“I do not recommend gummy vitamins.”
The moment my children’s dentist said this my mind raced to the container of Flintstones gummy vitamins sitting in my kitchen cabinet, now feeling more like contraband than an amazing start to my children’s day. Although it occurred to me over the years that the gummy vitamins clearly resembled sugary fruit snacks, I gave them to my children diligently every morning because I believe in the power of vitamins and didn’t question the mighty moneymaking machine that is the gummy vitamin train. After all, it’s a train children happily board.
That was before my children’s dentist made his dislike for gummy vitamins known. His comment catapulted me toward realizations and epiphanies that changed my entire outlook and tune on multivitamins. As I started digging into why my dentist followed his discovery of my daughter’s cavity with his question about whether or not she took a daily multivitamin gummy, I discovered quite a few pieces of information that I wish I’d been told years ago:
- Gummy vitamins can contain seven times as much sugar as a standard multivitamin and four times as many calories.
- Epiphany: That’s why children pop gummy vitamins as if they were gummy bears.
- Gummy vitamins have a sticky, sugary texture that can slide between teeth and sit for hours.
- Epiphany: Hello, Cavities!
- Gummy vitamins often do not include a number of essential vitamins.
- Epiphany: Even when ‘complete’ is in the title, a multivitamin can be quite incomplete.
- Gummy vitamins tend to have poorer manufacturing quality than multivitamin pills, gelcaps, and tablets because some gummy manufacturers spray on the nutrients. Since vitamins are more likely to degrade in a gummy, manufacturers often spray on an extra amount.
- Epiphany: This may explain why some researchers say vitamins contain more nutrients than needed, while others claim they contain too little.
Although some gummy vitamins deserve a thumbs-up, overall there are many who say they do more harm than good. What do we do now? Do we toss in the towel and say forget it to all multivitamins? To that question, I respond with a loud and resounding no.
Recently, the Kresser Institute published a piece entitled Well Fed but Undernourished: An American Epidemic. The title alone hits the nail on the head when it comes to the conversation on the relevance and importance of multivitamins, specifically in the U.S. Just because Americans, as a whole, don’t go to bed hungry, that doesn’t mean they’re consuming the proper amount of vitamins and minerals they need each day. According to the Kresser Institute:
- 95% of adults and 98% of teens have an inadequate vitamin D intake.
- 61% of adults and 90% of teens have an inadequate magnesium intake.
- 32% of the U.S. population has an inadequate vitamin B6 intake.
And these are just a few of the stats in the Kresser Institute’s report!
Aiding the conversation of the importance of multivitamins is Harvard Health’s articulation of a key point: “Your body requires some raw materials. These include at least 30 vitamins, minerals, and dietary components that your body needs but cannot manufacture on its own in sufficient amounts.” This is a concern since vitamins help with, among other things, vision, healthy skin, bone and tooth growth, blood clotting, nerve function and maintaining a healthy immune system, nervous system, and digestion system.
Being the truth-seeker and self-help guided person I am, I combed through research and paid attention to conversations centered on vitamins and found myself at the door of a multivitamin, mineral, and amino acid supplement that the users of shout a multitude of praises: EMPowerplus Advanced.
With 34 research studies, involving 49 researchers, 15 universities, and five countries, EMPowerplus Advanced is the most studied micronutrient formula in the world. The researchers agreed that EMPowerplus Advanced can:
- Reduce or eliminate symptoms of anxiety, depression, and mood swings.
- Assist in brain function and metabolic functioning.
- Promote calmness, clarity, and focus.
- Increase energy.
- Alleviate stress.
- Boost immunity system.
- Lessen symptoms of ADD-ADHD, Autism, Bipolar, and OCD.
At first, skepticism is easy. But unlike many other multivitamins, EMPowerplus Advanced contains 16 minerals, 14 vitamins, 3 amino acids, and 3 antioxidants in one capsule. Other multivitamins also don’t commit to micronization, which is when minerals are reduced to a size your body can absorb, and not all other multivitamins maintain a high enough dose of micronutrients to sufficiently address deficiencies and promote proper metabolic functions like EMPowerplus Advanced.
The bottom line is that multivitamins are not created equal. So if you want to bet on the best horse in the multivitamin derby, I’d bet on the non-gummy, well-researched, all-natural, youth and adult recommended, clinically-proven and easily absorbed multivitamin, EMPowerplus Advanced.
Author: Evelyn Lindell
Certified Health & Wellness Coach