Integrative Medicine supports your daily self-care habits by giving you more direction in your overall health. We’ll look into habits that can change how you feel about yourself.
Multivitamins are taken for many reasons, but how do you know you’re getting high-quality nutrients? There is no standard multivitamin, but a huge variety created for different needs and different stages of life (1). Let’s discuss ways to find the best multivitamin for you.
Please speak to a doctor before starting multivitamins. Some vitamins interact with certain medications or conditions, so it is important to find personalized care and treatment plans. At Salus Integrative Medicine, we provide whole-body wellness testing and recommendations for vitamin intake, with a focus on improving overall health.
Different Ages, Different Needs
Many people may have gaps in their diet or struggle with malabsorption. While you should aim to get most of your nutrients from food, you might need a multivitamin or nutrient supplement if you are (1, 2):
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Over 50
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Are or could become pregnant (or for your breastfed baby or toddler)
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Vomiting frequently
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Avoiding certain foods or have a poor diet
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Diagnosed with genetic mutations or conditions that affect absorption
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Someone who had surgery on the small intestine
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Drink alcohol frequently (Vitamin C and B Complex deficiency risk)
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Living somewhere with lower sun exposure or have darker skin (Vitamin D deficiency risk)
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On certain medications that affect absorption
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Deficient shown through testing
Typically, nutrients your body doesn’t use are simply passed through your system, meaning most supplements rarely cause major side-effects (1). Most of your vitamins and minerals come from your diet and are absorbed through the small intestine. When looking for a supplement, find one that includes the recommended daily allowance and bears the USP (United States Pharmacopeia) seal of approval on the label, as that ensures the supplement’s ingredients are accurate to what is listed on the bottle (2). Testing from an outside source is incredibly important to keep supplements accurate and useful.
Quality multivitamins provide the nutrients you need and the ability to absorb them. If your body still lacks certain nutrients with a healthy diet, it might be due to a struggle with absorption, leaving you with unaddressed deficiencies even while taking larger doses of a vitamin (2).
Choosing a Vitamin B Complex
Activated B Vitamins are a type of supplement made to improve absorption. They bypass the body’s need to transform typical supplements into usable vitamins, and keep them stable enough to get into the bloodstream (3). A Vitamin B Complex supplement includes thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), biotin (B7), folate (B9), and cobalamin (B12) (5).
Folate (B9) is particularly unstable, which can make it difficult for people to absorb (3). It impacts the development of neural tube defects during pregnancy, ongoing brain function, and MTHFR genetic mutations (3). Folic acid, which turns into folate, is typically a large component of prenatal vitamins, and often added to cereals, white rice, and all-purpose flour to help provide this important nutrient to the general population.
“Although naturally occurring folates are found in various foods, such as green leafy vegetables, sprouts, fruits, brewer’s yeast, and animal liver (Figure 1), it’s exceedingly difficult for most people to get the daily recommended amount of folate through food alone” (3).
If the body turns folic acid into folate too slowly, it may cause a build up in the blood. Extra folic acid can mask a folate deficiency, and impair immune and neural functioning, potentially leading to chronic diseases (3). Activated folate, or Methylfolate, supplements may absorb better, and be more effective than folic acid supplements, with fewer side effects (3).
Personalized Recommendations
A health care provider will be able to provide personalized information for your nutrient needs. Taking supplements on a full stomach, pairing them with healthy fats, or other lifestyle changes can help improve absorption without changing the type or dose of a supplement. Symptoms can indicate a variety of possible treatments based on underlying issues, and only get more complicated with overlapping conditions and multiple medications. Medical testing provides a clearer view of your body’s unique needs and the ways in which you can support your overall health and wellness.
Contact Dr. Lisa Mainier for personalized, whole-body, wellness plans based on your patient history, genetic makeup, nutritional standing, environmental exposures, previous treatments, and lifestyle issues. She can provide a custom-made supplement plan that supports dietary needs and better absorption, as well as other self-care habits, while managing complicated conditions.
Sources:
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Multivitamins-do you need one? And which one should you choose? (n.d.). Retrieved July 30, 2026, from https://ods.od.nih.gov/pubs/Scoop%20Winter%202022.pdf
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Should I Take a Daily Multivitamin? (2012). In The Nutrition Source.https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/multivitamin/
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Carboni L. (2022). Active Folate Versus Folic Acid: The Role of 5-MTHF (Methylfolate) in Human Health. Integrative medicine (Encinitas, Calif.), 21(3), 36–41.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9380836/#sec1-2