When Is The Best Time to Take Your Vitamin Supplements?

What to take, and when?

Most people over-complicated vitamin supplementation, because they don’t know when they should take them. Luckily for you, you’ll have this post to fall back on.
 
Today, you’ll learn when is the best time to take essential nutrients such as:

  • Multivitamins 
  • Vitamin B 
  • Vitamin D 
  • Iron 
  • Magnesium 
  • Omega-3 Fatty Acid 

The Best Time to Take Your Multivitamins

People that benefit the most from taking multivitamins are:

a.    Adults – because vitamin B12, calcium and vitamin D absorption decreases with age.

b.    Vegans and vegetarians, because they are more prone to lack vitamin B12, iron, calcium, zinc, vitamin D and omega-3.

c.    Pregnant and breastfeeding women because they can lack some essential nutrients. However, they should only take a supplement after talking to their doctor because some vitamins can harm them. The same goes if you’re on medication.

Before you go out and buy the latest multivitamins, you should research which vitamins you actually need. That would largely affect when you should take it.

You should always take your multivitamins in the morning with a meal to absorb them better. However, if that causes you stomach pain, try taking them in the afternoon before you go to bed. Remember, the most important thing is to take them daily.

If you are lacking a specific nutrient, it would be best to supplement with that nutrient only. Multivitamins have a lot of vitamins in them, but you don’t necessarily need all of them. There are even some people that get a negative reaction from them, so they are certainly not for everybody.

Multivitamins are not a substitute for your diet. They are something you take if you find out that you can’t get certain nutrients from your diet.

The Best Time to Take Vitamin B

Vitamin B complex is essential to maintain your health and wellness. It impacts everything from your energy levels, your brain functions to how well your metabolism works. B vitamins also promote the growth of new red blood cells, good eyesight, hormones and cholesterol production as well as cardiovascular health.

Generally speaking, it’s safe to take several B vitamins all in once. 

We can conclude from this that the best time to take B vitamins is after you wake up due to their energy-boosting abilities. There’s also some data that suggests that taking vitamin B in the afternoon can affect your sleep.

If you want to avoid this effect, you should take your B vitamins in the morning. Preferably with a meal so you can maximise their absorption.

The Best Time to Take Vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency causes children to develop soft and weak bones, and adults misshapen bones. Also, a lack of vitamin D is linked to several diseases, such as breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer and heart problems.

There’s no proof that vitamin D deficiency can cause certain conditions but people with high levels of vitamin D face lower risk of disease.

To properly absorb calcium and also promote bone growth, your body must have enough vitamin D. Supplementing should be an effective way to get the vitamins your body needs. To maximize the absorption of vitamin D, you should take it with some fat, because it’s fat-soluble.

There’s no definitive answer when you should take it. It doesn’t interfere with your sleep patterns, so you should take it whatever time you want. Just don’t forget to eat some fat calories along.

The Best Time to Take Iron

Iron affects your body tremendously. It reduces tiredness and fatigue in your body, supports your immune system and helps the production of haemoglobin, a protein that carries the oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body.
Taking an iron supplement can be tricky because several foods actually reduce its absorption. Some of them are:

  • Whole grains
  •  Milk
  • Cheese
  • Coffee 
  • Tea

 When you take iron, you have about 3 options:

  • You can take it in the morning with vitamin C to boost its absorption.
  • Take it right after a meal.
  • Take Active Iron whatever you want, because it revolutionises absorption and it won’t cause any irritations.

The Best Time to Take Your Magnesium

Magnesium is an essential nutrient and it affects many functions such as regulating your blood pressure, supporting your immune system and helping muscle function. It plays a vital role in more than 300 enzyme reactions in your body.

A magnesium deficiency can cause tons of health problems, so you should strive to take the required levels daily.
Great sources of magnesium are foods such as:

  • Almonds
  •  Spinach
  •  Cashew nuts
 If you can’t get your magnesium through your diet, you should take a magnesium supplement. For better absorption, take magnesium with a meal. However, if you’re taking medications like antibiotics, you should first consult with your doctor, because magnesium may interfere with them.
 

The Best Time to Take Your Omega-3 Fatty Acids 

Omega-3, also known as fish oil is a vital nutrient for your body, because it reduces inflammation, improves heart health, protects your brain function, and supports proper growth. It doesn’t really matter when you take fish oil – because you’ll only experience its benefits if you’re consistent with it. You should just find a time that works for you.

Omega-3 also has some side effects such as acid reflux. In order to prevent it, you can split your daily dose into two smaller ones and then take one in the morning and one in the afternoon. 

You should keep in mind that to maximise the absorption of omega-3, you should take it with a meal that has a good source of fat. This can help you reduce the side effects as well as enhance the effectiveness of the supplement.

To wrap it up…

Vitamin supplements won’t work unless you take them daily, so the most important thing you should do is to be consistent with them. You should also talk to your doctor and see if some supplements interfere with your medications. Depending on which vitamins you take, you should get them in the morning or the afternoon.

The best thing you can do is to develop the habit of taking them. Make them a part of your morning or bedtime routine. That way, you’ll ensure that you’re consistent with your supplementation.

Leave a Comment

Our Affiliates