If you are one of the millions of people taking vitamins and minerals in the form of supplement tablets or capsules every day, do you ever wonder whether or not your body is actually benefiting from the routine?

In this article read some of the information you probably need to consider when you are looking to get the most from your vitamin or mineral supplements.

If you take a multivitamin:

• Take the daily multivitamin/mineral supplement with a meal to help break down the tablet at the same time your food shreds

• The pill will dissolve more thoroughly and be more easily absorbed into the system later on

• Having food in the stomach may also help reduce the gastric irritation that some people have with vitamin supplements

• Don't spend a lot of money on a daily multivitamin

• Supplements marked "timed release" are not worth the extra expense

• Be sure to look for a designation of USP on the label.  This assures you that the product has been lab-tested to disintegrate and dissolve so its ingredients can properly absorb throughout your body as well as ensuring its potency and purity meet established standards

If you take single vitamins or minerals such as Iron Supplements and Calcium Supplements:

• Women who take iron supplements or multivitamin/mineral pills that contain iron, should take them at mealtime or with a glass of juice to help the body extract more iron from the supplement

• If you are a tea or coffee drinker it is best to avoid these two beverages when taking an iron supplement or eating an iron-rich meal.  It is best to wait about an hour and an half before drinking tea or coffee.

• If you take an iron-containing multi and a separate calcium supplement, you can avoid potential interactions by taking the pills at different meals especially if your daily iron intake is a greater concern.  Taking the two supplements at different times will enhance the benefits of both supplements and decrease potential for interactions.

• If calcium is more your priority than iron and you take high doses of calcium the most important thing to remember is to divide the doses.  For example, if you take 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day, you should divide the doses in half, one in the morning and one in the evening to get the best absorption.  The body may not be able to absorb larger doses all at once.  It is also a good idea to choose a calcium supplement that contains vitamin D, without which calcium cannot be efficiently absorbed.  People, who live in areas where they don't get enough sun such as Boston or Chicago, should take a Vitamin D supplement that has 200 to 400 units of D per 1,000 milligrams of calcium.  If you are past 60 it may be especially important to take calcium with meals to avoid atrophic gastritis or you can take calcium citrate instead of calcium carbonate.  The negatives to taking calcium citrate are that it is more expensive and you will need to take two or three tablets to get the same 500 to 600 milligrams of calcium found in one calcium carbonate tablet.

What about chelated minerals?

• These are available at many health food stores; however, they are not worth the extra money you will pay for promises of superiority.    The term chelated does not mean the mineral is more absorbable or more available to the body than the unchelated form.  It only describes a type of chemical bond that can occur when a mineral is attached to certain compounds.

Source:  When (and How) to Take Your Vitamin and Mineral Supplements. Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter [serial online]. March 1999;17(2):4. Available from: MAS Ultra - School Edition, Ipswich, MA. Accessed August 20, 2008.

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