Nothing beats a well-balanced diet when it comes to keeping your body in healthy supply of all the nutrients it needs to function at its fullest. However, most diets fall short on a number of crucial vitamins and minerals. Whether you’re a health nut or a fast food junkie, a quality multivitamin will go a long way to supplement any nutrients you aren’t getting enough of from your food. That probably explains why 40% of American adults are already taking multivitamins.
According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, vitamin D, calcium, dietary fiber, and potassium are among the most important nutrients that are in short supply from the diets of both children and adults.1 Supplementing these nutrients to a balanced diet is the best way to ensure that your body is well stocked on all the fuel it needs to stay healthy and energized.
Table of Contents
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is as critical to healthy bodily function as it is lacking in most modern diets. Not only does vitamin D promote bone health by helping the body to absorb more calcium, it also bolsters the immune system and improves on the fluidity of communications between the brain and the rest of the nervous system. On the other hand, vitamin D deficiency can cause rickets in children and osteomalacia as well as severe muscle weakness in adults.
Though there is a large difference in opinion from medical professionals as to how much vitamin D should be consume daily, it is generally recommended to get anywhere from 500 to 2,000 IU. Be careful however, as too much vitamin D can cause nausea, constipation, vomiting and long-term kidney damage.2
Dietary Fiber
Dietary fiber refers to parts of plants which cannot be fully digested. However, there are two different classifications of dietary fiber which have different sources and functions in the body. The first class is the soluble fiber which is found in oats, citrus fruits, apples, and carrots among others. Soluble fiber can be dissolved in water and works within the bloodstream to reduce glucose and cholesterol. Insoluble fiber is found in vegetables like cauliflower, green beans and potatoes, as well as whole wheat flour. Because it does not dissolve in water, insoluble fiber mainly functions to improve the bulk of stool and the promote easier movement of waste through the digestive system.3
For those who have noticed the effects of a lack of fiber in their diets, quality multivitamins contain fiber in the form of fruits, vegetables, enzymes and various herbal ingredients in order to supplement for this crucial dietary requirement.
Potassium
Potassium is a mineral and type of electrolyte which improves the function of nerves and muscles throughout the body, as well as heartbeat regularity. It also works to move nutrients into the cells of your body while moving waste out. All-in-all, potassium is essential to the function of a healthy body, and a lack of potassium (referred to as hypokalemia) can contribute to any number of health conditions such as fatigue, muscle cramps, constipation, and abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias).4 If you have noticed any such recurring problems in your own body then increasing potassium levels through a daily multivitamin might just be the solution.
Folic Acid
Diets that are limited on leafy greens and other vegetables run a high risk of being deficient in a very important nutrient known as Folate, a water-soluble form of vitamin B. Folic acid is a synthetic version of Folate which can be utilized in the same number of critical bodily functions. These functions include producing DNA and maintaining a healthy metabolism. Quality multivitamins will contain the daily recommended dose of Folic acid (400 mcg). This is important because a healthy supply of folic acid contributes to the treatment and prevention of numerous health conditions as well as it improves blood flow throughout the body. This improved circulation in turn helps your body to absorb more nutrients, making the multivitamin more effective as a whole.5
Chelated Minerals
Though any multivitamin will come packed with daily recommended doses of important minerals like potassium, they won’t achieve much unless your body is able to absorb and process them efficiently. This efficiency of absorption is often referred to as bioavailability. Chelation is a process by which the mineral components of a supplement are fused to amino acids which carry them throughout the bloodstream and improve their bioavailability.6 Multivitamins with chelated minerals, like Life Vitality MultiMax, help to ensure that each mineral component is absorbed and utilized to its fullest.
