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What Multivitamin Supplements Should Be Taken?

Posted on Thu, 24 Apr 2014

Question: I'm thinking of starting a multivitamin course. please suggest which one should I take and for how long. And are they really beneficial?

Answered by Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj (2 hours later)

Brief Answer: Depends on why you are starting Detailed Answer: Hi XXXX Thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic.com There are many multivitamin preparations on the market. The one that I normally encourage most of my patients to use is tablet 'Becosule'. The thing is though, it depends on WHAT i am trying to treat. I am not against the idea of a multivitamin in general, but you must remember that as long as you are eating a healthy, well balanced diet, there should be no need for vitamin supplements. Secondly, the vitamin content of a supplement may be very high, but only a small fraction of the supplement will be absorbed and used by the body. Whereas, the body is much better at absorbing most if not all the nutrients from the food that you eat. So all in all, I would like to inquire as to WHY you feel the need to start a multivitamin. That will also help me give you information on HOW LONG you need to take it for. I look forward to your reply. Take care, Vinay

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj (8 minutes later)

Thanks for replying Dr. XXXXXXX My usual diet includes normal meal courses and somehow I feel i'm not able to get everything from my diet that i require. For e.g. my daily routine would include having a glass of milk along with brown bread butter or chapati with sabzi. then during lunch again i take some chapati's with cooked vegetable and same during night. twice a week i have non veg during dinner and i take eggs on occasional basis. Also i don't actively look for fruits, if i see some then i eat else i don't bother much. So all this force me to think of starting a multivitamin course and also considering the quality of vegetables that we eat day today in metros i don't think they provide me all that they claim to be.

Answered by Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj (48 hours later)

Brief Answer: If that's what you think, take the vitamins Detailed Answer: Hey there, in all of this, I can't see that you have any actual vitamin deficiencies. But there is no harm in taking them for short periods of time. I would think that a single Becosule capsule a day before bed should be sufficient. Take that for 3 months and see how you feel. Let me know if I can help you with anything else. Vinay

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar