According to some sources, the jury is still out on whether we need to supplement with a multivitamin.
However, the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control have both put out statements that due to the state of our food supply and the environment we live in, it is not probable that we are getting the nutrients we need just from our food.
Of course most of us get what we need to survive, supplements are required to meet our nutritional requirements to thrive. So for me and my family, taking a multivitamin is our first step to fill in the nutritional gaps in our diet.
I realized a big problem when it comes to multi vitamins the other day when I was at Costco. There are way too many choices on the shelves of a big box store (and nearly endless options if you look on Amazon).
Which do you pick? Why do you pick it? Is price your number one factor in consideration?
There are actually many factors you should be considering when making decisions about which supplements to take. And I bet there is one that you haven’t ever thought about so we are going to dive into the topic of One a Day vitamins here today.
Only one vitamin actually bears the name, but all of the options I saw on the Costco shelves are to be taken once a day. Although it does make it easy to take, most people don’t realize there is a problem with this formulation.
The reason . . . chronobiology.
Basically, the world is full of daily rhythms and life moves to the beat of the clock. Our biological clocks impose structure that enables us to feel, look, and perform optimally.
For example, Blood pressure and body temperature rise and fall throughout the day. Cortisol rises in the morning to get us out of bed and declines throughout the day, allowing melatonin to increase and help us rest well at night. The liver performs it’s cleansing process between 10 pm and 2 am when it starts to release glucose, causing blood sugars to rise between 4 am and 6 am.
These are all examples of “circadian” rhythms, meaning they repeat every 24 hours.In order to optimize this process of chronobiology we have to implement chrononutrition.
This means consuming nutrients at times of the day when they are most helpful to meet your body’s energy requires as well as specific nutrients required by certain body systems at specific cycles of the day.
Getting exactly what our body needs, exactly when our body will use it allows for better control of energy metabolism and optimally expressing the genes associated with sugar and fat metabolism. When our body isn’t able to do this properly we end up with no energy, metabolic disease (like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes), and generally a disruption in our health and vitality.
So how do we do this?
We need to use a vitamin that is specifically designed (backed by science) in a split dose so that you get the nutrients you need in the morning and then the nutrients you need in the evening in order to best meet your body’s needs on a 24-hour basis.
But don’t be fooled! Many vitamins come in a split dose without consideration of chrononutrition. They simply divide the dose between morning and evening in order to decrease the number of pills that have to be taken at one time.
Let’s review . . .
Chrononutrition is the practical application of chronobiology indicating when the body needs specific nutrients to maximize performance and optimize health. In order to take advantage of this, we use a nutritional supplement that gives us a split dose of nutrition. This respects our bodies natural rhythm and is a safety net for our ultimate nutritional needs; supplying the right nutrient, unique to us as individuals, at the right time of day.
To find out exactly what your body needs and when it needs it, request a Free Discovery Session with Me – the Peak Potential Health Coach. As a doctor of physical therapy and certified nutrition specialist, I am an expert in getting the body to move and perform optimally. This single Free session can get you on the path to supplementing your body to optimize how you feel, look, and perform. Click the link below to request your consult.
