Neil Levin, a clinical nutritionist at NOW Foods, agrees that morning is best for multivitamins and any B vitamins. “Multivitamins tend to do best when taken earlier in the day, as the B vitamins in them might stimulate metabolism and brain function too much for a relaxing evening or before bed,” Levin says.
Multivitamin supplements are best taken in the morning with food to help promote optimal absorption. If you forget to take your multivitamin, it's perfectly fine to take your supplement in the evening before bed too.
You should take your multivitamins in the morning with a meal so you can ease absorption. However, if that causes stomach pain, try taking it before bed. Remember, the most important thing is to make them a part of your daily routine.
Supplementing vitamin B6 may improve sleep quality and duration. A 2019 study also found that taking a supplement of magnesium, melatonin, and vitamin B complex for 3 months improved sleep and helped treat insomnia.
Some people claim that it's better to take vitamins at night because your body gets food and nutrition throughout the day. They argue that taking vitamins at night will be more beneficial for your body as it will absorb the vitamins when you are asleep.
When you start taking vitamins, you should expect to experience the following benefits - your energy levels will increase, more food will be converted into energy, your short-term memory will improve, your immune system will become stronger, your muscles will become stronger, and your skin will look healthier.
If you take a multivitamin, it's probably because you want to do everything you can to protect your health. But there is still limited evidence that a daily cocktail of essential vitamins and minerals actually delivers what you expect. Most studies find no benefit from multivitamins in protecting the brain or heart.
While you do not need to take multivitamins on an empty stomach, taking a multivitamin on an empty stomach is actually fine if you wind up doing so. The caveat here, however, is that if you have a tendency to experience discomfort after any medication, you might wish to eat something first.
As this article makes clear, some multivitamins are just fine to take at night. But you'll want to make sure that your multivitamin is high quality and contains exactly what you're looking for. If your multivitamin contains magnesium, or if it's addressing certain vitamin deficiencies, it may even enhance your sleep!
However, taking a multivitamin too close to bedtime could actually interfere with your ability to fall asleep. Many vitamin formulas contain energizing ingredients that encourage your body to be alert and awake when taken too late in the day.
Generally speaking, the more severely deficient you are in a vitamin or nutrient, the faster you'll see a difference when taking supplements. However, in most cases, it takes around three to six weeks to see noticeable changes.
Try to avoid taking your vitamins with coffee or tea
So, wait an hour after your morning brew to take supplements. Caffeine-free herbal tea, on the other hand, contains fewer tannins than regular tea. This beverage may actually increase the absorption of certain minerals such as iron.
You can—but it's probably not a good idea. For some supplements, optimal absorption can depend on the time of day taken. Not only that—taking certain vitamins, minerals, or other supplements together can also reduce absorption and may result in adverse interactions, which can be harmful to your health.
Large doses of minerals can compete with each other to be absorbed. Don't use calcium, zinc, or magnesium supplements at the same time. Also, these three minerals are easier on your tummy when you take them with food, so if your doctor recommends them, have them at different meals or snacks.
Magnesium assists in the activation of vitamin D, which helps regulate calcium and phosphate homeostasis to influence the growth and maintenance of bones. All of the enzymes that metabolize vitamin D seem to require magnesium, which acts as a cofactor in the enzymatic reactions in the liver and kidneys.
The role it plays in so many bodily functions and the staggering amount of people who are deficient in it makes Vitamin D the most important vitamin for your body overall, and there's a good chance that you are not getting enough.
High-dose vitamins can turn your pee a bright, almost neon yellow color. The most common culprit is vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, which is found in most multivitamins. The neon color in pee is just a harmless sign that you're taking more than your body needs, and the excess is mixing with your pee.
This can include those who are on a low-calorie diet or avoid certain foods like vegetarians and vegans. Those who have impaired absorption due to conditions like Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease or a history of gastric bypass surgery should also speak to their doctor.
Can you really "feel" your multivitamin working? The short answer is that some people might feel a difference, and some people might not. That said, you can feel good about the fact that you're helping fill the nutrient gaps in your diet and investing in your health with the right multivitamin.
Feel better: Thanks in large part to the Vitamin B family, taking a multivitamin is associated with a boost in energy levels, feelings of well being, as well as a decrease in stress and anxiety. This alone, makes it worth staying compliant with a multivitamin routine.
Generally, people take multivitamins daily for an extended period. However, the period depends entirely on the user. Some people take the supplements for a few days, while others may take them for years. For multivitamins to be fully absorbed into your system, one should take them with food.