Why Not Take a Multivitamin?

by Dr. Pamela Frank, BSc(Hons), ND

Let me qualify that statement: Don’t take a multivitamin to fix a health problem. Often when people first come to me, they are trying to treat their health problems with a multivitamin. It never seems to work.

My theory as to why not is that a multivitamin sends the body a big jumbled up message with all the components competing for absorption and effectiveness so that your body doesn’t get enough of what it needs and it gets a bunch of vitamins and minerals that it doesn’t really need.

Don’t get me wrong, I think multivitamins are healthy, but I try to prioritize and use targeted nutrients to fix a patient’s health problem(s) first. We put a multivitamin aside until mission accomplished and then use them where they really excel – to maintain the person’s new and improved health.