Basically the title. Do they actually work? How are these gummy bear vitamins or pills made?
In: 26
They work for people who don’t have enough vitamins in their diet.
However, vitamins are not something that if you take even more of they’ll work better.
So, I’m going to take your question along the lines of what a lot of people seem to think. If I take vitamins while I’m sick with a cold will it make me better faster?
The answer to that question is no.
Furthermore, taking too many vitamins can have negative impacts on your health. Taking too many of some vitamins can actually lead to death.
For my sister and I, vitamin pills make a difference. Without them we are both low energy, but with them we each feel much better, and get more done. Hers is mainly B vitamins, a limited set due to kidney issues, while I take a general vitamin. We eat a diet with a lot of fruits and veggies, too.
How you take them and which vitamins via drops versus pills, versus lozenge all make a difference too. Some vitamins taken by pill won’t absorb into your body nearly as effectively. Also, some are on empty stomach while others with food as they depend on food fat to absorb into the body. So many variables, but regardless, they will sell anything that you’ll buy, regardless of how effective.
If you’re lacking vitamins. Vitamins are just nutrients that you need in fairly small quantities, a lot of supplements also contain minerals as well.
Some things are pretty common to be low in – vitamin d, especially in colder climates, iron (especially for reproductive age women), b12 (especially for vegetarians), and so a supplement containing these is often useful.
A lot of other things in most multivitamins are pretty useless if your diet is reasonably varied – big example here is vitamin c, you don’t need that much of it, and if you eat fruits and vegetables you’re almost certainly getting enough.
Additionally, some common foods are “reinforced” with vitamins or minerals that are commonly lacking in our diets- iodine in salt, thiamine and folic acid in bread. So you’re probably getting your supplement on these without working at it, as long as you’re not deliberating going for versions that leave these things out.
Then there’s some vitamins we like to pump up under certain medical conditions – folic acid and iodine in pregnancy (prevents neural tube defects and thyroid issues respectively), and thiamine in alcoholism (almost always low and protects from alcohol related brain problems.
Most vitamins taken in multivits at normal doses are fine, some weird stuff can happen with megadosing but following the label on one multivit would be really unlikely to get you into trouble. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t have side effects, iron being the notorious one, often causing nausea and constipation, and its in a lot of multivits.
Tldr – most people with a good varied diet are probably not low in most vitamins. The stuff that’s commonly low tends to be supplemented in foods anyway.
If you’ve got a selective diet or concerns around deficiency, its a good idea to see a doc and get tested for what you’re actually low in – certain things need higher dose or injection rather than a tablet because they dont really absorb well through the gut
They work for people who are deficient in what ever vitamin, or are at risk of deficiency. Other than that it’s basically no added benefit and a waste of money. There is a small risk of overdose/toxicity if you really do heavy with vitamins A, D, E or K. They are fat soluble and so if you take more than needed they get stored in the body. It does take a lot to get to the stage of it being a problem. Other vitamins are water soluble so you just urinate out any excess in your system.
There are certain conditions that make you at risk or almost certain to end up deficient so supplements are started before deficient starts (e.g majority of people with cystic fibrosis get pancreatic insufficiency. This leads to difficulty absorbing fat, and therefore fat soluble vitamins. So people with this condition are given bit a, d, e and k to prevent deficiency).
When you get to vitamin D supplement you get into a interesting position. There is a good argument that people who live above a certain latitude should just take a vitamin d supplement regardless because the amount of sun exposure is unlikely to provide enough vit d. I can’t remember what the latitude is, except that Scotland is in it (I’m in Scotland). Since most who are deficient are asymptomatic, it isn’t particularly pushed. However there is increasing evidence that low vitamin d is connected to numerous different health problems so it might be that we do start recommending taking a supplement and saying it loudly
Yes, IF you need them.
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There are three general types of food-things your body needs to survive: Macronutrients, Vitamins, and minerals. Macronutrients are Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fat; and generally provide you the energy you need to do things. You also need protein to help build and repair cells, among other things. Vitamins are organic molecules (carbon-based molecules) that your body needs, but don’t provide energy. Minerals are the inorganic stuff (not-carbon-based; this includes things like sodium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, calcium, etc.) your body needs.
If you don’t get enough of certain vitamins, it causes health issues. Some well-known examples include scurvy (the fear of sailors and pirates; caused by not getting enough Vitamin C), and Pellagra (often the bane of poor farmers; caused by not getting enough Niacin, also called Vitamin B3). However, there’s a lot of other health problems if you’re missing vitamins – basically every vitamin was discovered by finding a group of people who was sick, fixing their diet, and then finding what about the fixed diet made a difference.
Vitamin supplements provide those vitamins. If you’re already getting enough, they won’t help – in some cases, too much of a vitamin can be harmful, even toxic: Vitamin C is connected with diarrhea and nausea; Vitamin B3 can cause to liver damage and diabetes. But if you’re short on them, they can be very helpful, even lifesaving.
food is medicine, and it’s best to get your vitamins from food. But it’s also important not to eat too much food, so eat a good nutritious diet, not just high in calories.
Things that are common deficiencies:
vitamin D / vitamin K2 – take them together with food or olive oil or get 15 minutes of sunlight a day. longer if it’s winter or morning. avoid noon sun, too harsh.
vitamin C – studies show that if you take 1000 mg per day your brain works better
omega3 and omega6, best source is fish. fish oil doesn’t work great. Sardines is great.
magnesium – if your vitamin D level is low and supplementing it doesn’t work, then you probably have low magnesium levels.
NAD boosters – NR or NMN, important after about age 35.
Then there are a bunch of other molecules, like NAC or glutathione that probably do something but have more to do with anti-aging or aging more slowly and they’re so new that it’s hard to say yet.
But rapamycin is definitely on this list of things that could help you live longer.
One thing I would add, is a lot of athletes take them as well. Vitamins, nutrients and minerals are the building blocks for fitness/athletics. Generally they are also on a good diets but to maximize gains the will add vitamin supplements to fill in the gaps they may have from taxing the body.
They sometimes work eating vitamins doesn’t always mean your body will effectively absorb them into your blood stream depending on the vitamin. Doctor will check your blood work, prescribe vitamins and determine whether or not they’re working. Sometimes given as injections. For instance I’ve read here on reddit people taking vitamin D and their blood works doesn’t show much of an improvement or it is very very slow to build up. But for others it will work.
Vitamins and other supplements aren’t regulated by the FDA, so the accuracy of the label, as well as the quality of ingredients, can vary wildly. That’s one thing you have to watch out for:
[https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/whats-in-your-supplements-2019021515946](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/whats-in-your-supplements-2019021515946)
There’s also the fact that lots of vitamins and minerals compete with each other for absorption, so it’s counterproductive to take all of them at once in a multivitamin. The vitamins and minerals you obtain from food are generally going to be better absorbed and better for your overall health than what you find in a multivitamin.
It takes a bit of work, but I would simply research every individual vitamin and mineral and see if you’re already getting enough of them in your diet. If you suspect a deficiency, then try to find a specific food that is high in that particular vitamin or mineral, and if you can’t do that, *then* you should consider supplementing that specific vitamin or mineral.
Look for supplements that have 3rd-party testing and come from reputable companies.
To be clear, I do think supplementation can be extremely useful, and certain things like vitamin D can actually be pretty hard to get from your ordinary diet, you just need to be very judicious about which supplements you take.
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