Vitamin Supplements – Is a Multivitamin Pill Sufficient?

Many people these days take daily vitamin supplements. These can be either in the form of a multivitamin pill or individual pills of the various vitamins required. Which is best? Well obviously if you can get all the vitamins you need in one pill you would opt for the multivitamin pill or capsule. However the simple fact is that a multivitamin pill usually contains minimal quantities of each supplement in order to squeeze them all into one pill. For instance many multi pills contain 50 or 60 milligrams of vitamin C and maybe 50 units of vitamin E. Although these amounts will help toward the daily minimum requirements they are by no means the optimal dosage.

To prevent or treat common colds Dr. Linus Pauling suggested taking 2000mg or more of vitamin C. It is impossible to get this quantity by consuming vitamin rich fruits and veggies. You must take a supplement to get amounts that big. The multivitamin pill just won,t do it for you. The same is true for Vitamin E which is usually recommended in 200 to 800 unit dosage daily.

So don,t expect to get the optimum amounts of all vitamins just by taking a single multi pill daily. The RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for most vitamins is simply the very minimum amount required to avoid nutritional deficiency. It is not the amount needed to provide optimal health. You may get all or nearly all of the RDA for some vitamins and minerals in a multivitamin pill but you rad140 testolone need much more for the best health and nourishment in many cases. Taking a multivitamin pill daily is however good insurance that you are getting at least minimal amounts of all the supplements in the pill.

Which is best a pill or a capsule? Pills are less expensive and contain more vitamins in a very compact form. Disadvantage is that they may dissolve too slowly in the stomach to provide the best absorption of the contents. Many pills are packed very hard and hence dissolve slowly. They may also contain magnesium stearate which is added to facilitate manufacture of the pills but also makes them slow to dissolve. A tablet should dissolve in 30 to 60 minutes to be fully effective and not all of them do.

The capsule form is more expensive and contains less of each supplement as a rule. However it dissolves readily in the stomach providing full use of the contents. It is an individual choice and may depend on your budget since capsules are considerably more expensive. The lower cost multivitamins may also contain less of the essential supplements and fewer in total. Read the contents listed on the package before purchasing and compare the total number of supplements contained in each pill as well as the amounts of each. Finally consider how much extra supplementation you need to take to get optimum amounts of some of the vitamins you need most.