Multivitamins are popular.
They’re likely the most popular supplement category ever.
The global multivitamin capsules and tablets market grew from $20.28 billion in 2022 to $22.38 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3%.
It’s big business.
But, is it a business with a holistic framework?
Definitely not.
In this article, I’ll make the case that multivitamins are a waste of money and can even cause worsened health over time.
The Two Different Supplementation Approaches
There are fundamentally two different ways you can think about and use supplements.
The Sniper Approach: This involves targeting your nutritional problem. It’s highly accurate and solely depends on your level of education. This actually involves strategy and is effective for healing chronic ailments and nutritional gaps.
The Shotgun Approach: This involves you throwing shit at the wall. 99% of people fall into this category because it involves no education and little thought. You’re told it’s good for you, the marketing looks clean and so you swipe your card. This is not a strategy.
The difference between the two is a certain threshold of education and expertise.
You also accrue more risk with the shotgun approach because you stand to worsen vitamin and nutrient deficiencies by taking in synthetic vitamins in unnecessarily large quantities.
The first rule of systems thinking is a reckless intervention backfires.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Do you know why you’re taking a multivitamin?
Are you aware of the difference between synthetic vitamins and ones made true to nature?
Do you know if the zinc or B12, for example, is in the correct form?
Are they added in the correct dosages?
Have you gotten blood/hair & mineral testing to know what you specifically need?
Do you know what time you should be taking certain vitamins in supplemental form?
Are you supporting a company that just looks good on paper rather than the truly committed?
This space is a rabbit hole.
You can do more metabolic damage by recklessly taking a multivitamin (especially for years on end). Let’s cover a few popular examples.
Nature Made Multi
I mean look at this laundry list of synthetic ingredients.
The Vitamin D3 is horrendously low.
The Vitamins B12 is in the wrong form (cyanocobalamin).
Magnesium is in the worst form (Oxide).
Zinc is in the worst form (Oxide).
Calcium is unnecessary and poses extra risk.
For brevity sake, you get my point.
Athletic Greens AG1
They have SOME better vitamin & mineral forms in their product.
But again.. why do you need a tome of ingredients in one formula?
Why are you taking adaptogens every single day?
It’s too much and poses more risk to the consumer.
At the very least, it’s a waste of money.
Centrum Adults
I put this one in here for the sake of a good laugh.
They don’t even specify what forms of vitamins make up their formula which is probably the biggest red flag you can find on a supplement bottle.
Amazon Basics Multivitamin
Of course, I have to make fun of the multivitamin gummies.
It’s candy people. They load it up with sugar, use sub-par ingredients and slap a “multivitamin” label onto the package.
I’m not a fan of the multivitamin shotgun approach to using supplements. It’s not sustainable and shows that you need more education in this realm.
Plus, it’s better for you as a consumer because you get to spend less money and gain more benefit from companies that have strong values and go to far lengths to make sure their products are excellent.
You’ve seen me recommend companies like Cymbiotika, BiOptimizers and Activation Products for good reason. Even if you tried to poke holes in their quality and manufacturing process, you couldn’t. They know what they’re doing and experts in this field can tell straight off the bat they’re legit.
Much love,
Zaid
Okay … great article. The question of the day is this: How do I know if I need supplements or not? Is there some type of lab test that can tell me whether I’m deficient in vitamins or minerals?