How to build a good multi-supplement

(Part 1)

The retail health industry in NZ supplies some excellent herbal remedies for specific health problems. Two of my favourites are a NZ made DMannose product for persistent UTI and a US made product that is excellent for men with benign prostate enlargement.

However multi- style supplements need a complete re-think by manufacturers. Often they are filled with nutrients that we do not need in the quantities included, yet have insufficient levels of the nutrients that we really do need.

Most products that include a mixture of vitamins are labelled as multi vitamins. Unfortunately the nutrients we really need are minerals and botanical antioxidants. Even with true multi-vitamins you often see them filled with inexpensive B vitamins at levels that are higher than we need but at the same time have insufficient vitamin E and Vitamin D which we really do need. This is why I refer to my product as a multi-nutritional supplement because while it is a full multi-vitamin, it is also a full multi-mineral and multiantioxidant.

Most multi’s are promoted as a ‘1 a day’ formula. This may sound great to the consumer but here is a fact: a good multi that includes meaningful minerals and botanical antioxidants cannot fit in a single capsule or tablet. My multi needs 2 capsules daily because the minerals take up 60% of the capsules. Likewise, botanical antioxidants such as grape seed extract (OPC) take up a lot of capsule space.

My advice is that we should ignore any marketing hype and go straight to the fine print. Most importantly it should have all the trace minerals. Ideally it should have the maximum daily allowance for selenium and zinc; two essential minerals that are critical for health.

John Arts (B.Soc.Sci, Dip Tch, Adv.Dip.Nut.Med) is a nutritional medicine practitioner and founder of Abundant Health Ltd. For questions or advice contact John on 0800 423559 or email john@abundant.co.nz. Join his all new newsletter at www.abundant.co.nz.