However, there is at least one exception to this nuance, one supplement that we would contend is beneficial is most cases, and that is a Multivitamin and Mineral Supplement, like Feel Younger’s All in One Multivitamin + Mineral Formula with Antioxidant + Immune Support.
Why is it such a good idea for most people to take a formula like this?
Firstly, while a deficiency of any one essential nutrient is quite rare, by a medical standard, having a deficiency of at least one of the many necessary vitamins and minerals is not uncommon.
Why? There are many reasons why you may have a deficiency in a nutrient, and this is covered in detail in the ‘Do we need supplements’ article, but the most common reasons may be:
1. Because you do not eat a varied, balanced diet.
This could be for many reasons: you’re too busy, you find it too expensive or time consuming to prepare, you don’t enjoy healthy foods, or you enjoy unhealthy foods too much, and lastly, you may intentionally be on a restrictive diet, either because many foods disagree with you (e.g. food intolerances) or because you restrict certain food for ethical or religious reasons e.g. a vegetarian or vegan diet is more likely to lead to deficiencies including Vitamin B12, Zinc, Iron and Vitamin K2.
2. If you have digestive issues that affect your ability to absorb nutrients.
A lack of stomach acid may lead to problems absorbing proteins, whereas a lack of bile flow may lead to issues absorbing enough of the fat soluble vitamins. Diarrhea can deplete important minerals, while gut inflammation can reduce absorption of many kinds of important nutrients.
3. Even if you eat a healthy diet, the foods you eat are grown in nutrient depleted soil, or from animals that eat crops from nutrient depleted soil.
Estimates are that soil is 75-90% depleted of nutrients in the last 100 years. How this impacts nutrient content of foods is still an issue of contention and requires more research, but it’s reasonable to assume that if soil is so depleted of nutrients, that this will impact the nutrient content of foods that grow in it to some degree.
4. You have a greater need for nutrients, due to genetic or lifestyle reasons.
For instance, Elwin, the founder of Feel Younger ®, has genetic polymorphisms which cause him to need to consume double the usual recommended amount of the crucial nutrients Biotin, Choline, EPA and DHA.
Lifestyle factors like high chronic stress, or excessive alcohol or stimulant use, for instance, can cause the rapid depletion of nutrients like Thiamine (Vitamin B1) and Magnesium, causing needs to be significantly elevated.
5. Already Deficient?
If you are already deficient in a nutrient, like vitamin B12, it’s common for medical professionals to recommend you take 100 times or even 1000 times the usual recommended amount, to try and replenish your levels, which is an amount you could never get without supplementation.
Even if none of these apply to you, you may still want to consider taking a Multivitamin, like Feel Younger’s All in One Multivitamin + Mineral Formula with Antioxidant + Immune Support.
Why? Because even if you’re not deficient in any of the nutrients contained within, you may still benefit from Optimizing your level of these nutrients.
Remember, Recommended amounts are what was discovered clinically to prevent or reverse disease. While the are of what is optimal is less researched and more subjective (optimal is harder to define than disease), anecdotally, many people have reported feeling better when consuming levels of nutrients that are sometimes conceived as optimal, rather than essential. A common example is again, Vitamin B12, which many people feel better on with doses 100+ times the Recommended Daily Amount, even if they are not diagnosed as clinically deficient.
What does a good Multivitamin and Mineral supplement contain?
A good Multivitamin will contain all the essential Vitamins: A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9 and B12, C, D and E
It will also contain the essential minerals Magnesium and Calcium (in an optimal 1:1 ratio), Zinc and Copper (in an optimal 7:1 ratio), Selenium and Manganese (as Amino Acid Chelates) and Chromium and Molybdenum.
Our formula does not contain iron as this is an essential nutrient that it’s easy to consume too much of for some people, so we encourage everyone to test to see if they need it and if so, take it separately
What makes a Great Multivitamin and Mineral Supplement?
As well as containing the essential Vitamins and Minerals listed above, a really great Multivitamin will also: