Why Multivitamins Are Essential for Immunity – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 167
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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A high-quality multivitamin should be an essential part of your daily routine. The InVite Health team has consistently spoke about including essential vitamins and minerals into your daily routine in order to support overall health and wellness well before COVID-19. There is so much information and data available on the benefits of multivitamins for people of all ages when it comes to the immune system. Let’s discuss some of that evidence today.
Nutritional Gaps Filled By A Multivitamin
When you take a superior multivitamin, you get a good cross section of nutrients at a decent quantity and potency that fills in the nutritional gaps in your diet. It’s extremely difficult to obtain sufficient levels of all of the different vitamins and minerals you need from your food, especially because many Americans follow the Standard American Diet and commonly consume high levels of sugar and processed foods. This is one reason why many registered dietitians recommend that their clients start taking a multivitamin. If you have a gap in one nutrient, there is a domino effect where other nutrients are impacted. This can pile up and eventually lower your resistance to viruses and bacteria.
The Evidence
In a June 2020 report published in BMJ Nutrition Prevention and Health by researchers from the Global Center for Nutrition at Health at Saint John’s Innovation Center in Cambridge, studied COVID-19 infections and micronutrient deficiencies. The report reads, “Practitioners should make nutrient deficiencies a key consideration during the COVID-19 screening process.” They are studying a cross section of nutrients and are specifically talking about vitamin A for natural killer cell ability. This is an extremely important immune cell, as they cover the time period between your first response to an infection and the time it takes your body to make antibodies against it.
A separate study from July 2008 reported that older people can help prevent infections by taking certain nutritional supplements. This was published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases and by researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina. Based on their review, they found that adults over the age of 65 can benefit from a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement, as well as additional supplements to bring their daily intake of zinc to 20mg and selenium to 100mcg. The study reports, “Available evidence suggests that these supplements are likely to enhance immune function and may also boost vaccine responses.” For immuno-competence the researchers report that older individuals need:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin D (D3)
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin B2, B6 & B12
- Folic Acid
- Iron
- Selenium
- Zinc
More Information On Why Multivitamins Are So Essential for Your Health. Listen Now >>
A new report released by Oregon State University in the journal Nutrients just released on August 18, 2020 reads, “Multivitamin and mineral supplements linked to less severe and shorter lasting illness symptoms.” They found that if older people took a multivitamin mineral supplement – with zinc and good amounts of vitamin C over a three month period – participants got sick for a shorter period and the symptoms were much milder.
Tips on Choosing A Superior Multivitamin
It’s important to note that not all multiple vitamins are made equally! You’ll want to make sure your multivitamin has certain clinically studied ingredients, along with:
- Made Following cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices)
- Non-GMO Dietary Supplement
- The ingredients Vitamin E, Lutein, Lycopene, and Beta-Carotene need to be natural
- You should get a multivitamin with Methyltetrahydrofolate, not Folic Acid
- You should get a multivitamin with Methylcobalamin, not Cyanocobalamin
- Enough B-Complex (B-vitamins) to support brain energy and heart function
- Calcium should not be too high or you will not absorb Zinc, Selenium or Iron
- Good amounts of Zinc (especially for immune health), Selenium for detoxification and Iron
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