Multivitamin complexes good for health or not: Endocrinologist's answer
Should you take a multivitamin (illustrative photo: Freepik)
Lately, multivitamin complexes have gained popularity. They are used to "treat" everything: hair loss, menstrual cycle disruptions, and so on. However, do these complexes have such a miraculous effect?
The answer to this question is provided by endocrinologist Katerina Tolstikova on her Instagram page.
Are multivitamin complexes beneficial
The doctor notes that they come in different forms, and in her practice, she rarely prescribes multivitamin complexes to patients. There are several reasons for this:
- vitamins may not be in an active form
- high concentration of vitamins
- multivitamins do not always have a good composition
- the improper form of delivering one vitamin may block another
Thus, taking multivitamin complexes may at least not bring any benefit and simply pass "transit" through your gastrointestinal tract.
The expert advises understanding the vitamin preparation's composition before purchasing it. Pay attention to which active ingredients, their concentration, and whether the vitamins will not "interfere with each other."
Which vitamins are most often deficient
Vitamin B12. Taking metformin, Helicobacter infection, drugs to reduce acidity, chronic alcohol consumption, veganism, and bariatric surgery – these are all reasons for regularly checking the amount of vitamin B12 in the blood.
Calcium. People at risk of calcium deficiency include those taking loop diuretics, excluding dairy products from their diet, and taking drugs to reduce acidity.
Vitamin D. Elderly people should take it constantly. Those at risk include those who lack exposure to the sun, those taking carbamazepine and phenobarbital, people with kidney and liver diseases, and those with reduced pancreatic enzyme function.
Iron. Those at risk of deficiency include women with menstruation (normal and pathological), pregnant and breastfeeding women, blood donors, people with helminthic invasion, intense physical training, taking drugs to reduce acidity, and poor nutrition.
Read also what vitamins all elderly people need in winter.
This material is for informational purposes only and should not be used for medical diagnosis or self-treatment. Our goal is to provide readers with accurate information about symptoms, causes, and methods of detecting diseases. RBС-Ukraine is not responsible for any diagnoses that readers may make based on materials from the resource. We do not recommend self-treatment and advise consulting a doctor in case of any health concerns.
