Should I take multi vitamins?

MCNewsletters Clothing Store

Active wear to look cool and feel comfortable at the gym or home

MCNewsletters Personal Coaching

Everyone has an ideal body- the body they aspire to having.

In our Personal Coaching program we guide you to lose weight, strengthen your body, and gain boundless energy.

Search MCNewsletters

Interested in Becoming Certified as a Personal Trainer?

Should I Take Multi Vitamins?

................................................................................

Michael Collins: The question is often asked whether multivitamins should be taken each day.

There are people who believe that we will get all the nutrition we require from the foods that we eat but this may no longer be the case. Many of the foods we eat are processed and have all sorts of additives that can be detrimental to our health.

Even fresh foods don't have the same minerals that they once had. In some growing areas most of the minerals that were once in the soil have long since been depleted and the food that is grown in that soil doesn't have the same values as we have come to expect.

Additional stresses are placed on our health with pollution, work stress and so on, all making demands on our body and the nutrients that we need. Everything from smoking to alcohol will deplete the body of essential vitamins and minerals (I know these shouldn't be a factor for you though... should they?).

Even fitness training, while good for our health, places additional demands on the body and this is best addressed with supplementation.

A good quality multivitamin taken daily can help to balance out any deficiencies that we might have. This will help us to train better and to stay fitter and healthier and not become as susceptible to illness.

The challenge is that even the best quality multi vitamin has it's shortcomings. The biggest one being that they often lack vital phytonutrients and antioxidants found in trace amounts in certain fruits and vegetables.

A few months ago I found a product made by a company named Biotest, called Superfood. It's basically a small bottle of those valuable fruits and vegetables, freeze dried and concentrated. This is about the closest you can come to eating the actual fruits and vegetables themselves.

I've since switched over from my normal multi vitamin to the Superfood, and I like it. (By the way, I have no connection to the product or company that makes it. I just like the concept)

So, yes, if you are doing intensive fitness training, your requirements might be higher than normal and might necessitate some form of multi vitamin/ mineral/ nutrient complex.

P.S. If you're a first time reader of MCNewsletters, sign up for our weekly newsletter below... or read more about it here.