are a few:
- Provides essential nutrients
- Prevents from vitamins & minerals deficiency
- Relieves from daily stress
- Provides mental clarity
- Enhances immune system
- Increases the ability to do work.
Here Are Some Details About Multivitamin And Mineral Components
In general, a good quality multivitamin may contain the following composition:
1. Methylcobalamin
For healthy development and proper functioning of your nervous, circulatory and immune system, you need Methylcobalamin.
Some good sources of methylcobalamin are eggs, fish, meat, dairy products and liver.
Methylcobalamin gives you a quick relief from depression.
It plays a key role in sleep. It repairs nerve damage and implement nerve cell regeneration.
2. Vitamin B-12 or Cyanocobalamin
Elderly patients frequently undergo vitamin B12 deficiency.
This deficiency is primarily caused by “food-cobalamin malabsorption syndrome” and “pernicious anemia”. Patients who are in their early stages are prescribed with vitamin supplement.
Vitamin B12 is prepared commercially by bacterial fermentation.
It is also used to treat the patients having pernicious anemia, thyrotoxicosis, malignancy, hemorrhage, liver or kidney disease.
I suggest, our elders in particular should maintain a good vitamin B12 status by following a well-balanced diet.
Vitamin B12 is prepared commercially by bacterial fermentation.
It is also used to treat the patients having pernicious anemia, thyrotoxicosis, malignancy, hemorrhage, liver or kidney disease.
Elders in particular should maintain a good amount of vitamin B12 status by following a well-balanced diet.
3. Ascorbic Acid
L-ascorbic acid, vitamin C, is required by all age groups.
It is a natural ingredient of many fruits, vegetables, melons and berries.
L-ascorbic acid acts as antioxidant and is used as preservatives, color stabilizers, and also used in various foods and beverages.
4. Vitamin A Acetate
Vitamin A is an essential nutrient for everyone.
Vitamin A deficiency causes loss of night vision, other vision problems, reproduction defects, bone growth defects and differentiation of epithelial tissues.
Vitamin A is naturally found in cod liver oil, liver (beef, pork, fish), carrot, broccoli, sweet potato, butterspinach, pumpkin, egg, papaya, mango, etc.. Vitamin A plays a major role on the treatment of night blindness.
Vitamin A is also used to treat dermatology problems. It acts as an antioxidant and improves the immune function. Currently, higher doses of this vitamin are also used to treat cancer and HIV.
5. Vitamin E Acetate (Tocopherols)
Tocopherols are naturally present in many food sources like vegetable oils, nuts, whole grains, cereals and soybean oil.
They are relatively non-toxic and added to foods as an antioxidant that is almost equivalent to a well-balanced diet of an adult.
Deficiency of Vitamin E causes neurological problems such as myopathies and spinocerebellar ataxia.
It may also lead to anemia. Higher intake of Vitamin E reduces the risk of breast cancer and prostrate cancer.
It also delays the age related growth of cataracts.
Vitamin E helps in preventing or delay of the heart disease. It is also good for skin, hence used as one of the important ingredients in many cosmetics.
6. Vitamin D3
Sun is the major source of this vitamin.
If you have less exposure to sunlight, then dietary intake of vitamin D supplements is required for your good health. Vitamin D is also naturally present in fish and fish oils, liver, eggs and dairy products.
Vitamin D plays a major role in the absorption of calcium by the body. Hence Vitamin D along with calcium is used to treat osteoporosis, hypoparathyroidism, familial hypophosphatemia, pseudohypoparathyroidism (caused due to low levels of calcium or phosphate).
7. Carotene (beta – carotene)
β-Carotene is a member of the carotenes. It contributes orange color to many different fruits and vegetables. β-Carotene absorption increases when taken along with fats.
β-Carotene is abundantly present in crude palm oil and Vietnamese gac (Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng).
It is also available in sweet potato leaves, spinach, kale, yams and carrots.
β-Carotene is used in the treatment of “erythropoietic protoporphyria”. It reduces the risk of breast cancer and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
8. Folic Acid
Folic acid improves endothelial function in coronary artery disease acutely by a mechanism largely independent of homocysteine.
Some good sources of folic acid are leafy vegetables (asparagus, turnip greens, spinach, lettuce), legumes (peas, beans and lentils), bakers yeast, egg yolk, sunflower seeds, etc.
A pregnant woman needs an adequate intake of folic acid in order to prevent neural-tube defects. It also increases the sperm quality in men and reduces the risk of stroke and colorectal cancer.
Folate deficiency might lead to depression and brain defects.
9. Biotin
It is a B complex vitamin, an essential nutrient. Rich sources of Biotin are green leafy vegetables, saskatoon berries, egg yolk and swiss chard. All the immune, metabolic and clinical disorders are improved by biotin administration.
Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, psoriasis vulgarity, rheumatoid arthritis or atopic dermatitis have biotin deficiency; hence they are treated with biotin.
Biotin helps in preventing neuropathic disorders. One should take B complex vitamins regularly.
10. Thiamine Mononitrate
All living organisms use thiamine, which is synthesized only in bacteria, fungi, and plants. In mammals, deficiency of this results in optic neuropathy, Korsakoff’s syndrome and a disease called beriberi that affects the peripheral nervous system (polyneuritis).
Some high concentrations of thiamine are pork, cereals, whole grains, yeast and yeast extract. It is present in low concentrations in a wide variety of foods.
Thiamine decreases the risk of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS). It prevents cataracts and helps people with various genetic disorders including maple syrup urine disease and Leigh’s disease.
11. Riboflavin
Vitamin B2 maintains human and animal health. In healthy individuals it is continuously excreted in urine which may cause its deficiency if one has an unbalanced diet.
Deficiency of riboflavin is mostly followed with deficiency of other vitamins.
Some good sources of riboflavin are leaf vegetables, mushrooms, legumes, milk, cheese and almonds. Riboflavin destroys when exposed to light.
Riboflavin mainly helps in the treatment of neonatal jaundice by phototherapy. Higher doses of riboflavin prevent migraine.
Riboflavin along with UV light reduces the ability of harmful pathogens in blood products which cause disease.
12. Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6)
Vitamin B6 balances sodium and potassium levels and promotes the production of red blood cell. Pyridoxine deficiency may cause anemia, skin problems, seizures, nerve damage, and sores in the mouth.
Some rich sources of pyridoxine are fish, meat, eggs brewer’s yeast, carrots, sunflower seeds, chicken, spinach, walnuts and wheat germ.
Pyridoxine balances hormonal changes in women and improves the immune system. It helps cardiovascular health by decreasing homocysteine formation. It prevents peripheral neuropathy. Pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy patients require pyridoxine treatment.
13. Niacinamide (Nicotinamide)
Nicotinamide is a vitamin B group and a water-soluble vitamin. Abundant sources of nicotinamide include shiitake mushrooms, mushrooms, chicken, tuna, asparagus, halibut, salmon, and turkey.
Nicotinamide is an effective skin whitener. It has anti-inflammatory actions that benefit the patients with inflammatory skin conditions.
It is used as an anti-anxiety, antiamnestic and antihypoxic agent and also to prevent immunosuppression.
14. Calcium Pantothenate
Calcium pantothenate is often used in dietary supplements, which is more stable in the digestive mentation, improves oxygen utilization efficiency and reduces lactic acid accumulation in athletes.
Major source of pantothenic acid is meat, outer layers of whole grain, broccoli and avocados. Significant sources in nature are royal jelly and cold water fish ovaries.
Pantothenic acid derivatives improve the lipid profile in the blood and liver. It has an effect of wound healing. Pantothenic acid lowers low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which decreases the risk of stroke and myocardial infraction. Calcium supplements are thus important for us.
15. L-Glutamic Acid
It is an important excitatory neurotransmitter and is also important in the metabolism of sugars and fats. It is a protein constituent and present in the foods that contain protein.
Excellent sources of glutamic acid include poultry, kombu, fish, eggs, meat and dairy products, as well as some rich-protein plant foods.
It shows promise in the future treatment of muscular dystrophy, neurological conditions, ulcers, hypoglycemic, mental retardation, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease.
16. Chromium Picolinate
It is a chemical compound used to treat chromium deficiency. It improves blood sugar control and maintains insulin levels. Rich sources of chromium include tomatoes, brewer’s yeast, onions, oysters, whole grains, potatoes and bran cereals.
Chromium is used for depression, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), lowering “bad” cholesterol, and raising “good” cholesterol in people taking heart medications called beta blockers. Chromium is also used for weight loss, increasing muscle and decreasing body fat. It also improves athletic performance and boosts energy.
17. Zinc Sulphate
Zinc is a naturally occurring mineral. Zinc supplements are important for the development and the growth of healthy body tissues.
Zinc plays a major role either as an activator of certain enzymes or as a coenzyme in many metabolic reactions. It has been mentioned that relatively large excesses of zinc salts in the diet can lead to metabolic dysfunctions.
18. Copper Sulphate
Copper is an essential trace element for most animal and plant species, including man. Copper deficiency is characterized by specific pathological and biochemical lesions.
Copper compounds are recommended for epilepsy, burn wounds, headaches, itching and boils in the neck. It is used in the treatment of eye disorders such as cataracts, bleary eyes, and trachoma.
Copper is also recommended for the treatment of leg ulcers associated with varicose veins. Boiled mixture of red copper oxide and honey is also an antiseptic wound treatment.
Copper sulfate inhibits growth of bacteria such as Escherichia coli. It can also be used as an antidote.
19. Manganese Sulphate and Magnesium Oxide
Magnesium is a dietary essential. It is involved in the activity of many intracellular enzymes and electrolyte balance.
Magnesium is present in fruits, grains, vegetables, meat, milk and fish, and the natural content of these foods is the major source of the current dietary intake. In pregnant women, Magnesium sulfate can be used to treat eclampsia.
Epsom salt is a solution of sulfate salts that can be given as first aid for barium chloride poisoning. For treating aches and pains sulfate, is supplied in a gel preparation for topical application.
It can be used as an anti-arrhythmic agent for cardiac patients.
20. Selenium (as sodium selenite)
Dietary selenium comes from cereals, meat, mushrooms, nuts, eggs and fish. Brazil nuts are the richest ordinary dietary source.
Kidney, tuna, crab, and lobster are also the selenium sources. Selenium sulfide is an active ingredient in some anti-dandruff shampoos.
Selenium compound kills the scalp fungus Malassezia, which shows the symptoms like shedding of dry skin fragments. It is also used in body lotions to treat Tinea versicolor.
21. Iodine
Iodine is required for the essential thyroxin hormones produced by and concentrated in the thyroid gland. Iodine deficiency causes hypothyroidism, symptoms of which are extreme fatigue, goitre, depression, weight gain, mental slowing and low basal body temperatures.
The addition of iodine to the table salt can be used in treating preventable mental retardation which occurs due to hypothyroidic (lack of iodine) in babies or small children.
Precaution: If you are experiencing any allergic reaction such as difficulty in breathing, swelling of your lips, tongue or face, closing of your throat; stop taking this medication.
Dose: 1-2 tablets per day.
Pregnancy and lactation: Woman who are planning for pregnancy or are already expecting, should not take this medication without consulting your doctor.
Some vitamins and minerals in larger doses may harm an unborn baby. Prenatal vitamins are specially formulated for the pregnant women. You may need to use those formulations.
Breast-feeding mother also should not use this medication without consulting a doctor. Multivitamins will pass into the breast milk and may harm a nursing baby.
So here we come to the conclusion of the importance of multivitamins and its relative ingredients and ideally for whom it is meant.
