Multivitamin capsules contain a range of vitamins that usually occur in foods and other natural sources.
They can provide you with many of the vitamins and minerals that may be missing in your diet.
You can also take multivitamins to counteract any vitamin deficiencies, maybe due to illness, pregnancy or digestive disorders.
Reported Effects of Multivitamin Capsules
They Can Increase Your Energy
If you have a vitamin deficiency, you may find it harder to undertake general tasks which can consequently lead to you tiring more easily and risking other health issues but if you take multivitamins you can potentially avoid these issues.
They Can Increase Your Mood
Research has demonstrated that if you regularly take multivitamins, they can elevate your mood and sense of well-being. Accordingly, your brain also functions better when you get the right quantity of vitamins and minerals. (1)
They Can Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Vitamins and minerals in your diet can substantially cut down your stress and anxiety levels. The B vitamins, in particular, help you transform food into energy and also help your nervous system function correctly. Additionally, they also help your body to manufacture stress hormones. (2)
They Can Improve Your Memory
An Australian clinical trial concluded that B vitamins have a profound influence on your short-term memory. During the trial, researchers found that when senior participants took a vitamin B12 supplement they performed better in memory tests compared to a group of participants that took no supplements. (3)
They Can Maintain Your Strength
Free radicals are mainly responsible for muscle aging-related problems. If you take a daily multivitamin it can help to maintain your strength by mopping up muscle-damaging free radicals. (4)
Common Ingredients Found in Multivitamin Capsules
Vitamin A
Vitamin A (retinol) helps to boost your immune system, maintain your eyesight and keep your skin healthy. It’s found in cheese, eggs, oily fish, dairy products, and liver.
B Vitamins
The B vitamins perform a host of functions such as helping your body break down and release energy from food, keeping your nervous system healthy and maintaining the health of your skin and eyes. Additionally, they also help your body use energy from protein and carbohydrates in food, enable you to form haemoglobin and to form healthy red blood cells.
The B vitamins include thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, biotin (vitamin B7), folic acid and vitamin B12.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) helps your body to protect cells and keep them healthy and also to heal wounds. Consequently ,this can enable you to maintain healthy skin, blood vessels, bones, and cartilage.
It’s found in citrus fruits, peppers, strawberries, blackcurrants, broccoli, sprouts and potatoes.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D helps your body regulate your levels of calcium and phosphate, which is important for healthy bones, teeth, and muscles. A deficiency in vitamin D can consequently cause bone deformities, such as rickets in children, for example.
Your body is able to synthesise vitamin D from sunlight and it also occurs in foods such as oily fish (salmon, sardines, herring, and mackerel), red meat, liver, and eggs.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E helps to keep both your skin and eyes healthy, and it also fortifies your immune system. Furthermore, it’s found in plant oils (rapeseed, sunflower, soya, corn, and olive oil), nuts, seeds and also wheatgerm.
Beta-Carotene
Beta-carotene is responsible for the colour of orange and yellow fruit and vegetables such as carrots and red peppers and also fruits like apricots, mango, and papaya. Your body also converts it to vitamin A and it’s mainly found in orange vegetables.
Calcium
Calcium helps you to maintain strong bones and teeth, regulate muscle contractions and plays a role in normal blood clotting. In particular, it’s chiefly found in dairy products, green leafy vegetables, soya, bread and also fish such as sardines and pilchards.
Iodine
Iodine helps keep your thyroid gland healthy by helping produce the hormones which regulate your metabolism. It’s mainly found in cereals and grains (the levels depend on the amount of iodine in the soil) and also in fish and shellfish.
Iron
Iron helps your body create red blood cells, which carry oxygen. A deficiency can cause anaemia. It occurs in liver, red meat, red kidney beans, edamame beans, chickpeas, nuts, dried apricots, and soya.
Magnesium
Magnesium helps you convert your food into energy and it also helps to ensure that the parathyroid glands work properly to help maintain your bone health.
Manganese
Manganese helps you synthesise and use your body’s enzymes. Bread, nuts, breakfast cereals and green vegetables contain a lot of manganese.
Molydenum
Molybdenum helps your body synthesise the enzymes that facilitate the creation and repair of genetic materials. Some good sources of molybdenum are carrots and potatoes.
Potassium
Potassium helps you control your body’s fluid balance and it also maintains the proper function of your heart muscle.
It occurs in vegetables such as bananas, broccoli, parsnips and sprouts. Potassium is also found in beans, pulses, nuts, seeds, fish and also in meats such as beef, chicken, and turkey.
Selenium
Selenium helps to maintain your immune system and also your reproductive system. Additionally, it helps to protect your cells and tissues from damage. Foods such as brazil nuts, eggs, meat, and fish contain substantial amounts of selenium.
Zinc
Zinc helps your body create new cells and enzymes, process foods such as carbohydrate, fat and protein and also helps your recover from wounds. High levels of zinc are found in meat, shellfish, dairy products, bread, and cereals.
Side-Effects of Using Multivitamin Capsules
Side-effects from multivitamins are rare. However, you should call a doctor straight away if you experience any of the following symptoms which may suggest an allergic reaction:
Rash, hives, itching, blistered or peeling skin with or without fever, wheezing, tightness in the chest or throat, trouble breathing, swallowing, or talking, unusual hoarseness, or swelling of the mouth, face, lips, tongue, or throat.
For more information about side-effects you should contact a medical professional.
Multivitamin Capsule Dosage
You should consult your doctor before you start taking multivitamins and discuss any medical conditions or allergies you may have.
Furthermore, women should obtain medical advice before using multivitamins if they’re pregnant or breastfeeding.
You shouldn’t take more than instructed on the label, or by your doctor, because some vitamins can cause serious, potentially life-threatening side-effects if too large a dose is consumed.
References
- The effect of multivitamin supplementation on mood and stress in healthy older men. Elizabeth Harris, Joni Kirk, Renee Rowsell, Luis Vitetta, Avni Sali, Andrew B Scholey, Andrew Pipingas. Affiliations expand. PMID: 22095836 DOI: 10.1002/hup.1245
- Effects of vitamin and mineral supplementation on stress, mild psychiatric symptoms, and mood in nonclinical samples: a meta-analysis. Sara-Jayne Long, David Benton. Affiliations expand PMID: 23362497 DOI: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e31827d5fbd
- The effects of multivitamins on cognitive performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Natalie A Grima, Matthew P Pase, Helen Macpherson, Andrew Pipingas. Affiliations expand. PMID: 22330823 DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2011-111751
- Minimization of free radical damage by metal catalysis of multivitamin/multimineral supplements. Alexander B Rabovsky, corresponding author Andrei M Komarov, Jeremy S Ivie, and Garry R Buettner