The Importance of Multivitamins

The Importance of Multivitamins

Functional medicine emphasizes the reality that food is medicine In addition to food, body movement, stress management, quality sleep, and healthy relationships are the foundation for optimal health. However, due to a variety factors, we may find ourselves with nutritional deficiencies.

Nutritional deficiencies can be the result of:

• Deficient intake of nutrients in the diet from:

  • Poor nutrients in the soil where our food is grown, leading to a lack of nutrients in our produce and animal products

  • Lack of variety in the diet for those who eat the same foods every day

  • Increased intake of highly processed foods, which tend to have low nutrient density

• Dysfunctional digestion/absorption of nutrients from:

  • Lack of digestive enzymes or stomach acid needed to break down a particular food in oder to extract the nutrients

  • Inability of the body to make a nutrient because of a deficiency of coenzymes or specific probiotic gut bacteria required

  • Overgrowth of bacteria, yeast, or parasites, which inhibit to production or absorption of particular nutrient.

There are a variety of ways to use supplements to support overall health in the body, as well as specifically for immune system function, and lowering inflammation. After first taking steps to adopt of more nutrient dense whole food diet, one way to help meet your nutritional needs is to supplement with a high quality multivitamin and mineral supplement. Multivitamins can help fill in the gaps that our nutrient deficient diet and poor soil create. They are to be used in addition to, not as a replacement for, quality, nutrient-dense food intake. As a general rule of thumb, we have put some considerations and recommendations below for multivitamins.

If you are a:

• Adult female with a menstrual cycle

  • You typically will want to look for a multivitamin that contains iron.

  • We recommend Designs for Health- DFH Complete Multi with Copper and Iron (found on our FullScript website)

• Adult female after menopause

  • You typically will not need iron in your supplement.

  • We recommend Designs for Health- DFH Complete Multi without copper and iron (found on our FullScript website)

• Adult male

  • You typically do not need iron in your multivitamin

  • We recommend Designs for Health- DFH Complete Multi without copper and iron

• Adult females actively planning a family

  • You want to look for a prenatal multivitamin with methylated folate and active forms of B-vitamins

  • We recommend Innate Response Baby and Me Multi

• Children or those that prefer not to take pills

  • We recommend Vitavescence from Designs for Health. Please contact our office for dosing for children under 12.

The best way to figure out what type of multivitamin may be right for you is to begin with a comprehensive evaluation with Dr. Riggs or Dr. Spencer. As Board Certified Chiropractic Internists they are adept at assessing a patient taking into account their health history and physical exam findings. To get even more specific, they can always run a comprehensive micronutrient blood test to evaluate a patient’s physiological micronutrient status on 35-40 different vitamins and minerals that are essential to optimal health. This test can be shipped to you to have drawn at a lab near you or we can schedule you to come into the office for your blood draw. Using this information, the doctors can more precisely personalize a supplement regimen for you.

It is of utmost importance that the vitamins you take contain the active forms of the nutrients to promote absorption. In our Fullscript store you will find a variety of high quality pharmaceuticals including the recommendations made above. If you have any questions, if you need support with the Fullscript store, or if you need specific recommendations, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our office to speak with one of our doctors.