Multivitamins: What They Do and Their Benefits

Multivitamins are the world’s bestselling type of supplement and are often considered complementary to a healthy lifestyle. That’s because they combine all of the essential vitamins you need into convenient daily capsules, gummy sweets or powder.

Multivitamins are designed to fill nutritional gaps in your diet. Taking a multivitamin supplement is a good way to ensure you’re always getting the nutrients you need, and the associated health benefits.

What Do Multivitamins Do?

Multivitamins contain a mixture of different vitamins, and sometimes minerals as well, that are considered essential to the human body. The vitamins you need are:

• Vitamin A also called retinol
• The eight B vitamins, comprising B₁ (thiamine), B₂ (riboflavin), B₃ (niacin), B₅ (pantothenic acid), B₆ (pyridoxine), B₇ (biotin), B₉ (folate or folic acid) and B₁₂ (cobalamin)
• Vitamin C, sometimes called ascorbic acid
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin K

Although your body can make some B vitamins and vitamin D, most of your vitamin requirements must come from food. Your body frequently flushes out excess vitamins, so it is important to have a regular intake to replenish supplies.

The recommended quantities of daily vitamin intake are tiny, with figures usually quoted in micrograms, which are mere millionths of grams. As such it’s easy to overlook how important vitamins are. But vitamins are actually the nuts and bolts that hold your body together.

Your body is efficient at coping with stresses and adapts to limited nutrients when it has to, borrowing resources from elsewhere. But this only works in the short term. Before long, your body will be damaging itself in a bid to source enough nutrients for normal function. It is imperative that you respect your body’s vitamin requirements, or you could face health issues arising from vitamin deficiencies.

Vitamin deficiencies can cause health problems like sight loss and chronic diseases including scurvy, rickets, anaemia and dermatitis. Taking a daily multivitamin is an easy way to top up your nutrients and avoid vitamin deficiency.

Vitamins in Synergy

Each vitamin has its own unique functions and benefits, but it is important to realise that vitamins are synergistic. They all work in harmony – like instruments in an orchestra. It is this synergy that provides your body with its nutritional framework, and this that supports every biological function.

Vitamin synergy optimises your body’s absorption and metabolism of nutrients. By ensuring that your body is getting the right amount of all essential vitamins, you can reduce the risk of health problems.

Benefits of Vitamin A

Vitamin A plays a vital role in maintaining healthy skin, eyes and vision. It also supports the immune system and immune functions like the production of mucous and white blood cells. Vitamin A contributes to bone health and is essential for the reproductive system.

Benefits of B Vitamins

The B vitamins are particularly important for brain function, digestion, metabolism and your immune system. Known for their ability to reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease and anaemia. Vitamin B₉ helps memory function and could provide protection against memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. Vitamin B₅ is essential for hormone production, while vitamin B₁₂ is key in red blood cell production.

Benefits of Vitamin C

A key player Vitamin C is renowned for its role in immunity. In addition to the protection of overall health, it helps in the maintenance of skin, bone and blood vessels. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, so it defends against the excess free radicals and oxidative stress which cause premature ageing.

Benefits of Vitamin D

Essential for healthy teeth, bones and muscles Vitamin D is key. Known to provide some protection against acute respiratory infections. You get vitamin D mostly through sunlight and partially from your diet. In many countries where there is a limited amount of sunshine during the autumn and winter months, it is recommended to take vitamin supplements that include vitamin D.

Benefits of Vitamin E

Great for skin and eyes Vitamin E helps maintain them. It also contributes to a healthy immune system.

Benefits of Vitamin K

Vitamin K is important for blood coagulation and bone metabolism. People taking blood-thinning medication should always consult a doctor before taking a supplement containing vitamin K.

Benefits of Multivitamins

Your body only needs tiny quantities of vitamins and minerals for good health. But your body is constantly using them and discarding excess quantities. This means that even with a varied diet, it can be tricky finding all the nutrients you need in your food.

Because vitamins work in synergy, you only get the full benefits when you’re getting all of them. Multivitamins are a great solution as you can plug any gaps in your nutritional intake but unfortunately, not all multivitamins are created equal. A quality multivitamin like PhD Life VITAL ensures you get a formulation that’s safe, purity tested and easy for your body to absorb.

At PhD, we understand that you want to be at your very best every day. To help you achieve this, we have created PhD life, a range of premium, expertly formulated health optimisation products. From our high in protein, low sugar, plant-based Complete meal solution, and Reset, our night time formula, to Mind, made to support optimal mental performance, we’ve created a new range to optimise you for life. Check out the entire PhD Life Range here.

Make sure to let us know how you get on with your training program and tag us in your workouts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter – @phdnutrition.

Written by Ruth Hayward