Taking a multivitamin regularly helps women to get all the required and necessary amount of vitamins and minerals important to maintain a good health. In today’s busy lifestyles and schedules, women eat whatever is available. However, to their rescue, Multivitamins can help balancing the diets which may fall short of basic vitamins and minerals. Nevertheless, with the many multivitamin varieties available in the market, it often becomes confusing to choose the best multivitamin for women.
Here are the top 7 tips to choose the best multivitamin for women.
- USP verification
The U.S. pharmacopeia convention is an independent, non-profit organization which works on determining whether the dietary supplements are clean, pure and whether it contains all the right ingredients that are list on their labels. This organization uses a seal. It is recommended to first check your multivitamin supplements online to make sure that it is USP verified. Additional resources for checking your supplement is whether it is healthcare accreditation certified, FSSAI certified, tested and approved etc. which helps evaluates the dietary supplements to ensure purity and contamination, and which also certifies the supplement content.
2. Appropriate values of daily ingredients required
It is recommended to choose a multivitamin that consist of 100% of the daily value of its ingredients. Some nutrients, like calcium, cannot be included in a multivitamin as 100% Nevertheless eve if it was, the multivitamin would be very large and difficult to swallow. Moreover, Magnesium and potassium levels are kept low in order to avoid drug nutrient interactions, and these nutrients can avail through the regular diet. Please note, excess of any nutrients is harmful.
3. The right balance between your age and sex
A nutrient need varies depending on your gender and age. For instance, premenopausal women may need more iron, compared to older adults. Since older adults may need more of the calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B6. A dietician or the family doctor can assist in determining how much amount of specific nutrients one may need considering the age and the gender.
4. Essential micronutrients
Your body needs some of the essential micronutrients to keep the system humming. Besides these well-known nutrients like vitamin C, calcium, iron, etc, a good multivitamin will include the following:
● B6, B12, and folate
● Calcium, magnesium, selenium, and zinc
● Vitamins A, and Vitamin D
5. The nutrients you need
Most multivitamins consists of 100% of the daily value of vitamin D, but it contains very limited amounts of calcium and potassium with no fiber. Remember, even if you take a multivitamin, it’s vital to consume rich food as a healthy diet having the following nutrients.
● Calcium: Calcium is mainly present in milk, cheese, and yogurt; orange juice; cereals; and almonds
● Vitamin D: Cow milk, fortified orange juice, cereals and yogurt
● Potassium: Potatoes; milk and yogurt; tomato products; fruits; and fish
● Fiber: Beans and legumes; oats and whole grains; and fruits and vegetables
● Magnesium: Magnesium is present in nuts, avocado, spinach, dry beans, whole grains as well as oats.
6. Avoid avoiding tablets
Multivitamins that are in the tablet form are mainly heat-compressed. This may be problematic as most of the people do not have enough hydrochloric acid in the stomach so it becomes difficult to digest and absorb these nutrients in the form of multivitamin tablets. Instead, it is recommended to look for multivitamins in capsule form, which can easily be broken down and can be easily absorbed. Moreover, capsules are better when compared to the traditional tablets.
7. Go for multivitamins that are smarter
It is recommended to check all essential ingredients, brand, vegetarian etc on the label before buying one. Moreover apart from this, one must ensure that these capsules are easy to swallow, has no bitter taste, causes no side effects like nausea, has god absorption capacity and is 100 percent vegetarian, since these are the vital parameters. All of these important things will be very well mentioned on the label, and if not it is important to research online to ensure you are making a right decision before choosing a multivitamin brand.
Lastly, it is of paramount importance to first research all the above mentioned crucial criteria, when you are scouting for multivitamin for women, and especially vital, if you are looking for multivitamin for pregnant women, since they deserve only the best. Nevertheless, do not forget to check the expiry date before you purchase it.
