All you need to know about Vitamins & Supplements
What supplements should I take daily?
If you follow a well-balanced and healthy diet, every day, your body should be getting the right amount of nutrients it needs. However, ensuring you have the right amounts of each nutrient, across vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids and more, is difficult to track. And that's before you consider any restrictions, such as if you have allergies to certain foods or are following a vegan diet.
You should speak to your GP if you think you need to take daily supplements, as they can advise what you might need based on your eating habits and lifestyle. As a starting point, you can find the recommended daily amounts of vitamins and minerals in our glossaries:
Do supplements really work?
Yes, supplements really work. They supply your body with the vitamins, minerals and/or other nutrients in doses that can be absorbed by your body. It's hard to define how necessary supplements are as it will depend on your eating habits and lifestyle. However, in general, Western society has moved away from the kinds of nutritionally balanced diets that would allow us to get all the nutrients we require – hence people consider supplementation. There are times when supplements are considered a necessity, such as during pregnancy when pregnancy supplements are NHS recommended regardless of how balanced the pregnant person's diet is.
What supplements should men and women take daily?
There are some vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that are recommended for everyone to take and there are some that are needed in different amounts, typically, for men and women. This is why we have supplements for women and supplements for men that are sold separately – it's not just a marketing choice. If you aren't sure what daily supplements you should take, then speak to your GP and get their advice.
Recommended vitamin and mineral supplement brands
There are many excellent high-end nutrient, vitamin and mineral supplement brands. Some of the most popular and recommended include: