How do I Choose the Best Vegan Multivitamin?

Choosing the best vegan multivitamin will depend greatly on your diet, physical makeup and activity level. A person wondering how to choose the best vegan multivitamin is advised to find one that addresses the most common vitamin deficiencies in vegans, which usually include calcium, iodine and iron. Other factors such as gender and age may have an effect on which vitamin is best for you.

Veganism may make you vulnerable to deficiencies in vitamins or minerals mostly present in animal products. This is especially true for those who are new to the vegan diet and have not developed meal plans to address all of these areas. A person new to a vegan regimen should, ideally, choose a multivitamin that contains the recommended daily dose of each of these nutrients until a diet plan is in place that naturally incorporates them. Other nutrients that vegans may be lacking are omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D and zinc.

An important warning to those choosing a vegan multivitamin is to carefully read the ingredient listing to ensure that the product does not contain gelatin, as this is a product derived from animal tissues. Common vitamin types which have gelatin are gel capsules. You may also wish to look for milk solids in the list and avoid vitamins which contain them. When in doubt, a nutritionist or health food store employee may be able to tell you which multivitamins are free of animal by-products.

In some cases, it is not possible to get all of the vitamin and mineral requirements from one supplement. Omega-3, for example, may be difficult to find in most daily vitamins. To make the search easier and ensure your body gets everything it needs, you may need to adopt a combination of two or three different vitamins taken daily.

After the establishment of a well-rounded food regimen, a vegan multivitamin may still play an important role in maintaining health. All of the dietary requirements for vitamins can usually be met through the consumption of plants and time in the sun. A busy life, however, can make it difficult to get the right vitamins and nutrients. This is the point at which choosing the best vegan multivitamin becomes tailored to the individual. Someone who consistently eats foods rich in iron will want a multivitamin that does not contain as much iron but instead has other vitamins or minerals he does not get an adequate intake of on a regular basis.