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eXtreme Weight Loss Centers recommend that every person trying to lose weight, should be on a Multi-vitamin/mineral supplement. The one you choose, should be the right one for you. Your choice should depend on your needs, medical history, and laboratory evaluation. Our Medical Director has evaluated several formulations and brands.

If you have no problems in your or your family's medical history, male or post_menopausal female, then a basic multi-vitamin/mineral is for you.

If you are a female, who is still having your monthly periods, or were told that you are anemic and need additional iron, then a multi-vitamin/mineral with iron is for you.

What are “multiples?” One-per-day multiples focus primarily on B-complex vitamins, with vitamin A and vitamin D sometimes being high and other times being low potency. The rest of the formula, including vitamins C and E and the minerals, tend to be low potency. It does not take much of some of the minerals—for example, copper, zinc and iron—to offer 100126703700r more of what people normally require.

When you read a label for a one-per-day multiple, evaluate it as primarily a B-complex with added A and D along with low potencies of most minerals except copper, zinc and iron.

How many tablets or capsules are required? Since one-per-day formulas are hard to balance with adequate minerals and the key vitamin C and vitamin E, it is usually better to take multiples that suggest 2-6 capsules or tablets a day. In general, it takes about six tablets or capsules to fit all that is in the one-per-day plus 800-1,000 mg of calcium, 350-500 mg of magnesium, and a reasonable amount of C (300-1,000 mg) and E (200-400 IU).

With two to six per-day multiples, the dose should be spread out over an entire day—instead of taking them all at one sitting. It is easy to increase or decrease the amount of vitamins and minerals by taking more or fewer of the multiple.

Which is better—capsule or tablet? Multiples are available as a powder inside a hard-shell pull-apart capsule, as a liquid inside a soft-gelatin capsule, or as a tablet.

Most multiples have all the ingredients mixed together. Sometimes the B vitamins react with the rest of the ingredients in the capsule or tablet. This reaction is sped up whenever there is moisture or heat. This reaction can cause the B vitamins to “bleed” through the tablet or capsule discoloring it and also making the multiple “smell.” While the multiple is still safe and effective, the smell is off-putting and usually not very well tolerated. Liquid multiples in a soft-gel capsule—or tablets or capsules that are kept dry and cool—don’t have this problem.

Many people find capsules easier to swallow. This is often a function of size. Capsules are usually not as large as a tablet.

Some people prefer vegetarian multiples. While some capsules are made from vegetarian sources, most come from animal gelatin. Vegetarians need to carefully read the label to insure they are getting a vegetarian product.

One concern people have with tablets is whether they will break down. Properly made tablets and capsules will both dissolve readily in the stomach, however, some are so “hard-pressed”, that they do not adequately breakdown for everyone. If you do not feel that your multi-vitamin is working for you, try a different formulation. You might also try the water test, by dropping one of your tablets into a glass of water. If it has not broken down within 30 minutes, then it may not be breaking down inside of you.

Timed release? Some multiples are in time-released form. The theory is that if the vitamins and minerals can be slowly released into the body over a period of time, it is better than releasing all the nutrients at once. Except for work done on Vitamin C—some of which showed time-released C was better absorbed than non-time-released—research has been lacking, so it is still not certain whether this is a good idea or not. Some doctors think time releasing may make some of the nutrients unavailable—by the time the nutrient is released, it may have moved too far down the digestive tract to be absorbed efficiently. Others think that for the water-soluble nutrients, such as vitamin C and the B vitamins, time-released products may be a good idea.

Do the ingredients fight with each other? Another area of controversy is whether all the nutrients in a multiple wouldn’t be better utilized if they were taken separately. While it is true that certain nutrients compete with each other for absorption, this is also the case when the nutrients are supplied in food. It is known, for example, that magnesium, zinc, and calcium compete; copper and zinc also compete. However, the body is designed to cope with this problem and taking many different pills at different times is awkward and unnecessary.

How about chewables? Unfortunately, multiples do not taste very good. In order to make chewable multiples palatable, whether for children or adults, some compromises must be made. First, bad-tasting ingredients (such as iron) must be reduced or eliminated. Second, the rest of the ingredients must be masked with a sweetener.

Unless an artificial sweetener like aspartame (Nutri-Sweet) or saccharine is used, the only sweeteners available are sugars. No matter their source (sucrose in white table sugar or fructose from fruit), sugar is sugar, and it would be preferable to not have it in a dietary supplement.

Some chewables, such as vitamin C, contain more sugar than any other ingredient. In such products, the sweetener should be listed as the first ingredient, but often isn’t. This means care needs to be exercised when reading labels about chewable vitamins. If it tastes sweet, it contains sugar or a synthetic sweetener.

When should I take my multiple? The best time to take vitamins or minerals—with the exception of amino acids—is with meals. Multiples taken in between meals often cause stomach upset and are likely not as well absorbed.

Does a typical diet provide enough vitamins and minerals? According to nutrition experts, the average Western diet contains too much fat and too little fiber. The combination of low fiber and highly refined carbohydrates and fat contributes to an increased risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Even conventional medical authorities believe that the average Western diet is not ideal, since it is linked to poor health. A good diet should consist of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and (for non-vegetarians) nonfat dairy products and fish.

Changes to the human diet affecting nutritional requirements: People do not eat the same foods their great-grandparents ate, and these dietary changes might affect nutrient requirements.

Some foods were not available in Europe or Asia until the discovery of the New World. Before 1492, there were no potatoes in Ireland, no tomatoes in Italy, and no eggplant or green peppers in England. All these foods are New World crops. Other foods, such as rice and soy, are also relatively new to Europeans.

Another recent phenomena is that modern foods are generally picked before they are ripe. Ripening increases the nutrient content of the food, so diets based on unripened foods may be lacking in some nutrients.

Many of today’s foods are processed with extra ingredients compared to food in the past. An example is a loaf of bread, which 100 years ago was prepared with only wheat, water, butter, baker’s yeast, and a sweetener to help the yeast rise. Today, a modern loaf of bread may contain more than 100 ingredients, including preservatives, coloring agents, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and chemical residues from various packaging and cleaning procedures. These multiple ingredients may complicate digestion and increase the risk of allergic reaction. Certain additives to the food chain have increased the need for certain vitamins and minerals. An example of this is the hydrazine residues in foods resulting from the fungicides used by farmers. The fungicides, along with nutrients from the soil, are absorbed by plants. Hydrazine compounds compete with and increase the body’s need for vitamin B6.

Plants do not always need the same nutrients as people. For example, plants do not require selenium, iodine, or chromium to thrive. But if people are deprived of selenium, they can develop certain heart muscle problems and have an increased risk of cancer; if deprived of iodine, people can develop goiters; and if deprived of chromium, they can develop blood sugar problems.

People today do not eat the same quantities of quality food their ancestors ate (and in general, people do not do as much work). For example, if people require the amount of beta-carotene available in two pounds of carotene-containing food, but now only eat two single carrots, then they are risking getting less than optimal amounts of beta-carotene.

Even the American Medical Association, a long-time opponent of supplements, have finally come out in support of supplementation.

Supplements do not endanger health: The few cases of vitamin toxicity— involving a handful of people taking extremely high dosages—do exist, but they are extremely rare. In most cases, any side effects caused by nutritional supplements are alleviated when the dosage of the supplement in question is reduced or discontinued.

How much is “enough” for vitamins and minerals? Supplement labels indicate what percentage of the recommended amount for each nutrient is provided in the supplement. These recommended amounts for nutrients continue to be debated by scientists. An example is vitamin C. While small amounts (such as 60 mg per day) prevent scurvy, it may not be the optimal amount for the body’s functions.

Finally, it is important to remember that supplements should be used as additions to an already healthful diet—not as antidotes for years of poor eating habits. If used properly, there is strong scientific evidence that supplements optimize health.

Retail costs listed on this page are for comparison purposes only. Discounted prices available on most products.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

The information presented on these pages is based on scientifically based research and current medical knowledge. Many of the supplements mentioned on these pages have been used to treat diseases for hundreds or thousands of years. The medical community is just beginning to research natural treatments. As new information develops, the information on these pages will be updated. Whenever possible, several sources for each supplement will be listed. The manufacturers mentioned within, have presented evidence that they have independent studies demonstrating standardization of potency, purity, and activity for that product. Some of the products presented are processed by Pharmanex.

The vitamins and supplements produced by Twin Labs can be purchased through local health food stores or on-line through VitaCost or WalMart.

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