Should You Take a Multivitamin? (2024)

Someone emailed me yesterday and asked for my favorite brand of multivitamin.

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I have to honest.

I don’t currently take a multivitamin.

I like them in concept, but the problem is this.

There are two types of vitamins:

• Water-Soluble: Your body can excrete excess amounts of these vitamins.
• Fat-Soluble: Excess amounts can accumulate in your body and can be harmful.

So you have to be cautious not to take in too many Fat-Soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K).

It is my understanding that vitamin E and K aren’t that big of an issue. Vitamin D can become a problem, but this isn’t common.

Vitamin A can become toxic when you consume too much of this vitamin.

Vitamin A (Beta Carotene) kind of freaks me out.

There was a study showing that too much Vitamin A in pregnant women can increase the chances of birth defects.

According to the study:

“Among the babies born to women who took more than 10,000 IU of preformed vitamin A per day in the form of supplements, we estimate that about 1 infant in 57 had a malformation attributable to the supplement.”

That is terrible.

How lame would it be to have a child with birth defects from doing something you thought was beneficial?

There is also a study showing that too much Vitamin A increases the chances of lung cancer for smokers.

According to this study:

“High-dose beta-carotene supplementation appears to increase the risk of lung cancer among current smokers.”
The irony is that most people naturally get enough vitamin A in their diets.

Back to multivitamins…

I took a multivitamin for about 6 years.

It was a brand called ProGrade and they aren’t around anymore.

What I liked about this multivitamin was that it was made from whole foods.

It was basically vegetables compressed into a tablet form.

I believe you are less likely to get an unusually large amount of any particular vitamin when the multivitamin is sourced from foods.

I’m not saying that synthetic is bad.

You just need to do research on the company before ordering.

Also…

Although I don’t currently drink a greens drink, I like this idea more than whole food vitamins in tablet form.

This seems like a safe way to get your vitamins and also can serve as a low-calorie meal or snack.

I drank a green drink for 2 years and may need to re-introduce that to my diet.

I actually used to mix my green drink mixed with Vanilla whey protein as a meal replacement.

This is awesome for when you want to get lean.

So what supplements do I use?

I get all of my supplements online, mainly on Amazon, so I’ll link to the exact products.

Plant-Based K2 + D3: I live in the cloudy city of Seattle (it’s known for rain but it rarely rains hard, cloud cover is the main thing). I know you can’t make up for lack of sun with a D3 supplement, but it helps a little. K2 is extremely underrated. It helps prevent calcification of blood vessels and greatly improves bone health.

RESVERATROL 90day Supply, 1450mg per Serving: This is the big anti-aging supplement. Drug company Pfizer sponsored a study saying that resveratrol wasn’t as beneficial as once believed. Harvard Professor of Biological aging disagrees with Pfizer and recommends resveratrol. It’s so cheap to me it is a no-brainer.

Nature’s Bounty Vitamin B-12 1000 Mcg: I cut back on meat consumption, so I take a B12 supplement. If you are vegan this is a good one to add to your list. This always gives me a bit of an energy boost. One of the few supplements that I can feel working immediately.

Fish Oil ***I take only every other day***: I’m not all in on Omega 3 fish oils supplements. I’ve read a lot of conflicting research. I may do a full-blown blog post at some point. So I take just one capsule every other day. I’m slightly cautious here.

P3-OM Probiotic: This is the only expensive high-end supplement I take. According to Viome, the gut-testing company 99% (or more) of commercial probiotic supplements don’t show up in your gut. This probiotic is one that passed the Viome test. It costs a bit more than a lot of competitors, but it is a superior product.

I’m not saying what I take is perfect.

I really believe supplements are personal and based a lot on your regular diet.

There are times when I take creatine, drink protein shakes, take a pre-workout energy drink, etc.

The five supplements above I take year-round, but I’ll also rotate in other supplements in addition to these throughout the year.

In Summary:

Should you take a multivitamin?

I prefer and recommend supplementing a few key vitamins based on gaps in your diet.

If I could only take one supplement, I’d opt for a Greens Drink over a multivitamin.

Note: If you are really sold on taking a multivitamin I would go with one based on whole foods.

A quick search on Amazon I found this one.

Whole Food Multivitamin Elite – Organic Multivitamin for Men and Women​​

I haven’t taken this one…

…but this or something similar to this would be my recommendation.

*NEW* Visual Impact Fat Loss Boost Diet
For 15 years I've helped fashion models get lean for photoshoots. Use my plan to Lose 5-10 pounds of PURE body fat in 14 days.

I may also add Turmeric supplement to my list.

Supposedly Turmeric is the most anti-inflammatory food ever tested.

Hopefully, this helps!