I am often asked if a multivitamin is necessary. My answer is a resounding “Yes”.  A quality multivitamin will contain the foundation for a healthy supplement regimen and a healthy life. Too often, patients are taking high doses of a few vitamins, yet are horribly depleted in others. For example, many people take zinc to boost their immune system. Zinc consumption leads to copper loss. Calcium tablets are taken like candy, but can be dangerous without proper vitamin K consumption. A multivitamin helps to make sure all the bases are covered.

From the Journal of the American College of Nutrition in 2013 comes a review of multivitamin studies. The conclusion is that multivitamins decrease overall mortality and appear to lower cardiovascular and cancer risk. Another recent study revealed improved brain function in those assigned to a multivitamin.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) also published a study showing that multivitamins significantly reduced the incidents of cancers in men.

You will always find doubters and even some negative studies. These trials usually use cheap vitamins that are also low dosages. They get published in journals funded by Big Pharma. To me, it just makes sense that taking a multivitamin ensures you are getting each nutrient.

Many believe that diet alone provides enough vitamin and mineral support. This myth is perpetuated when certain foods are labeled as a “complete source” of nutrients. But the government’s RDA or recommended daily allowance is the MINIMUM required to prevent disease. This is not good enough. We want to thrive not just survive. For example, the recommended dose of vitamin C is 90mg. This tiny amount is nothing compared to studies that showed doses 20-50x higher are needed. Linus Pauling was using doses 500x higher to prove benefits for certain conditions. Pauling won the Nobel Prize, twice!

The problems with the standard American diet, or “SAD” diet as it is commonly called, are many and well documented. Most people exist on fast food. These toxins in a bag, at best, barely provide the minimum nutrition to prevent overt illness. The foods are void of many healthy vitamins and minerals. The processing of food strips nutrients. In fact, most food labels include data on nutrition content before the food was processed and cooked. Care to imagine what a microwave oven does to food nutrients?

Cheap vitamins are added to grains

and dairy but these are clearly inferior forms. The consumption of certain foods and drink actually cause us to lose vitamins and minerals including calcium, magnesium, and zinc. Pharmaceuticals are notorious for causing nutrient depletion including B vitamins, minerals, and CoQ10. Metformin, a common diabetes drug causes B12 depletion.
Even those of us that eat the best organic diets are held captive by nutrient depleted soil. Reliance on chemical fertilizer that only replaces nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus is leading consumers to micronutrient deficiency. Plants will grow but the nutritional value is gone. Man will never be able to duplicate Mother Nature’s perfect soil.

Food from 10,000 years ago grew naturally in the area and climate from which it was native. Broccoli, kale, etc. grew only in select regions. The soil in that area was perfect for that food. Organic produce from California still does not have the perfect soil for that food. We cannot compete with nature.

Modern soil is destroyed. The air was pure as was the water and rains which grew fantastic produce.  Today, pollution has ruined the skies and the streams. These pollutants kill off the good bacteria in the ground. The effects of this are limitless.

There are valid concerns that the shipping of produce long distances allows for nutrient decay. Picking fruit that is not ripe will result in diminished vitamin content. Antioxidants such as polyphenols and carotenoids are not produced until the fruit is naturally ripened on the tree, vine, etc.

Food storage can lead to vitamin loss as can cooking. The best way to store food is in glass yet light can destroy vitamins and phytonutrients.

So in the end, a multivitamin is clearly necessary as a foundation for a healthy supplement regimen and a healthy life. In another article, I will discuss what to look for in a quality multivitamin.