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Well, I've had the one-a-day type multivitamin habit drilled into me since childhood half a century ago, and I've made it a habit to stockpile multis in my prep supplies, rotating them out as they approached their expiration dates.
If this Prevention article update is to be believed, I've been wasting my money:
"If you're like many Prevention readers, multivitamins have been a key part of your daily routine since... well, forever.
...The sea change is supported by two massive studies. The first, a review of 63 randomized, controlled trials (the gold standard research method) on multivitamins, published by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, found that multis did nothing to prevent cancer or heart disease in most populations (the exception being developing countries where nutritional deficiencies are widespread). In the second paper, published last year, scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center followed 160,000 postmenopausal women for about 10 years. The researchers' conclusion: "Multivitamins failed to prevent cancer, heart disease, and all causes of death for all women. Whether the women were healthy eaters or ate very few fruits and vegetables, the results were the same," says the lead author, Marian Neuhouser, PhD."
I know, it's tempting to just throw up your hands and say, screw it. (I just stopped calcium supplementation a couple of months ago from all the new data suggesting I've been inviting a premature heart attack in doing so.)
I'm not going to be surprised at all when I check the headlines tomorrow and see a new study about how healthy cigarette-smoking is! I'll start stocking those instead!
In the meantime, I'm ditching the habit and saving those funds for other purchases but also taking note of the following recommendations by the report:
1. 50 years old or younger
Vegetables: 2 ½ c
Fruits: 1 ½ c
Milk/dairy: 3 c
Meat/beans: 5 oz
Grains: 6 oz (half whole grains)
No Vitamin D: Up to 800-1,000 IU daily (less if you live in a year-round warm climate and get 15 minutes of unblocked sun every day). Get it from a separate pill or with calcium.
Omega-3: Up to 1,000 mg daily if you don't reliably eat fish such as salmon 2 or 3 times a week.
Calcium: Up to 1,000 mg total from food and supplements. If you don't eat 3 servings of milk/dairy, take the equivalent in a supplement that contains vitamin D.
2. 51 years old or older
Vegetables: 2 c
Fruits: 1 ½ c
Milk/dairy: 3 c
Meat/beans: 5 oz
Grains: 5 oz (half whole grains)
No. But adults over 50 may absorb less of certain nutrients, such as vitamin B12, from food. If you don't eat a lot of dairy or meat, talk with your doctor about B12 supplements.
Vitamin D: Up to 800-1,000 IU daily (less if you live in a year-round warm climate and get 15 minutes of unblocked sun every day). Get it from a separate pill or with calcium.
Omega-3: Up to 1,000 mg daily if you don't reliably eat fish like salmon 2 or 3 times a week.
Calcium: Up to 1,200 mg total from food and supplements. If you don't eat 3 servings of milk/dairy, take the equivalent in a supplement that contains vitamin D.
Vitamin B12: 25-50 mcg if your doctor recommends it.
There's other categories (Pregnant, Vegetarian, Dieting, Bone Health) on their chart:
I think the point of keeping multi-vitamins as stored items along with food stocks and medications is to make up for what cannot be obtained as far as balanced food groups. Remember, we stock for emergencies.
Most people would agree that it is better to obtain vitamins and minerals though the daily diet as opposed to multi-vitamins. However, when some of those fresh fruits and veggies are no longer available from the local grocery, that vitamin supplements still have a role to play.
Multivitamins were always a shotgun approach. Even basic reading during the 1970s was enough to convince me the idea was silly. Just the smell of the cheap brew used to make the B vitamins told me not to take these. I couldn't even convince a dog or cat that they were something to eat.
Vitamin deficiency is nowhere near the problem of mineral deficiency anyway. Many of the fields used for growing crops have been kept growing by use of fertilization, and the natural minerals in the soil (especially trace elements) depleted. Taking a multimineral that doesn't contain iron from time to time is a decent way to provide the basics to the body.
I have a very unpopular philosophy on vitamins (as in pills and supplements). I have nothing against them, per se, but I wonder how our species survived without them for millions of years... and that is in spite of the fact that prior to our modern era, nowhere in the world did mankind get the kind of "balanced diet" that we are told we need today. Yet, man came through. Truthfully, how often did someone living in, say, northern Europe get fresh fruit or vegetables? Rarely. And only within season for those types that were even available. They certainly didn't have vitamin pills to "make up for it," either.
I think the human body is capable of thriving on a more selective diet than we give it credit for. Look at the historical situation. For instance, in the far north... almost all meat. Colder continental climate... almost all grains. Mid latitudes... vegetables, fruits, and berries in the summer, meat in winter. Tropics... more fruit or fish. Point is, a "balanced diet" is a very recent concept that we are told we "must" have to be healthy. I don't buy it. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just saying I think the human body can adapt to more than we give it credit for.
I think the human body is capable of thriving on a more selective diet than we give it credit for.
It certainly is!
But consider 2 points: 1) Human lifespans have been increasing from about 60 years to mid-70's, and we all know folks in their 80's and even 90's. It is true that better sanitation and medical breakthroughs have contributed to this, but to say that better nutrition has played no part would be silly. 2) In a real SHTF scenario, we likely will not be eating the 'natural' diet that diverse peoples of the world have adapted to. We'll be lucky to have whatever we have stored, and since no one will announce a catastrophe in advance, we may not have all we planned to have put aside for food.
That said, I do not take vitamin pills on a daily basis. I do take 500 mg Vitamin C daily, as I find I do much better on that than the paltry 60 mg the gubmint recommends. Perhaps I just need more of it. I also have a few bottles of Flintstones w/o iron put aside. Why Flintstones? I have trouble swallowing pills of any kind, and these are chewable. Besides, they are made for kids who are growing, so they likely have plenty of stuff that adults need also (in fact, the bottles give adult requirement %).
Always remember that our food is grown with chemical fertilizers and when processed enough to put by for storage, it has lost even more nutrition. In a SHTF situation, we will all be under tremendous stress, and may have to do more work ("exercise") than we do now. In fact, I'm sure of it. For the money, a few bottles of Flintstones and Vitamin C are cheap insurance. They don't go bad that fast.
Lots of folks I know who eat big salads and plenty of fruit look pale and have low energy levels compared to mine. Who knows? It could all be genetic!
I keep multivitamins (with minerals included ) in my stash just to prevent serious deficiency-related illnesses like rickets and scurvy, etc. Especially because most of our food stored up for emergencies is non-perishable, dried, dehydrated, canned, etc, it will have lower nutritional value than the fresh--or fresher--food we now eat daily.
In normal times, I take my vitamins because I know my diet isn't optimal, and even when eating well, I tend to be a little anemic at times. But after the "poop" hits the fan, and I'm living on my stashed food, I don't want to become too weak to function from vitamin and mineral deficiencies. And if you read about the progression of scurvy, it's pretty horrible.
More government baloney or it is cheese. You need the vitamins that you don't get from food you eat. Since just about all is GMO - you need to follow the stone age diet, which means you need little or no dairy and more meat, Vit C-D-E and go outside into the sunshine every morning.
How much money does Prevention get from pharma company adverts?
More government baloney or it is cheese. You need the vitamins that you don't get from food you eat. Since just about all is GMO - you need to follow the stone age diet, which means you need little or no dairy and more meat, Vit C-D-E and go outside into the sunshine every morning.
How much money does Prevention get from pharma company adverts?
I have to agree with you. I get my vitamin levels checked regularly since undergoing gastric bypass surgery and my levels BEFORE taking multivitamins were horrible compared to what they are now after taking multivitamins for a year and a half. They DO work and they ARE essential to proper nutrition.
Most people are deficient in Trace Minerals and especially Magnesium since most food is devoid of minerals these days. Most people are also deficient in Vit D and 5000 mgs per day is what many people can take. Good old Vitamin C with bioflavenoids and Vit E are wonderful anti-oxidants. You can't go wrong stocking up on these. Colloidal Silver is a medicine chest in a bottle. If I could only take one supplement/natural medicine it would be Colloidal Silver.
Also everyone should have the reference Healthy Healing by Dr. Linda Rector Paige N.D. PhD. Her book has been a reference of health food store owners across the nation since the 1970's. Following her advice is a great way to avoid drugs and surgery for today's common chronic and degenerative diseases afflicting so many. Here's a link to her website for some great articles to get you started. Health Information & Articles - HealthyHealing.com
Of course there are lots of great books out there but this is a wonderful one (if you could only have one). There are similar fantastic references worth their weight in gold for pets too. I wouldn't be without Anitra Frazier's The New Natural Cat (or any of her more recent books), as long as I have a cat.
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I'll start stocking those instead! 
