3 reasons to take a multivitamin | Dr. Esther Yeo

3 reasons to take a multivitamin | Dr. Esther Yeo

Dec 13, 2024Ehotyshamull Joy

First, the antioxidant action of multivitamins
Among vitamins, A, C, and E are antioxidants. The human body obtains energy through oxygen. Energy is generated when the food we eat meets oxygen in the mitochondria in our cells and burns it. Humans cannot sustain life without oxygen. Ironically, however, oxygen can cause us to grow old and sick, because unstable metabolic residues called free radicals from this process attack our cells and DNA.
You need to protect your body from free radicals...
One way to protect your body from free radical attack is to take antioxidant vitamins. Antioxidant vitamins indirectly help with a variety of conditions, including complications from diabetes, heart disease, macular degeneration, and dementia, through their unique antioxidant activity. When we compare the human body to a car, it's easy to understand if you think of antioxidant vitamins as lubricant. Just as lubricants keep your engine from scratches and wear, antioxidant vitamins help keep the millions of cogs of your metabolism running smoothly without creaking. In other words, just as lubricants can extend the life of engines and cogs, antioxidant vitamins are expected to slow down aging and prevent various diseases.
If only 1% could work!
It is worth noting that the phrase "we expect to be able to prevent disease" rather than "prevent disease" here. I'm afraid people will think of these vitamins as a cure-all. Diseases are caused by the accumulation of very complex factors over a long period of time. I believe that taking these vitamins helps prevent disease and improve symptoms even by 1% through their antioxidant activity. There have been many studies in recent years that prove this as well as the medical probability. Researchers at Harvard Medical School observed more than 14,000 U.S. male physicians over the age of 50 who took a multivitamin for 11 years and found that the incidence of cancer was reduced by an average of 8 percent compared to the placebo group. In France, more than 13,000 people who took a multivitamin were followed for seven years and six months, and the incidence of cancer was lower, and the total mortality rate was lower for men (Arch Intern Med, 2004). In a 6.3-year observation of more than 3,600 people aged 55~80, eye diseases such as macular degeneration were reduced by 28% (Arch Ophthalmol, 2001).
Above all, the most essential thing is...
However, for the prevention and treatment of disease, the help of modern medicine, such as a balanced diet, exercise, medications, and surgery, is essential. It is difficult to say that taking vitamins prevents or cures certain diseases. It is correct to say "helpful". It's a subtle difference, but it's understandable.
I take a multivitamin every day
I take a multivitamin every day. This is because there is a belief that someday, if not immediately, even 1% of nutrition will contribute to the prevention of diseases such as aging tissues and macular degeneration caused by free radicals. Earlier, I mentioned a study that showed that people who took a multivitamin had fewer eye diseases. The most common use of antioxidant vitamins in medicine is in ophthalmic areas such as macular degeneration. Macular degeneration is a disease of the macula, which is responsible for central vision in the retina, and is one of the most important causes of blindness, along with diabetic retinopathy. Macular degeneration, which used to be common in the elderly, has recently become more common in young people. This is because leisure activities have increased, and the amount of time spent exposed to UV rays has increased. One of the most effective ways to slow the progression of macular degeneration is to take antioxidant vitamins.
Second, the anti-fatigue action of multivitamins

The main role in the anti-fatigue action is the variety of B vitamins contained in multivitamins. B vitamins are made up of 8 B vitamins in all. B1 thiamine, B2 riboflavin, B3 niacin, B5 pantothenic acid, B6 pyridoxine, B7 biotin, B9 folic acid, and B12 cobalamine. They have in common a boost in energy metabolism within the cell. In other words, it plays the role of bellows so that the food we eat can burn well. To use the analogy of a car again, it is a power booster that improves the power of the engine. When the car goes up a hill, the engine exerts great power and helps it go up easily.

 

Vitamin B is common in improving fatigue 

Common to most supplements designed to improve fatigue today are B vitamins. If you're hiking or working late at night, if you're going on a long trip abroad, or if you're taking an important exam period, consider increasing your dose of B vitamins. It will help you feel more energized and in good shape.

 

 

Third, it contains minerals and trace elements in multivitamins

 

Multivitamins contain calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, selenium, and other minerals and trace elements in ideal ratios. Calcium and magnesium help build bones and stabilize nerves, while zinc helps boost immunity. Trace elements such as selenium, iodine, and copper are also important. Trace elements are substances in very small amounts that help the body function and play a supporting role in enzyme-driven metabolism along with vitamins. For example, selenium, one of the leading antioxidant trace elements, should be consumed at about 55 μg per day. However, in our country, there are many areas where the soil is made of granite, so plants grown in these areas are prone to lack selenium.

 

Multivitamins are the primary nutrient for nutrient balance

 

Selenium's antioxidant power is said to be 1,970 times higher than that of vitamin E, and it is also nicknamed the "detoxification mineral" because it inhibits the growth of cancer cells and helps excrete heavy metals. People who take medications for arthritis, diabetes, and high blood pressure may be deficient in selenium. Therefore, it is recommended that these people take a multivitamin that contains selenium. Multivitamins contain dozens of vitamins and trace elements at once, and are the most basic nutritional supplements that can efficiently correct the balance of nutrients.

 

 

A multivitamin recommended by Harvard

 

In 2002, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health published a historic revision of the food pyramid, formally recommending that most people take a multivitamin. My first recommendation to patients who want to take nutritional supplements is a multivitamin.

 

Balance Nutrients

 

If you eat a lot of calcium pills because your bones are weak, a lot of magnesium, which interacts with calcium, will be lost from your body, which can cause your eyelids to twitch sweetly. If you give too much zinc to a young child who is underweight to boost his or her immune system, it may lack copper, which can lead to hair loss, anemia, or headaches. Multivitamins are formulated with a good balance of calcium and magnesium and zinc and copper, which can help prevent the relative deficiency of one nutrient from being overdosed of another.

 

 



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