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Are One Source Vitamins for Women Safe?

There is a bewildering array of multivitamins available, including the one source (one-a-day) vitamins marketed specifically for women. Along with the difficulty in knowing which product to choose there has also more recently been worrying claims that such vitamin supplements may in fact be doing more harm than good.

Because vitamin supplements are classified as a food supplement they are not subjected to the same rigorous tests applied to drugs in the US and Canada, which leaves the consumers of one source vitamins prey to the less scrupulous companies offering these products.

Who Needs One a Day Vitamins?

The general advice from nutrition experts and various food standard agencies in several different countries including the US, Canada and the UK seems to be that multivitamins are really not necessary for individuals without health problems and who follow a balanced diet.

All of the vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients that our body needs for optimum health can all be supplied through food sources (with the exception of vitamin D which you can get by exposure to the sun).

The exceptions may be women who are breast feeding or pregnant, those with certain medical conditions linked to diet such as diabetes and strict vegans whose diet may not supply all their nutritional needs.

One Source Vitamins – Claims Made by Suppliers

There are many quite extravagant claims made by one source vitamin suppliers which include their ability to boost energy, prevent disease and help with weight loss but clinical studies suggest that none of these claims have any basis in fact. The general feeling amongst medical professionals is that multivitamins have no significant benefit in cancer or heart disease prevention, age related macular degeneration (conditions of the eye) or diseases which affect cognitive decline.

Professionals do allow however that supplements of calcium may be of some benefit to post-menopausal women including reduced fracture risk.

Are One Source Vitamins for Women Safe?

It would appear that one of the main concerns with multivitamins is that many brands contain lead contamination and some figures suggest that this may be the case with as many as 98% of the products on the market. Although none of them exceed the considered safe levels it is still something to bear in mind.

A further concern is that many one source vitamins supply doses beyond daily recommended levels. In some cases, such as with vitamin A, this can be a very real health concern especially for pregnant women where excess vitamin A is thought to be potentially harmful to the foetus. Excessive levels of iron, also potentially harmful, is yet one more concern.

The most common problem with 1 a day or one source vitamins for women is that depending on the processes used to manufacture the capsules, the body is unable to break them down sufficiently to absorb them. In addition to this, many  multivitamins tested by independent bodies simply found that the product didn’t contain the vitamins and minerals it claimed to in its ingredient list.

Both the US Pharmacopoeia and Consumer Lab can offer advice regarding the best one source vitamins to buy and those to avoid. The USP are a volunteer based, not-for-profit group whose aim is to aid the consumer in purchasing only non-harmful products. Their stamp will appear on all products which they consider safe after applying their own independent tests.

This article on woman’s one a day vitamins has been written by expert author ‘Deneice Arthurton’.