Does a multivitamin help with weight loss? | Exercise.com Learn: Your Fitness Business Resource

Does a multivitamin help with weight loss?

Tyler Spraul is the director of UX and the head trainer for Exercise.com. He has his Bachelor of Science degree in pre-medicine and is an NSCA-certified strength and conditioning specialist. He is a former All-American soccer player and still coaches soccer today. In his free time, he enjoys reading, learning, and living the dad life. He has been featured in Shape, Healthline, HuffPost, Women's...

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UPDATED: Aug 25, 2020

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  • Multivitamins won’t help you to lose weight.
  • There are some multivitamins that are marketed for weight loss that may contain some of the ingredients proven to help you lose weight, but you are better off simply going directly for products that only contain those ingredients.
  • The supplements listed by WebMD for weight loss include calcium, fiber, green tea extract and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).

This is a day and age where the obesity rate in America is higher than it’s ever been before.

Naturally, more people seem to be concerned about their health!

According to WebMD, multivitamins won’t help you to lose weight. However, there are some supplements that WebMD feels will help you to lose weight.

A couple of those supplements include vitamins, but not a multivitamin.

There are some multivitamins that are marketed for weight loss that may contain some of the ingredients proven to help you lose weight, but you are better off simply going directly for products that only contain those ingredients.

The supplements listed by WebMD for weight loss include calcium, fiber, green tea extract, and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).

However, not everyone agrees with this assessment.

All of the supplement companies that sell weight-loss multivitamins claim that their products will help you to lose weight. Of course, no supplement alone will help you drop a significant amount of weight. Diet and exercise are necessary.

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So, If I Take Supplements That Contain These Supplements Mentioned on Webmd I Can Lose Weight?

The problem with this assumption is that despite this list on WebMD, there is a lack of proof regarding the efficacy of certain vitamins and supplements. Calcium is a perfect example of this.

According to Medical News Today, the only case where calcium has been effective for weight loss is in obese women who were calcium deficient.

There doesn’t appear to be any evidence supporting the use of calcium for anything except for healthy bones and teeth. This doesn’t mean that in the future further weight loss evidence may not be revealed, but at this time this just isn’t the case.

When it comes to fiber, it is an entirely different story. Fiber helps you lose weight because it helps to suppress the appetite. There is nothing complicated about the process.

Fiber makes your stomach feel full faster. Fiber is digested slowly by your body, so that feeling of fullness lasts longer as well.

CLA and green tea extract just don’t have enough evidence supporting their use for weight loss. A lot of the information on green tea is anecdotal. As far as CLA goes, researchers are in the early stages of studies using this fatty acid.

What it boils down to is that fiber is your best bet when supplementing for weight loss. However, keep your intake is no more than 28 grams of fiber a day if you are a woman or 34 if you are a man, according to the Mayo Clinic.

This is the daily recommendation for fiber. Any more could actually cause you to gain weight, cause your bowels to stop functioning correctly, or cause the build-up of gas in the body.

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What Is It That Multivitamins Are Good For?

First of all, multivitamins aren’t for everyone. If you are someone who eats a well-balanced diet with all of the food groups, then you are probably getting all of the vitamins that you need from your food.

Since food is your best and most effective source for vitamins and minerals, this is the best way for you to get what you need.

However, in this day and age, despite the awareness of what’s healthy and what’s not, people still aren’t getting all of the vitamins and minerals that they need. It is for these folks that a multivitamin may be necessary.

As you age, your body has more difficulty absorbing nutrients from food. Once you get to the age of 60, you may need to consider a multivitamin as well.

Because getting too much of certain vitamins can prove to be unhealthy, it is important to know where you may or may not be deficient. You can use a food diary to track what you eat and determine your vitamin intake or you can visit your doctor and ask him to check your vitamin levels via a blood test.

Is One Brand of Multivitamin Better Than All the Rest?

It is virtually impossible to pinpoint the best brand of multivitamin. A major component of this is the fact that everybody has a body that reacts differently to different products. Some people swear by certain products while others get sick using the very same product.

There are some things that you can look for to ensure that you are buying a quality vitamin. For example, look for products that contain quality ingredients. Also, check the fillers and see if you know what the fillers are and what percentage of the multivitamin is made up of fillers.

You will also want to ensure that you purchase vitamins made in America. Companies that make vitamins in the U.S. must maintain their facilities and ingredients to qualify for the FDA GRAS requirements.

Of course, no supplement routine is complete without being paired with a solid exercise routine. Go PRO today for access to certified personal trainers, workout plans, and more. 

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