From improved eye sight to improvements in memory and mood, multivitamins come with a host of benefits. Read on for 7 benefits of taking a multivitamin.

Are you having trouble with your memory? Feeling moody? Is your vision worse than it used to be? If your answer is yes, you could benefit from taking multivitamins. Multivitamins have been around since the 1940s. They are the most popular dietary supplement in the world and known to help improve your mood, brain health, eyesight, and other system functions.

They've become a household staple in many countries around the globe. But do they work? In this post, you'll discover the benefits of taking a multivitamin. Get ready for a deep dive on the advantages of multivitamins.

What Are Multivitamins?
Multivitamins (MVI's) are a dietary supplement packed with a combination of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients used to support better health. Most people take them to replace nutrition they're missing in their daily diet. Stores sell multivitamins in various forms: capsules, pills, liquids, and powders. You can even inject some of them into your body.

Whether you walk into a New Zealand Pharmacy, a supermarket in the United States, or a drug store in many other countries, you're likely to find at least one shelf dedicated to multivitamins.

Multivitamin Purposes and Types
You can find multivitamins for specific purposes, such as muscle building, bodybuilding, for kidney disease, skin and hair care, and for a variety of ages and lifestyles. Here are some of the vitamins and minerals in multivitamins:

Vitamin A
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Vitamin E
Vitamin K
Here are seven of the many benefits multivitamins provide.

1. Better Brain Function
One of the benefits of taking a multivitamin daily is that it can improve brain function and enhance mental health. Many physicians believe multivitamins have a positive effect on memory in older adults. Multivitamins may help improve your mood and decrease the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. It can make people feel more alert and improve a person's well-being.

2. Prevent Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies
Multivitamin supplements can prevent mineral and vitamin deficiencies that occur when we don't get enough of these nutrients in our daily diets. These micronutrient deficiencies may cause health conditions such as pellagra, fatigue, bone loss, anemia, and constipation. But, fortunately, VMI's can fill in nutrition gaps in our diets and prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies so we have improved health. Lacking Micronutrients from Specific Diets

Often individuals on particular diets can lack certain nutrients that the body needs. For example, individuals on vegetarian and vegan diets can be short of micronutrients such as vitamin B12, zinc, iron, and calcium when they don't eat meats, fish, and poultry. Those on special diets can still get these missing vitamins and minerals if they take a multivitamin every day.

3. Helps Fetal Development During Pregnancy
Nutrients play a critical role in fetal growth and development when a woman is pregnant. Getting the proper vitamins and minerals during pregnancy is critical to a baby's development. Some doctors believe that taking a daily multivitamin will lower the risk of birth defects. Some of the vitamins and minerals needed during pregnancy include calcium for better bone growth, iron for healthy blood, folate for neural tube development, and iodine for the thyroid. Multivitamins can have significant positive health effects during pregnancy for both the mother and baby.

4. May Help Heart Health
The vitamins and minerals contained in multivitamins may improve heart health. While there is much debate on this subject, one can't argue that MVI's contain helpful heart nutrients. Nutrients in multivitamins can lower blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, and subdue inflammation.  They can also lower the risk of getting a heart attack and prevent heart disease.

5. Enhances Eye Health
Vitamins and minerals found in multivitamins can support eye health. They can also help treat macular degeneration. This condition occurs in older adults and can cause vision loss or even blindness. While multivitamins are not a cure for macular degeneration, they can slow down the progression of this age-related disease. Another benefit of multivitamins is the reduction of cataract symptoms, a disorder that causes vision loss in elderly adults.

6. Maintains Strong Bones  
When you age, it's typical to lose bone density. This increases the risk of bone fractures and developing other bone-related health conditions, such as osteoporosis. Even when you get older, multivitamins can provide some of the critical minerals and vitamins your system needs to develop and maintain bone strength. Vitamin D, Calcium, Magnesium, and Phosphorous

Two of the vitamins found in MVI's that improve bone health include vitamin D and calcium. When taken together, they can minimize the risk of getting bone fractures. If you're a woman over the age of 50, consider taking a multivitamin that contains not only calcium and vitamin D, but phosphorous and magnesium too. This combination of vitamins and minerals not only helps bone health, but it will minimize the risk of developing osteoporosis, a common condition in aging women.

7. Helps Children Grow and Develop 
Multivitamins can provide children many of the micronutrients they need for healthy growth and development. They can help provide many micronutrients necessary for promoting proper growth and development in children. This is especially important for children who may not have their nutritional needs met during meals.

In a global study, researchers concluded that 1/3 of the children in the world had a Vitamin A deficiency. According to the report, not getting enough Vitamin A is the number one cause of child blindness. Taking a multivitamin containing Vitamin A can help prevent this deficiency, as well as deficiencies in Vitamins D and K.

Now you can see the benefits of taking a multivitamin for people of all ages. From children to elderly adults, MVI's help the body from head to toe. Check out some of the other articles in our blog for more information on living your best life!