A lot of readers have been asking me lately what kind of vitamins my kids take and the answer is…none at all. Vitamins aren’t necessarily harmful or going to cause medical problems when they’re used properly, but it’s not something we personally choose to deal with (or pay for). First of all, we pretty much rely on our steady diet of whole foods (including lots of variety and plenty of produce) when it comes to getting all the vitamins and minerals we need. No one does a better job than nature when it comes to creating the perfect delivery package for the nutrients your body needs. Secondly, in Michael Pollan’s book In Defense of Food he indicates that those who take supplements may be “healthier for reasons having nothing to do with the pills” because in controlled studies most supplements “don’t appear to work.”
Now a lot of doctors and nutritionists do recommend taking a daily multi-vitamin, and, since you should of course take your doctor’s advice over mine, I want to share some of the better vitamin brands that are out there. My doctor recently recommended that I take a short term Vitamin D booster, based on my most recent blood results, and when I was out shopping for this vitamin I couldn’t believe how many of them are full of junky additives! Vitamins, especially for kids, are oftentimes full of artificial sweeteners, colorings, and flavorings. I’ve found that there is a bigger – and better – selection if you shop at places like Amazon.com as well as stores that are dedicated to vitamins and health like Swanson Health Products or your local Vitamin Shoppe. I’ll warn you now to just forget Target when it comes to shopping for vitamins because the choices there are pretty slim.
So for all those that feel better about taking (or giving their kids) a regular multivitamin, here are a few “cleaner” options:
- For children: Yummi Bears Organics Gummy Multivitamin
– - For adults: Dr. Mercola Whole Food Multivitamin PLUS
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- For adults or children (dosage varies): Doc’s Best Ultra-Pure Naturals Multi-Plus Optimal Vitamins-Minerals-Antioxidants
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Remember that with most anything you get what you pay for, and this is especially true for vitamins! Do you use vitamins or not? What kind of vitamins do you recommend?
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Hi.
Would you recommend anything from this list?
Thanks
Hi Susan, those that are listed would be Lisa’s recommendations for cleaner options. – Nicole
I have given my 7 year old a DHA supplement for years now. We’ve been giving him Smarty Pants mulit-vitamin with Omega 3.
We take Juice Plus and have been much healthier! It’s not a vitamin or supplement,
What about Floradix? As far as I can tell it would be considered a “whole food” vitamin/supplement.
Hi there. Since vitamins aren’t really our thing, we do not familiarize ourselves with details about various brands.
I look for 2 things in vitamins for my kids: Iron and Iodine (important for brain growth and many other things). But I’ve been struggling with finding vitamins that have those two things and taste good to my kids!
My grandkids take gummies that are just concentrated fruits and vegetables, backed by research and NSF certified. Many benefits. G
Nobody in my family is taking multivitamins, since the supplement industry in the USA is not backed in science. Instead of synthetic multivitamins I have found a way to get more fruits and vegetables in our diet in the form of a capsule or a gummy and this is backed by 35 research studies! it has changed my families health picture!
Hi Annette, We do the same also. So grateful for whole foods and the security and confidence from the 35+ medical research studies. All documenting importance of a lifestyle flooded with a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. It truly is so simple to help bride the gaps for all ages. ;-)
Here too!
As a dietitian and a researcher, I would not typically recommend that children need multivitamins. As a Canadian, I would suggest that parents and children both use vitamin D (like D-drops!) during the 8 months of the year we do not get enough sun (not a the proper angle) to manufacture vitamin D in our skin.
If your diet is healthy and your children eat a variety of foods, in truth they do not require a supplement. However, if you are raising your child as a vegetarian or vegan then you will need to choose foods that are fortified with iron and vitamin B12 as the iron in plant foods is harder to absorb and B12 is only found naturally in animal-based foods. you may also need to give them an omega-3 supplement containing DHA/EPA as well to promote healthy brain development.