My partner takes A
A men's over 50 multi that has like 30 different vitamins and minerals in it. Some high doses and others negligible.

He is under the impression that taking a multi is safer and cheaper thanbuying individual vitamins.

I take;

1000mcg methyl cobalamin 4-5 times a week
600 mg Biotin daily
50 mg R- lipoic acid daily
Iron tablet daily
2000 iu vitamin D daily
2 Flaxseed oil capsules daily
99 mcg potassium gluconate x twice a day
Magnesium chelate capsule at bedtime

I am deficient in iron and vitamin D.
I take Biotin because my hair started to fallout from hyperthyroid and at home dye job.

Anyways, my question is how do vitamin manufacturers get 30 vitamins and minerals in one tablet?? How does it work?

Is it unsafe to take individual vitamins like I do? Is it ok to take all the above vitamins in one sitting or do I need to split it up?

Thank you

Everyone's nutritional status differs from others.

Multivits are only as good as the manufacturer who makes them.

One can put in RDAs of most vitamins and some trace minerals, but larger requirements, tend to leave out things like magnesium.
The magnesium listed on many multivits is magnesium stearate and is a lubricant to enhance manufacture and is not soluble and therefore is not absorbed. So multivits do not supply magnesium or large amounts of calcium, as a rule. Some products say take 2 or 3 or 4 to receive what is on the label, and those types may have more in them. Magnesium and calcium bulk up any tablet/capsule and typically are given separately, because of the volume requirement.

Multivits can be unsafe. There have been accidents where too much selenium has been put into them, for example, causing poisonings.
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/selenium...ements2008.asp

So really the manufacturer of any product should be looked at carefully. When mixing so many things together, errors can happen more easily. And we are even seeing major drug companies removing many products they make OTC here in US because of contamination by glass, or metal pieces. Novartis has taken Maalox and other things off the market because their plant was so contaminated (water supply)! J & J had contaminated Tylenol and Motrin liquids for babies! And it was a year or more to fix that one.

So nothing is completely safe, if one wants to get nitpicky about it. People USED to say brand names were best, but Novartis and J&J have had these enormous contamination recalls!

You are not going to find an omega-3 in a multivit.
You are not going to find THERAPEUTIC levels of B12 in them.
The B12 is often synthetic cyano anyway.

For people who don't eat properly a multivit can be useful, but it won't fix things for people with genetic errors in metabolism, alcoholism, or provide magnesium and calcium in useful amounts. And a person may not require all that is in one either.

Nothing is "perfect".

BTW, you can drop that potassium supplement. It is a waste of money.
You require 4,500 mg of potassium a day. Paying money for 200mg is rather ineffective. Choose foods high in potassium instead.

Thanks Mrs. D,

I know alot of people add a multi with the other vitamins they take, but I didn't think a multi on its own would be sufficient. I did notice that as the list went on some of the vitamins and minerals were only trace amounts, and if you did have a deficiency its really like a false sense of well being taking the multi. I use to take B-complex years ago, but had to stop because i use to get anxiety after taking it from all the B vitamins. Also here in Oz alot of multis are blended with Asian herbals, and I don't believe we have the stringent regulations that USA has especially on herbals. In Sydney every shopping centre, every suburb has an unregulated herbalist selling herbs from China in plastic bags. Talk about unsafe!!

I will stick with iherb.

Thanks for clearing it up.

Aussie