You skipped your multivitamin.
You didn’t forget. You did it on purpose, because who wants to swallow those big stinky horse pills every single day?
Why not try gummy vitamins?
Sugary chewable vitamins such as Flintstones have been the norm for kids for years.
Now the booming multibillion-dollar supplement industry wants adults to think of their vitamins, and even fish oil supplements, as tasty treats, too.
But how can a beige smelly multivitamin pill be turned into an equally nutritious candy?
Answer: It can’t.
Gummy vitamins for kids and adults do not contain all the same vitamins and minerals as their pill-form counterparts.
And they usually cost twice as much.
When comparing the popular Vitafusion Multi Vites adult gummy vitamins sold at local Costco stores with Centrum tablets, Dr. Cheryl Beighle, medical director of integrative services for the Providence Regional Cancer Partnership, found major deficiencies in the gummy disks.
“A lot of the vitamins taste nasty, so they leave stuff out. There’s about half of the major nutrients and they’re missing almost all the minerals,” Beighle said. “They just have a lot less.”
Indeed, Multi Vites do not contain calcium, iron, phosphorous, iodine, magnesium, zinc, potassium and other ingredients found in Centrum tablets, also sold by Costco.
They do not contain vitamin K either.
That might be a good thing for consumers, said David Tsung, a pharmacist at the Providence Physician Group North Everett clinic.
Tsung said vitamin K and iron are likely absent from gummy vitamin ingredients for safety reasons.
People who are taking blood-thinning medications should not take vitamin K supplements. And iron should not be consumed in high doses either.
Gummy vitamins taste so good, Tsung said, there is a higher risk people could take more than the recommended dosage.
“You can’t tell it’s a drug,” he said. “My concern is: Can any person, kids and adults, be done with two?”
Though excess amounts of many vitamins such as vitamin C and B are easily expelled in the urine, so-called fat-soluble vitamins — such as A, D, E and K — are stored in fat tissues, which can be a problem with any kind of overdosing, Tsung said.
“They are not going anywhere,” he said. “You body will use it, but your body will only use a little.”
Gummy vitamins, when taken as directed, do offer some essential nutrients. Multi Vites contain more B-6 and B-12 than the Centrum pills. They also contain ingredients such as lutein, an antioxidant.
Tsung said patients should to talk to their doctors about what kind of vitamins they should take, if any.
“Healthy diet is more important,” he said. “Most Americans are so eagerly taking that magic pill.”
Beighle said people who hate to swallow pills can seek out alternatives to gummies, such as powdered vitamins and minerals that can be added to smoothies.
Whatever vitamin you choose to take, read the label first, Beighle said: “Know what you’re getting.”
Resources
Costco: Compare easy-to-read vitamin ingredient labels for a variety of multivitamins under the health and beauty section of www.costco.com.
Flintstones: Compare Flintstones Complete chewable tablets vs. Flintstones gummies at www.flintstonesvitamins.com.
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