Vitamins are a little controversial as there are two sides to an argument as to whether our diets in North America have enough nutrients or not.
I eat what I think is a full diet of the good food that I need but still am not sure as to weather I eat all the vitamins and minerals necessary to stay healthy and to allow myself to rebuild my body from the environment and my daily exercise so I take some Vitamins.
Here is what I take:
2 multivitamin pills per day one in the morning and one in the evening
1 calcium pill in the evening with dinner
1 omega 3-6-9 in the evening with dinner
This may seem to some as overkill but I know that I have always felt better day in and day our when I am remembering to take multivitamins.
There are a few things to look for in a multivitamin that I always look for myself. The first thing is looking for B vitamins; B vitamins are good for combating stress to the body so I find they are important. In a multi you will find that the B vitamins are usually 2-3 milligrams as they are more expensive to produce and most companies minimize their costs by keeping the amount of this essential vitamin down. Look through all of the multi vitamins in the stores nearby for B vitamins in the 40-50 milligram range instead but still be aware of the price that you are paying.
I try also to stay away from the health food and nutrition stores as the vitamins that they sell are a lot more expensive and I am not sure that they are worth it, so I usually just go to the local grocery store or pharmacy and look there.
Among the other vitamins that I take Calcium I take as I am not sure that I am taking in enough and my wife worries about osteoporosis and who would really want brittle bones anyway. I take the Omega vitamins as they are good for your heart. Also be aware of antioxidants, these are vitamins Beta Carotene (Vitamin A), C, and E are thought to slow down the aging process by removing free radicals from your body.
Although I may be a little aggressive with my vitamin intake compared to some people it seems to me good prevention to at least take a multivitamin once a day and to try to keep up with nutritional info as you see it in the news.
For more information on picking a diet and workout plan for yourself you can visit my muscle building nutrition book review or my diet plan review.
