Nutrition Vitamins and Supplements

What You Need to Know about Multi-Vitamins

Summary & Participants

Knowing what you need and what you don't in a multi-vitamin can help you choose the right one.

Medically Reviewed On: August 12, 2008

Webcast Transcript

RISA SCHULMAN, NUTRITION EXPERT: The purpose of vitamins is as a supplement. There are many types of nutrients that are difficult to get from food, or as we know with today's hectic schedules, people don't get to eat proper balanced diets every single day, so vitamins are there to help bridge that nutrition gap.

ANNOUNCER: Drug store shelves are full of vitamins of all kinds but, for most of us, a multi-vitamin can help cover the major bases

RISA SCHULMAN, NUTRITION EXPERT: In general, a good multivitamin will cover vitamin A, B, all the B complex, C, D, and E. You also want to get magnesium, potassium, calcium and all the elements -- and then all the minerals and elements like iodine, chromium, copper, selenium, zinc.

ANNOUNCER: But a multivitamin that offers more than 100% of the recommended daily amounts is not the best way to go

RISA SCHULMAN, NUTRITION EXPERT: For vitamins in particular, more is better is not a good rule of thumb. When you're looking at a multivitamin, what you want to look for is that most of the nutrients have 100% of the daily value, but not more than that. Very high doses of vitamins are unproven and can be dangerous, so it's important to stick to that daily value.

ANNOUNCER: As helpful as vitamins can be, a healthy diet is still your best bet.

RISA SCHULMAN, NUTRITION EXPERT: It's best to get the nutrients you need from food, and it's definitely possible to get most of what you need from food. Also by getting it from food, you also obtain other nutrients which are not included in a multivitamin. So really what you want do is make sure you have a balanced, healthy diet with good, nutritious foods, and take a multivitamin to kind of top yourself off.

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for joining us on today’s Once Daily!