Food provides the best source of nutrients for your body. Chemical processing of food and the time it takes items to reach your dinner table cause the loss of nutrients. Dr. Andrew Weil, director of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona, Tucson, recommends taking multivitamins as insurance for gaps in your diet. You can select the best multivitamin for you by reviewing the bottle's nutrition label.
Instructions
1. Look for supplement facts on the back of the multivitamin container. You'll find all you need to know about your multivitamin on this small label.
2. Identify the serving size. Two to three tablets usually constitute a serving of multivitamins. Take note of the number of servings per container.
3. Look for the amount per serving section beneath "serving size." Across from amount per serving, locate value (% DV). This information represents the percentage of your recommended daily intake this item provides. An item listing 1% DV means that you will need to get 99% of this nutrient from another food source.
4. Locate the calories of your multivitamin. Most multivitamins contain very few calories.
5. Locate the carbohydrates, fiber and protein content of your multivitamin, listed beneath the calories. Locate the grams of each nutrient in the middle column and percent daily value in the far right column.
6. Read the individual vitamins found in your multivitamin under "protein." In the middle column, you will find I.U. or International Units (a unit of measure for some vitamins). The column to the right of I.U. is percent daily value.
7. At the end of all listed vitamins, locate the other ingredients section. This section contains additives essential to production.
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