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multivitamin and minerals are probably
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one of the most common supplements on
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the market and you can get them
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everywhere from pharmacies to
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supermarkets but do you really need them
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let's talk about that
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how's it going guys my name is richie
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kirwan and today we're going to talk all
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about multivitamins what they are what
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they contain and if you actually need
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them as always i want to point out that
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i'm not telling you whether you should
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start taking a multivitamin or not
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instead i'm going to explain what they
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are and in what situations they might be
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useful so in this video we're going to
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be speaking about multivitamin and
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mineral supplements and just to save my
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voice i'll use the term multivitamin
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throughout the video so if you've ever
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taken a supplement before it's quite
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likely that you've taken a multivitamin
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because they're considered to be a good
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general all-around supplement something
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that you don't need to think a whole lot
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about right but what does a multivitamin
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actually contain well the thing is they
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can contain almost any mix of vitamins
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minerals and even other substances in
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whatever dose that the manufacturer
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wants there's no set recipe for
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multivitamin but many of them tend to
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follow some guidelines particularly the
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reference nutrient intakes if you live
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in the uk now obviously everybody is
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different and we all may have different
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requirements for different vitamins and
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minerals women for example need more
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iron than men but just to be safe rnis
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are usually set at a level to make sure
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95 of the population's nutrient needs
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are met so that people don't become
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deficient in that nutrient this is why
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many multivitamins usually contain
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enough of each nutrient to provide you
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with at least 100 of the rni if you look
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at the label of your multivitamin you'll
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usually see figures next to each
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nutrient one will be the amount of that
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nutrient which is usually written in
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milligrams mg which is one
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thousandth of a gram or micrograms which
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is like a funny-looking ug which is one
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millionth of a gram if those seem like
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small amounts they are and that's why
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vitamins and minerals are referred to as
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micronutrients because we need them in
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very small amounts protein fats and
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carbs on the other hand are called
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macronutrients because we eat them in
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much larger amounts the other value you
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see on the label will usually be a
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percentage and often it'll be 100 of the
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reference nutrient intake and that's
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pretty much what multivitamins are for
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they often have enough of some of the
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most common essential nutrients in the
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right amount to make sure you don't
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become deficient but do you actually
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need them well if you have a
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well-balanced diet with enough calories
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and you don't restrict any specific
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foods or food groups then the answer is
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you don't need a multivitamin as you'll
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hopefully be getting everything you need
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however if we look at population data in
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the uk we can see that it's actually
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pretty common for some people to not get
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enough of certain nutrients especially
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calcium iron zinc and vitamin d and
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vitamin b12 this is often down to people
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not having well-balanced diets and it
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can also be down to restrictive diets
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that eliminate entire foods and food
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groups so for example if someone doesn't
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eat red meat they might have a higher
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chance of being deficient in iron or if
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someone doesn't eat dairy produce they
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have a higher risk of being deficient in
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calcium or iodine in fact there tends to
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be a higher level of deficiencies seen
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in vegans than in the general population
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because they avoid a lot of
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nutrient-dense animal products this
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doesn't mean vegan diets are bad it just
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means that vegans should be a little bit
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more proactive about ensuring they meet
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all of their rnis another situation
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where someone can have trouble meeting
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their rni's is extended diet if someone
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reduces their food intake for an
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extended period they are going to be
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taking in fewer vitamins and minerals
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and that increases the likelihood of
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becoming deficient in something in cases
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like that for example someone planning a
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long diet like for a physique or
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bodybuilding competition taking a
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multivitamin could be a good idea to
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make sure they're getting enough of a
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wide range of nutrients and in general
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that's it if someone cuts out entire
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foods or food groups or if someone is on
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a calorie restricted diet taking a
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multivitamin might be a good safety
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valve to make sure they don't develop a
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deficiency now i also want to comment on
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two things i mentioned earlier i said
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that if someone has a balanced diet they
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probably don't need to worry about
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getting all the nutrients they need the
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one exception to that is vitamin d you
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see vitamin d is not really found in
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high amounts in any common foods so
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what's the best source well it's not a
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food source at all the best way to get
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enough vitamin d is through regular sun
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exposure this is because you can make
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vitamin d when your skin is exposed to
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sunlight unfortunately most people don't
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get near enough sun that's why
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supplementing vitamin d is a good idea
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for many people and i've done a whole
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video all about that already i also
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mentioned that most nutrients in a
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multivitamin will have 100 of the rni
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however there are one or two minerals
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that are rarely at 100 in a multivitamin
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these are calcium and magnesium this is
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because the rni for calcium is 800 to a
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thousand milligrams and the rni for
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magnesium is 300 milligrams these are
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really large amounts as far as vitamins
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and minerals go and it's just not
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possible to fit these into a single
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multivitamin capsule with all of the
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other nutrients that's why if you're
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worried about your calcium or magnesium
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intake it may be a good idea to take
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those as a separate supplement
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completely separate from them all
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together which brings me to my last
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point if you know that your diet may be
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lacking in a certain nutrient or that
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your levels of a certain mineral are low
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it might just be a better idea to
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supplement with that specific vitamin or
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mineral you may not need all the
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nutrients in a multivitamin so as that
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helps you make up your mind about taking
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a multivitamin as always if you have any
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questions let me know in the comments
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below and remember to like and subscribe
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to the my protein youtube channel for
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even more great evidence-based nutrition
