I’ve gone back and forth on taking a multivitamin since I know my diet isn’t all that great. Ideally I should be working to improve that diet but let’s say due to certain circumstances that’s a bit difficult at the moment.
Would it be worth taking a 1 a day multivitamin to at least correct some possible deficiency or is it very unlikely that it would have any effect?
Not asking for professional medical advice or anything, mostly looking to see if anyone else is taking a multivitamin and if so why?
A multivitamin is not bad, but different vitamins need different other substances to be available for the body. Eg. some are soluble in water (like the B group) some, like vitamin D need fat to be solved in (and it’s good to acompany it with vitamin K to make D work as intended). Be careful with vitamin A - people in developed countries usually have too much and it can cause serious problems. It’s generally good to know what you’re taking and why. But if you just need a quick fix, a multivitamin is usually ok.
I think this is the best take. OP, multivitamins do work. Of course you need to fix your diet, of course it’s better to ingest the vitamin with the food so it can be absorbed better. Of course you should talk to a doctor. But if you have a deficiency of an important vitamin such as C or D, you will notice the difference.
Regarding overdoses, it is almost impossible to hurt yourself by taking a typical OTC multivitamin pill.
Consider some specific foods which give you a boost of the vitamin, such as canned tuna for Omega-3, Brazil nuts for selenium, etc.
But, at the end of the day, the general recommendation is that multivitamins are safe and pretty decent. I wouldn’t recommend any drug to a random person on the internet but multivitamins are fine.
Source: my wife is a nutritionist and we do talk about this a lot. I have a great diet but do take vitamins regularly as a complement or when I’m sick.