Posted on May 29, 2014 by Jenny Cromack

I get asked a lot which multivitamin should I be taking to help me reach my body composition goals? This is such a complicated question and in my opinion is often overlooked. One size does definitely not fit all when it comes to choosing your multivitamin. Before we get into which ones I think work best for different individuals let’s back track. I firmly believe that you should aim to get your vitamins and minerals from food sources wherever possible, unfortunately in this day and age it is very very hard to achieve the micronutrient amounts required. This is due to terrible soil quality, pesticides, mass farming and the fact that even fresh food frankly isn’t that fresh.

Its important to remember that you only need small amounts of the micronutrients for all the systems in the body to function correctly, consuming too much can seriously compromise your health, so always follow the recommended doses provided by the manufacturer and consult your doctor if you have any concerns.

Fat Loss And Multivitamins

Believe it or not there is a growing body of research linking multivitamins to fat loss. If the individual is lacking key vitamins or minerals the body goes into a state where it craves foods that contain what its looking for. The classic examples are people classically crave chocolate if they are low in zinc or magnesium, or sugary sweet cravings are commonly associated with low sulfur levels (commonly found in cruciferous vegetables). Obviously craving foods when your trying to create a calorie deficit is not optimal for fat loss. Here are the key tips what to look for in your multivitamin:

• Additional calcium has been shown to aid fat loss, particularly in individuals that are deficient in the mineral. This is believed to be due to its role in energy production along with the interesting fact that it helps regulate how much fat the body absorbs.
• Find one that contains choline, this is particularly important if your meat intake is low. Choline helps the liver process fat.
• The B vitamins are crucial in your supplement, that’s B2, B3, B5 and B6, if your only a reduced calorie program you may not be ingesting enough of these key vitamins, since the B vitamins play a huge role in thyroid function and metabolism there essential for the fat loss mission.
• Vitamin C is a major bonus, ensure its packing some C, this amazing vitamin has been shown to help reduce the effects of the stress hormone cortisol, which is the enemy of fat loss.
• The last key nutrient is magnesium, this is often low in western individuals  but such a key nutrient, the benefits of this amazing nutrient go beyond the scope of this blog, however it aids with sleep, energy production and helps create and anabolic environment, awesome for fat loss.

In conclusion ideally you want to get all your nutrients from food, but if you’re training hard in the gym, and eating a healthy diet taking a micro-nutrient containing the above will definitely help you achieve your goals and be that little bit healthier.