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TRUE OR FALSE?
We don't need multivitamins
because we can get everything we need from food!
This statement would be true if every day we ate a wide variety of local,
seasonal, organic fruits and vegetables grown in nutrient rich soils and virgin
water that hadn’t been picked green, gas ripened, irradiated, shipped, placed in
cold storage, left to sit on the supermarket shelf, and then cooked within an
inch of their life. Add to this list increased nutritional needs due to factors
such as pollution, alcohol, stress and chronic disease, and it becomes
immediately apparent that indeed everyone could benefit from an effective daily
multivitamin.
Daily health insurance
Each day we have a basic requirement for a range of essential vitamins and
minerals; if this requirement is not met, acute deficiency diseases may result.
Furthermore emerging evidence suggests that adequate daily micronutrient intake,
often at intakes above the Recommended Daily Allowance, may also prevent age
related disease and promote optimal health and wellbeing1.
Who needs a multivitamin anyway?
Despite public health recommendations only a minority of people meet the
suggested 5 daily servings of fruits and vegetables2, and while there have been
efforts to fortify foods with nutrients such as folic acid and vitamin D this
does not ensure nutritional adequacy3,4. Importantly, multivitamins are not
meant to replace healthy eating recommendations; leading experts recommend they
are used as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle5,6.
In a review of vitamins for disease prevention published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association it was concluded that; “Most people do not consume
an optimal amount of all vitamins by diet alone. Pending strong evidence of
effectiveness from randomised trials, it appears prudent for all adults to take
vitamin supplements.7 ”
Research shows that the typical Western diet supplies less than adequate
amounts of several essential vitamins and minerals8 and nutrition surveys have
found that large numbers of people consume too little calcium, magnesium, iron,
zinc and possibly copper and manganese2,3.
A new Multi-nutrient which has become available will help to support the
following systems:
-
Hormones (B vitamins and
folic acid - support methylation)
-
Energy production (B
vitamins, iron, magnesium)
-
Cognitive health (Glutamine)
-
Kidneys (Potassium)
-
Liver (Lecithin, vitamins A,
C & E, lysine, glutamine, taurine and zinc)
-
Gallbladder (Lecithin)
-
Immune (Lysine, vitamins, A,
C & D, zinc and selenium)
-
Gut (Glutamine)
-
Cardiovascular (Taurine, B
vitamins and folic acid for methylation, lecithin, vitamin D)
-
Thyroid (Iodine, B vitamins)
-
Bones (Vitamins K and D,
calcium, magnesium)
-
Blood sugar (Chromium,
manganese)
Nutri Multi Essentials One-A-Day is suitable for all those over the
age of 12.
For children under the age of 12 we would recommend
Multigenics Chewable - a delicious orange
flavoured multivitamin mineral, designed specifically for the needs of children,
or
Higher Nature Dinochews, or
BioCare Kids Complex powder.
References:
1.Ames BN. Increasing longevity by tuning up metabolism: To maximize human
health and lifespan, scientists must abandon outdated models of micronutrients.
EMBO reports VOL 6 | SPECIAL ISSUE | 2005.
2. Ames BN (2001) DNA damage from micronutrient deficiencies is likely to be a
major cause of cancer. Mutat Res 475: 7–20
3. Jacques PF, Selhub J, Bostom AG, Wilson PW, Rosenberg IH. The effect of folic
acid fortification on plasma folate and total homocysteine concentrations.N Engl
J Med. 1999;340:1449-1454.
4.Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. N Engl J Med. 2007 Jul 19;357(3):266-81.
5.Willett WC (2001) Eat, Drink and be Healthy. New York, NY, USA: Simon &
Schuster.
6.Ames BN. Increasing longevity by tuning up metabolism: To maximize human
health and lifespan, scientists must abandon outdated models of micronutrients.
EMBO reports VOL 6 | SPECIAL ISSUE | 2005.
7. Fletcher RH, Fairfield KM. Vitamins for chronic disease prevention in adults:
clinical applications. JAMA. 2002 Jun 19;287(23):3127-9.
8.Pao EM, Mickle SJ. Problem
nutrients in the United States. Food Technology 1981; 35: 58-79.
2.Pennington JA, Young BE, Wilson
DB. Nutritional Elements in U.S. diets: results from the Total Diet Study,
1982-1986. J Am Diet Assoc 1989; 89: 659-64
3.Pennington JA. Intakes of
minerals from diets and foods: is there a need for concern? J Nutr 1996; 126
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