How To Choose A Vitamin and Mineral Supplement

Vitamin Choices

The start of a new season is the perfect time to clean outdated and unused items from your medicine cabinet. It's also the perfect time to restock your vitamin supply with some smart choices.

"The first thing you need to do is check the expiry date on any of your bottles of vitamin or mineral supplements," says registered dietitian Samara Felesky-Hunt. "The expiry date reflects the stability of the active ingredients in the product. Although it is not a health risk, it is recommended not to use products that have expired."

When purchasing vitamin supplements, making the right choice from the array of products on store shelves today can be confusing. The smart solution? Consult a health-care professional, like a doctor or your local pharmacist, for advice. This is particularly important for people taking prescription medications, as there could be potential drug interactions with some vitamins or minerals.

Surpassing the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) of vitamins and minerals, as recommended by Health Canada, is more likely to happen for people who take single supplements. The UL is the highest amount of a nutrient per day that is safe for most people to take. Intake of vitamins and minerals at levels below the UL are safe for almost all people. However, certain vitamins and minerals can be harmful when taken in high doses.

"When it comes to vitamins, more is not necessarily better," Samara warns. "Unfortunately, you cannot always trust the information on some labels, so Canadian consumers should be careful to choose a reliable, tried-and-true brand."

Independent studies have proven that Centrum's quality is number one. When tested in a research study conducted at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Alberta and also by Protegez-vous magazine, Centrum products were proven to meet quality and disintegration standards.

A multivitamin is formulated to satisfy either some or all of the typical adult daily requirements for vitamins and minerals. Many health experts agree that a daily multivitamin is convenient, safe and provides good health insurance. More information is available online at www.centrumvitamins.ca