Supplements are intended to supplement a diet and provide essential nutrients that may be missing due to dietary restrictions. Multivitamin supplements are like insurance: they provide a range of key vitamins in a pill form, to ensure that you are covering all your grounds of a healthy diet.
According to the National Institute of Health, more than 50 percent of Americans take a dietary supplement every day, and it’s usually a multivitamin.
So Why is Taking a Multivitamin Useful?
There are 13 vitamins and 16 minerals that are absolutely essential to good health. They play a number of key roles in the body, including hormone regulation, cell regeneration, reproduction, converting food into energy, providing the basis of the immune system and so much more.
But according to this study, less than 3 percent of Americans are meeting the basic dietary requirements for a healthy lifestyle. So even if you are healthy and think a multivitamin is unnecessary, think again. Unless you are in that 3 percent, you are probably missing out on some key vitamins.
A multivitamin contains a variation of different vitamins and minerals depending on the brand; there is not one standard list of vitamins that these productshave toinclude. But most contain at least 10 of the most well-studied vitamins and minerals due to their proven benefit for human health.
For the majority of us, our diet is not our number one priority. Sure, we want to be healthy, which is why you may choose the salad bar over fried chicken, but it is often too much work to ensure that we are eating sufficient amounts of every single nutrient.
Alongside being too busy, some of us have dietary or caloric restrictions. For example, someone on a vegan diet is unlikely getting enough vitamin B12 because it is naturally found in animal products. Vegans would have to actively seek out foods that are fortified with the vitamin or supplement it as an easier alternative.
Individuals who are on a calorie restrictive diet may also be at risk for nutrient deficiencies. When you limit the amount you can eat, you are also by default limiting the amount of nutrients you consume. For example, if you’re cutting out carbohydrates to lose weight, you’re also cutting out a lot of iron, folate, potassium, thiamin and more.
Multivitamins are useful in ensuring that you have covered all basis for a possible nutrient deficiency and a number of studies have supported this.
What Does the Research Say?
One large prospective study tested the relationship between multivitamin use and death from heart disease, finding that multivitamin use (containing vitamin A, C or E) reduces the risk of developing, and dying from, heart disease and cardiovascular disease.
Another study conducted in the United States tested multivitamin use on women, finding that if an individual continues to take a multivitamin for at least three years, they are 35 percent less likely to suffer heart disease mortality.
An observational study found that multivitamin use was associated with a reduced risk of colon cancer. This was hypothesized to be as a result of the increase in folic acid, which is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies. Sufficient folic acid in the diet is associated with lower risk of developing colon cancer, as shown in this study.
A double blindrandomized controlled trial (the gold standard of research) studied the impact of supplementing with a multivitamin on brain activity in elderly women, compared to a placebo. The study found that the multivitamin delayed steady state visually evoked potential (SSVEP) latency during retrieval (a marker of brain activity) – meaning it was responsible for increasing neural processes like performance accuracy.
That’s the joy of multivitamins; they’re multipurpose, simple and effective, and it is why they’re the most commonly used supplements in the world according to many sources.
The Most Important Vitamins for Women
As we move through different times and stages in life, we have different nutritional needs. The best multivitamin is different for men and for women, because they require different amounts of certain vitamins and minerals.
This is particularly important for women, who go through extensive fertility cycles, from menstruation to carrying babies (if you so choose), to menopause. These cycles can cause havoc in the body including the depletion in certain key vitamins that need to be replenished in the diet or through supplementation in order to continue a healthy, fertile cycle.
Depending on your age, the need for certain vitamins also changes. For women between the age of 18 to 30, calcium, iron and vitamin D requirements are higher. This is because in your early life your body is: building and strengthening bones, which requires calcium and vitamin D and dealing with menstrual bleeding that depletes the iron from the body, alongside others.
From the age of 31 to 50, your body is likely going through childbirth, breastfeeding and then menopause. Folate is arguably the most important ingredient for women going through pregnancy, as it has been linked to healthy growth and development of a fetus and helps to prevent birth defects.
Another key supplement for women during these years is magnesium. It helps physical and cognitive growth of a fetus and also helps to prevent the bone loss that is common in older age.
Past the age of 50, calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12 are key for women to keep their brain and nervous system functioning properly and to aid the loss of estrogen and bone mass that can cause other health complications if not addressed.
So, which is the Best Multivitamin for Women?
When it comes to searching for an effective high-quality multivitamin for women, we rate Performance Lab Whole-Food Multi for Women in particular. This product has been targeted for the nutritional needs of most women (though we would recommend age-specific multivitamins for women 50 and over). There are a number of reasons why we consider this multivitamin to be the best out of the vast number of multivitamins on the market today.
Firstly, all supplements are not equal. Some contain chemicals and fillers that are hazardous to human health and, rather than improving your health, can actually make it worse. Most supplements are synthetic, but Performance Lab use ‘nature-identical vitamins and minerals.
The supplement also contains enzymes, probiotics and other cofactors that work to ensure the nutrients and vitamins are readily bioavailable for your body to use, which is highly uncommon, but very useful in a supplement.
Performance Lab uses a process called ‘NutriGenesis’ to grow the vitamins and minerals. They are grown on cultures under lab conditions, to replicate the structure of nutrients grown in nature. This makes it easier for the body to ‘recognize, absorb and utilize the ingredients, to ensure your body doesn’t have an inflammatory reaction.
Most other supplement companies use isolated nutrients sourced from petroleum derivatives that your body does not recognize and so treats it as a foreign invader. Your body will recognize the nutrients in Performance Lab Whole-Food Multi for Women and immediately use and absorb them, without excreting them as waste through your urine.
Unlike most supplements, this product is 100% natural, vegan friendly, stimulant-free, non-GMO, GMP certified, not synthetic and gluten, soy and allergen-free. It has been tested prior to encapsulation for quality assurance.
The vitamin and mineral list for the women’s multi is extensive, containing 28 nutrients in total with more than 17 supplying at least 100 percent of your daily recommended intake (RDI) of these nutrients. As mentioned, women require different amounts of nutrients to men, which is something already considered by Performance Lab, which is why they have increased the amount of iron, vitamin D and vitamin B12, compared to the men’s multi.
Stacking the Whole-Food Multi with other Performance Lab supplements is recommended for optimal benefits. Indeed, the entire range has been designed to be used alongside each other, allowing you to mix and match whichever supplements you want safely and without side-effects.
As an example, the magnesium in the Whole-Food Multi is fairly low (5 percent), so stacking it with Performance Lab Sleepis a good idea. Magnesium can make you feel sleepy, so taking it in the morning can impact your day. The Sleep supplement contains 100 percent of your required magnesium for the day and will help to promote restful sleep as well. A double bonus.
Other supplements in the range include Performance Lab Vision, Mind and Energy, or the SPORT supplements, Performance Lab BCAA, Pre- and Post-Workouts, a fat burner and a testosterone booster. All products are equally as ‘clean’ as Performance Lab Whole-Food Multi.
A Final Word
If you want to ensure you are consuming all your recommended nutrients, vitamins and minerals then start taking a high-quality multivitamin such as Performance Lab Whole-Food Multi for Women. It is the best quality supplement brand on the market and provides you with all your recommended daily intakes of more than 17 essential nutrients that are bioavailable and completely natural for your body to absorb and utilize efficiently.
It is specially targeted for women and their unique nutrient needs. If taken consistently, a multivitamin can have amazing benefits on your physical, mental and reproductive health.