Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
Millmark Foods stock several different vitamin and mineral supplements, and these can be ‘multi-vitamins’ (combinations of more than one vitamin and/or mineral) or as single vitamin or mineral. In each case the exact chemical (or bio-chemical) composition for any vitamin may differ as well as the potency. The product that is most suitable for each application will differ. Other nutrients may be added to the multivitamin to try to ensure effective absorption. For instance, digestive enzymes may be added. Other nutrients and herbs may also added in selected products ( e.g. amino acids or beta glucans). There is a physical limit on the amount of certain nutrients that that can be accommodated in a single tablet or capsule. Most multivitamin and single vitamin/mineral supplements will contain fillers to enable fat dispersion and absorption.
Recommended levels for consumption: Most vitamin and minerals will have an ‘RDA’ (Recommended Daily Amount) level specified for the consumer. However this requires interpretation. These levels were set to avoid malnutrition from a gross deficiency-for example 60mg/day for Vitamin C to avoid scurvy. This will not necessarily be an optimum level for good health. There is usually considerable leeway for water based vitamins and 1000% of RDA can be tolerated for say B vitamins, which have short lifetimes in the body, whereas for fat based vitamins and minerals, the RDA may often be close to the tolerated level. Many nutrients do not have an RDA but can still be vital for good health.
There can be a wide range of a vitamin or mineral absorbed from a supplement and this can be very dependent on the molecular composition of each component. An example of this variation is the mineral iron. Iron bisglycinate may yield 50% absorption whereas ferrous sulphate (a cheaper source) may only yield 1 or 2% iron into the body. The latter is more likely to incur bowel side effects. In general the multivitamin products that have chelated minerals (as an example) are likely to be better absorbed than say a sulphate or carbonate compound of a mineral.
In short, be aware that there are significant differences in quality for vitamin and mineral supplements and do not be fooled by headlines such as ‘A to Z’ of everything you need’ in a multivitamin!