VITAMINS AND MINERALS - SUPPLEMENTS
Vitamins are classified as either Fat Soluble or Water Soluble and this is key as it determines how a vitamin will act within the body. This applies to vitamins obtained through food as well as supplementation.
A balanced diet will usually provide enough of all necessary vitamins. However, regardless of your diet, whether that be vegan, vegetarian, keto, or omnivorous (can eat everything), it can still sometimes be difficult for your body to get all the vitamins it needs from food. There may be factors that play a role, e.g., some vegans may use supplements because some nutrients are found more abundantly in animal products. For example Vitamin B12, omega-3 DHA and Iron are at risk of being lower in vegan diets. As stated, it is perfectly achievable to obtain all required vitamins through food, regardless of diet choice, but this should be understood and then carefully incorporated into your diet.
Fat soluble vitamins - A, D, E and K
Water soluble vitamins – B group and C
Many will choose a multivitamin as an easy “one tablet/once a day” solution to taking in vitamins, but worth noting that these will often contain a mixture of both water and fat soluble vitamins. So, generally, the best time to take a multivitamin is with food so any fat can help with absorption where needed. You should also take with water to help absorption of the water soluble vitamins. Specifically you will absorb B12 better with food. There is also recommendation to take B12 in the morning as it is energizing and therefore won’t impact your sleep.
Fat soluble vitamins - A, D, E, and K need to go with fat from a meal for your body to use them correctly, so for maximum absorption, the best time to take fat-soluble vitamins is after you’ve eaten foods that contain fat. However, only a small amount of fat is needed (e.g. an avocado or some nuts would be plenty). Some vitamins should also be taken together. For example, taken separately D3 supports a healthy immune system and K2 regulates blood clotting. However, D3 should always be accompanied by K2 because together they ensure that calcium is absorbed properly to build bone instead of depositing it dangerously in arteries and soft tissue, to help avoid a risk of heart disease and arterial calcification.
Fat soluble vitamins, once they have been stored in tissues in the body, tend to remain there. This introduces a risk that if you consume more than you need of a fat soluble vitamin, then over time you might have too much of that vitamin in your body, which is a potentially dangerous outcome to be avoided as levels could become toxic.
Water soluble vitamins will travel through the body and any excess amounts are usually excreted by the kidneys. This does mean that the body needs water-soluble vitamins in frequent, small doses.
If you have been advised to take extra iron, it is best absorbed on an empty stomach, taken with water or a citrus juice as Vitamin C can aid absorption.
Decoding the abbreviations – “RDA” is the recommended daily allowance of each vitamin or nutrient, also sometimes displayed as the “NRV” - Nutrient Reference Value. “DV” is the daily value of each vitamin or nutrient that a supplement will provide when taken correctly, also displayed as the “average per capsule”. Amounts are displayed as mg (milligram), mcg, (micrograms) or IU (international units). One milligram is one thousand micrograms. IU is usually used to measure fat soluble vitamins. The conversion of IU to mg varies depending on the nutrient.
As with all supplementation and food considerations, it is important to discuss your daily requirements with your doctor. It may help to keep a food and supplement diary for a week or so, to be able to share with your health practitioner to be able to clearly show what you take each day, what time of the day and what accompanies any supplementation.
