Doctors recommend that infants, the elderly and everyone in between including menopausal women, pregnant women, young adults and children take various mineral and vitamin supplements for a variety of reasons. Minerals such as iron, calcium and copper as well as vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K that we get from our food all help strengthen our bones, teeth and immune system. These nutrients also boost energy and improve overall health. But when is the best time to take vitamins and how to take them?

Best Time of Day to Take Vitamins

1. Take in the Morning

The ideal time to take vitamins is during the morning as this is when your body does not have nutrients and requires additional energy in order to rise and then function. You should usually take supplements and vitamins within 30 minutes of consuming a healthy breakfast, especially one that has high quantities of calcium, protein and fruit. It helps ensure that your body will process it because it will be both broken down then digested with the food. When you take your vitamin during the morning, you can also ensure that its nutrients will be effectively used during the day.

Some vitamins like B12 and C can have stimulating effects. If your body is sensitive to the stimulation, you should take care not to take them close to your bedtime as this could cause a sleep disturbance. You should talk with your doctor before starting any vitamins.

2. Take with Meals

There are many different types of vitamins as well as multivitamins and therefore there are limitless combinations. The best time to consume various vitamins and minerals depends on the function and nature of these nutrients. Because most minerals and vitamins are simple nutritional elements that can be found in our normal food, they are absorbed and digested best when taken with a meal. That is why most doctors recommend you take your vitamin supplements during a meal.

3. Take Regularly

Vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K are all fat soluble but B Vitamin complex as well as vitamin C aren’t, being water soluble instead. These water soluble vitamins are regularly eliminated from your body through excretory products such as urine while the fat soluble vitamins will remain stored in your body. Because of this, you must take water soluble vitamins regularly. In order to have proper digestion and absorption as well as a continuous vitamin flow, doctors recommend you split up your vitamins when taking them.

4. Take Multiple Pills Together

Many people rely on taking only one multivitamin a day but some people will take several different pills or supplements each day. If that is true for you, you must know the science involved in vitamin breakdown in order to apply the knowledge. For example, some vitamins will work well if they are mixed but others may impede the performance. An example is magnesium and vitamin D which both help with calcium absorption and therefore should be consumed together. However, because calcium reduces your body’s ability to absorb iron, calcium supplements should never be taken with either iron supplements or daily vitamins with high iron levels. Because vitamin C can help your body absorb iron, having orange juice or taking a vitamin C supplement with your multivitamin can be a good idea. It is essential to space out the pills or supplements that work against each other if you want to achieve a healthy and well-balanced diet.

Tips for Taking Vitamins and Minerals

1. Be Careful with Calcium and Iron Interaction

Even though doctors usually recommend taking your supplements with your meals, you must also consider how vitamins can interfere with the absorption or function of other vitamins. People who take calcium for osteoporosis and iron for anemia should consume iron during the morning and their calcium at another time. Otherwise, they will fight for absorption in your alimentary tract. If you take multiple minerals at once, you may develop stomach acid imbalance.

2. Be Careful with Vitamin K and Vitamin E Interaction

Some other vitamins can also react negatively with other nutrients. For example, large quantities of vitamin E can interfere with the ability of your body to utilize vitamin K. This vitamin is essential to ensure proper blood clotting so this interaction could increase the risk of bleeding.

3. Take Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid Together

If you take folic acid supplements by themselves, they may end up masking anemia that is caused by a deficiency of vitamin B12 and this can lead to nerve damage which cannot be reversed. Vitamin B12 and folic acid can be taken together for best results.

4. Take Notes of RDAs

The RDAs (recommended daily allowances) of each mineral and vitamin are generally found in the appropriate amounts in multivitamins but you should still read the label. You may decide you prefer a vitamin with a lower-potency, especially if your diet is already full of nutrient rich foods such as vegetables, fruit and complex carbohydrates. You can use mypyramid.gov and enter your dietary consumption to discover if you need to adjust your diet to meet the RDAs.