Should You Take a Multivitamin?

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Someone emailed me yesterday and asked for my favorite brand of multivitamin.

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I have to honest.

I don’t currently take a multivitamin.

I like them in concept, but the problem is this.

There are two types of vitamins:

  • Water-Soluble: Your body can excrete excess amounts of these vitamins.
  • Fat-Soluble: Excess amounts can accumulate in your body and can be harmful.

So you have to be cautious not to take in too many Fat-Soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K).

It is my understanding that vitamin E and K aren’t that big of an issue. Vitamin D can become a problem, but this isn’t common.

Vitamin A can become toxic when you consume too much of this vitamin.

Vitamin A (Beta Carotene) kind of freaks me out.

There was a study showing that too much Vitamin A in pregnant women can increase the chances of birth defects.

vitamins to take during pregnancy

According to the study:

“Among the babies born to women who took more than 10,000 IU of preformed vitamin A per day in the form of supplements, we estimate that about 1 infant in 57 had a malformation attributable to the supplement.”

That is terrible.

How lame would it be to have a child with birth defects from doing something you thought was beneficial?

There is also a study showing that too much Vitamin A increases the chances of lung cancer for smokers.

According to this study:

“High-dose beta-carotene supplementation appears to increase the risk of lung cancer among current smokers.”
The irony is that most people naturally get enough vitamin A in their diets.

Back to multivitamins…

I took a multivitamin for about 6 years.

It was a brand called ProGrade and they aren’t around anymore.

What I liked about this multivitamin was that it was made from whole foods.

organic whole food multivitamins

It was basically vegetables compressed into a tablet form.

I believe you are less likely to get an unusually large amount of any particular vitamin when the multivitamin is sourced from foods.

Synthetic multivitamins worry me a little, because of the possibility of having way too much of a particular vitamin.

I’m not saying that synthetic is bad.

You just need to do research on the company before ordering.

Also…

Although I don’t currently drink a greens drink, I like this idea more than whole food vitamins in tablet form.

greens drink for daily vitamins

This seems like a safe way to get your vitamins and also can serve as a low-calorie meal or snack.

I drank a green drink for 2 years and may need to re-introduce that to my diet.

I actually used to mix my green drink mixed with Vanilla whey protein as a meal replacement.

This is awesome for when you want to get lean.

So what supplements do I use?

I get all of my supplements online, mainly on Amazon, so I’ll link to the exact products.

Plant-Based K2 + D3: I live in the cloudy city of Seattle (it’s known for rain but it rarely rains hard, cloud cover is the main thing). I know you can’t make up for lack of sun with a D3 supplement, but it helps a little. K2 is extremely underrated. It helps prevent calcification of blood vessels and greatly improves bone health.

RESVERATROL 90day Supply, 1450mg per Serving: This is the big anti-aging supplement. Drug company Pfizer sponsored a study saying that resveratrol wasn’t as beneficial as once believed. Harvard Professor of Biological aging disagrees with Pfizer and recommends resveratrol. It’s so cheap to me it is a no-brainer.

Nature’s Bounty Vitamin B-12 1000 Mcg: I cut back on meat consumption, so I take a B12 supplement. If you are vegan this is a good one to add to your list. This always gives me a bit of an energy boost. One of the few supplements that I can feel working immediately.

Fish Oil ***I take only every other day***: I’m not all in on Omega 3 fish oils supplements. I’ve read a lot of conflicting research. I may do a full-blown blog post at some point. So I take just one capsule every other day. I’m slightly cautious here.

P3-OM Probiotic: This is the only expensive high-end supplement I take. According to Viome, the gut-testing company 99% (or more) of commercial probiotic supplements don’t show up in your gut. This probiotic is one that passed the Viome test. It costs a bit more than a lot of competitors, but it is a superior product.

I’m not saying what I take is perfect.

I really believe supplements are personal and based a lot on your regular diet.

supplements to take with your diet

There are times when I take creatine, drink protein shakes, take a pre-workout energy drink, etc.

The five supplements above I take year-round, but I’ll also rotate in other supplements in addition to these throughout the year.

In Summary:

Should you take a multivitamin?

I prefer and recommend supplementing a few key vitamins based on gaps in your diet.

If I could only take one supplement, I’d opt for a Greens Drink over a multivitamin.

Note: If you are really sold on taking a multivitamin I would go with one based on whole foods.

A quick search on Amazon I found this one.

Whole Food Multivitamin Elite – Organic Multivitamin for Men and Women​​

I haven’t taken this one…

…but this or something similar to this would be my recommendation.

*NEW* Visual Impact Fat Loss Boost Diet
For 15 years I've helped fashion models get lean for photoshoots. Use my plan to Lose 5-10 pounds of PURE body fat in 14 days.

I may also add Turmeric supplement to my list.

Supposedly Turmeric is the most anti-inflammatory food ever tested.

Hopefully, this helps!

Cheers,

-Rusty Moore

As a former fitness coach to fashion models, I can teach you how to increase muscle definition without adding size.

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