5 Micronutrients in Your Multivitamin that You Should Avoid

December 26, 2021

5 Micronutrients to Avoid

If you haven’t checked the supplement facts panel of your multivitamin product, there is a great possibility that you are already taking one or more of the said micronutrients. Taking multivitamins is good for your health, but you should be mindful of the adverse effect of taking the extra dose.

Vitamins or Minerals to Avoid

Did you know that there are 5 vitamins or minerals that must not be taken together with your daily dose of multivitamins? Note that multivitamins are packed with micronutrients, but you have to check if it is indeed the complete package.

That is because even if it contains almost all of them, there are certain vitamins and minerals causing the multivitamin/multimineral supplement to become incomplete. The reason behind this is that such components will compete with the uptake of one another.

This includes other key minerals in the multivitamin that your body requires but must be taken at different times.

Here are 5 micronutrients in your multivitamins

  • Calcium
  • Magnesium
  • Phosphorous
  • Vitamin D
  • Zinc

Your food supplement should not contain any of the said micronutrients. That is what hard-training men and women should have if they want to maximize results, optimize performance, and improve the overall health.

Why these micronutrients should not be present in your multivitamin intake.

  • Zinc and B. Magnesium. You should know that zinc and magnesium must not be present in your multivitamins because they can have adverse impact to other vitamins and minerals that you are currently taking.

With that said, you don’t want them mixed with other vitamins or minerals because their uptake will become limited as do other micronutrients in the supplement. These may include copper that can compete with the absorption of zinc by the body.

In fact, zinc and magnesium must be taken without food so that you can take advantage of the sleep-promoting, stress-reducing benefits that magnesium can provide.  Note that multivitamins must be taken with meals, while magnesium and zinc should be taken otherwise.

You can get these 2 minerals from a different supplement, particularly if you are serious about your gains. Thus, you need to maximize your uptake of magnesium and zinc, both critical in boosting metabolism, maintaining testosterone levels, enhancing immune function, and increasing muscle strength, endurance, and growth.

What are Chelated Supplements?

Chelated supplements are supplements that contain minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium. A chelate is a molecule of mineral attached to another molecule or compound, such as amino acids or sugars.

The two main types of chelates are small-molecule chelates and large-molecule chelates. Small-molecule chelates are usually not well-absorbed by the body. Large-molecle chelates are usually better absorbed by the body because they have a higher proportion of highly absorbable minerals.

Hard-training people can become deficient in magnesium and zinc, due to the fact that they can lose these minerals by sweating and urinating. You can increase the use of such minerals if you are aiming for protein synthesis and recovery.

The chelated forms of such minerals can best address this requirement and can maximize magnesium and zinc uptake. These are those that are combined with other combined with other compounds in order to enhance absorption in the body.

According to research, chelated zinc and magnesium supplements will benefit athletes by gaining strength, insulin-like growth factor I, and testosterone levels in athletes.

  • Calcium. You must check the supplement facts panel of your multivitamin and ensure that calcium is not listed among them. You might wonder why because there is a scientific explanation that backs the cardiovascular and fat-melting benefits of calcium from dairy sources.

Non-dairy sources of calcium will actually interfere with the uptake of iron, manganese, and zinc. Moreover, it can be harmful in particular supplemental forms. Although it has some scientific reasons for the use of calcium, calcium carbonate and calcium citrate have adverse effects.

First of all, they failed to show the real benefits in clinical studies. At the same time, some non-dairy forms of calcium can increase the risk of heart disease and other health conditions such as issues with the kidney and even cancer.

Thus, you need to get calcium only from real dairy products, like cottage cheese, milk, and yogurt, among others.

  • Vitamin D. Among the things you need to check is the Vitamin D content. It is understood that vitamin D offers different health and muscle boosting benefits, which include increased brain health, bone health, mood, and strength.

However, uptake of vitamin D is not advisable because it can be stored int eh body, particularly the fat cells at toxic levels. Although this is a highly promoted supplement, there has been an increase in vitamin D toxicity as found out by research in the past decade or so.

Toxicity of vitamin D can result to bone pain, dehydration, kidney problems, loss of appetite, and vomiting. Therefore, it should not be taken with your daily dose of multivitamins.

On the other hand, you can acquire vitamin D from a reliable source like the sun through your skin. For those who are exposed to very little sunlight in some locations, it is advisable to use vitamin D3 supplement or a sun lamp in some areas.

  • Phosphorus. The phosphorus content in your multivitamin can be omitted because some parts of the world already get too much of it in their diets, particularly in the U.S.

Although it can support bone health along with calcium, supplementing with it can lead to overly high levels. In fact, research shows that it could also have detrimental health benefits.

Take note that phosphorus is the second most abundant mineral in the body. With the excess in phosphorus, it can interfere with the activation of other vitamins particularly vitamin D.

Moreover, too much supply of phosphorus in the body can negatively affect your uptake of calcium, iron, magnesium, and zinc. This can also lead to kidney and cardiovascular problems, aside from bone issues.

 

Final Takeaway

You can continue taking multivitamins daily but with the absence of the 5 vitamins or minerals. If you leave out calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin D, and zinc, you will be able to optimize your uptake of other nutrients. This can also aid to your hard-training body and gain optimal results.

For hard-training men and women who want to optimize performance and maximize results, while improving overall health, it is best to regulate your intake of the said vitamins and minerals.

 

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