Multiple Vitamins

What do multiple vitamin supplements do?

Multiple vitamin supplements contain a variable number of essential and/or non-essential nutrients. Their primary purpose is to provide a convenient way to take a variety of supplemental nutrients from a single product, in order to prevent vitamin or mineral deficiencies, as well as to achieve higher intakes of nutrients believed to be of benefit above typical dietary levels. Many of these nutrients will be briefly discussed here; however, for more information, refer to individual nutrient sections.

A multiple vitamin supplement should not take the place of a healthful, well-balanced diet, but it will help prevent deficiencies that often arise. People may consume diets that are deficient in one or more nutrients for a variety of reasons. The typical Western diet often provides less than adequate amounts of several essential vitamins and minerals. Weight-loss, pure vegetarian, macrobiotic, and several other diets can also place some people at risk of deficiencies that vary with the type of diet. Aging, some medications, and certain health conditions can effect appetite, which may reduce nutrient intake.

Many multiple vitamins contain at least 100% of the U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance (USRDA) of all vitamins that have been assigned an RDA value.