“Diets” are common regimens for weight loss and maintaining general daily health. But, there are as many suggested “healthy” diets as there are certified nutritionists. Depending on which “expert” you investigate, you often will hear that you should eat a diet with no fat … or a diet with no carbs … or a diet with no meat … etc. The list goes on... There are even diets that profess you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight! Another popular diet suggests that a practice for weight loss is to merely drink many liters of water every day! Presumably with this diet, you also need to remain near a toilet at all times.

A more serious problem with many self-described “effective” diets is that they tend to focus mainly on reducing the intake of calories, and they ignore the more important intake of nutrients required for proper heath maintenance. Just because your goal is to reduce body mass, or weight, doesn’t mean that it is healthy to also stop ingesting many of the key nutrients, vitamins and minerals that your body requires – on a daily basis – to maintain good overall health and disease immunity. So what is the answer? 

THE ANSWER:

The answer is that it’s critical to supplement your reduced food (caloric) intake with a daily intake of a super multivitamin complex that supplies all of the various nutrients, vitamins and minerals required by your body for good functioning and proper health.

But, there are many multivitamins products available in the market, at almost every price point. How do you choose the right one? One way is to read the labels and understand the importance of the ingredients to your body, especially during periods of dieting for weight loss. As examples,

• B-vitamins are a staple ingredient of most multivitamins and generally are advertised heavily as key ingredients. Yes, B-vitamins are important, especially in maintaining energy levels, but they aren't nearly as important as Vitamin D, which is known to strengthen bones, heal diabetes, protect against heart disease, lower blood pressure and also support the psyche by alleviating mental depression and elevating mood. You’re probably better served by choosing a multivitamin product with a good balance of Vitamin D (the “sunshine” vitamin) than one with an advertised excess of B-vitamin complex. Also make sure that the form of Vitamin D is “D3”, as it is more readily absorbable.

• Minerals are other heavily advertised ingredients of most vitamin products. However, the quantity of minerals available in trace amounts is not as important as which minerals. One mineral most often not highlighted (lowlighted?), but of most importance to the body is magnesium. Calcium often is featured in ad copy for maintaining “strong bones” but calcium can’t even be absorbed without magnesium being present. Magnesium may be the most important mineral in your body; it helps create energy through metabolism, is used by all of your organs for proper functionality, and helps your body absorb Vitamin D and all other minerals. Make sure that the daily multivitamin you take contains a generous amount of magnesium, and it must be in the form of magnesium citrate or magnesium aspartate.

• Also, many products advertise the presence of bioflavinoids and trace chemical elements.  Although useful (and it’s good to have them included), of more importance would be the presence of effective antioxidants, which contribute to cardio and circulatory health, brain function and anti aging. One of the best antioxidants is Vitamin E.

• Another key ingredient to look for, and one missing from many vitamin products – even so-called “best sellers” is L-Cysteine. This remarkable ingredient plays a key role in heart, cardio and general circulatory health. 

The point is, it’s a good health practice to maintain a dietary intake of not only proper amounts of calories (fuel for the body) but also a daily intake of required vitamins, minerals, nutrients and other special compounds such as enzymes, amino acids, bioflavinoids and so forth. This is especially critical during periods of intended caloric reduction for body weight loss (when you’re on a “diet”). An excellent approach to satisfy this intake of required nutrients is to augment your food intake with a well-formulated multivitamin dietary supplement complex.

A second point, is that if you are committed to such multivitamin supplements, then you should take care to buy a product that most satisfies all of your daily needs, and supplies these ingredients in forms that are readily absorbable (usable) by your body. Sadly, market price is not a good indicator of either ingredient quantity or quality in multivitamin regimens. As in most things, there is no substitute for knowing the value of what you put into your body.