Hustle culture has become the norm, barriers between work and home blurred.

This one line explains how our lives have gotten busier than before. Whether it's sitting continuously for hours or working around the house for hours, in every case, it's become increasingly difficult to keep up with meals. As a result, our eating habits have also been compromised to a great extent. Overworking blues, increased stress and skipping of meals has reduced the quality of our lives. In such a suboptimal scenario, our body's digestion and absorption abilities can get impaired. So a question arises - Are our diets always enough?

In an ideal scenario, yes.

Yet, our lifestyle is far from an ideal one.

Our lifestyle is only one of the 5 research-backed reasons why multivitamins have become the need of the hour. So in today’s blog, let us run you through the same!

5 Reasons Why Multivitamins Are The Need Of The Hour:

1. Poor Lifestyle

According to a survey by Franchise India, 34% of the people eat out two to three times a week. The survey also mentioned that the greatest factor we use to buy products is convenience.

Both these findings reflect our increased consumption of processed foods. Therefore, in a state with no time at hand, our diets have become increasingly stripped of micronutrients. [1]

2. Vegan & Vegetarian Diets

Vegetarianism is a healthy eating pattern. However, people having a plant-based diet require extra support to meet certain vitamins and minerals. For eg, Vitamin D, Iron, B vitamins, Zinc etc. 

3. Restricted Diets

Diets which limit certain food groups such as ketogenic diet, paleo diet or intermittent fasting, can lead to micronutrient deficiencies. This is due to a reduced intake and variety of foods consumed. 

It’s not just about following a particular diet, but having a poor appetite can also lead to consuming less food than needed by your body. [2]

4. Older age

As we age, there are several changes that occur in our body. These affect our ability to extract valuable nutrients from the food we ingest.
Here are the changes that take place in our body with age, there’s:

a. Less Digestion & Absorption:

b. Lowered Food Intake: 

There is a decreased sense of thirst and hunger as hunger hormones decrease. This affects the appetite and makes it more difficult to meet the nutrient needs.

c. Increased Nutrient Needs: 

On the other hand, where intake and absorption has gone down, need for certain nutrients shoot up. Skin becomes thinner and so, the ability to synthesize Vitamin D reduces. This affects calcium uptake and so, bone health also goes down.

5. Micronutrient Deficiencies

In certain situations, it might get more difficult to dodge nutrient deficiencies. These are situations when the needs are increased beyond the RDA for a normal, healthy adult. For example, research shows that micronutrient deficiencies worsen during pregnancy due to increased nutritional needs.
Your needs will also be increased if any of the following applies to you:

• Breastfeeding
• Prolonged Stress
• Chronic Disease
• Disorders like Crohn’s Disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Alcohol Consumption
• Smoking

Takeaway:

Certain conditions increase the chances of nutritional gaps more than otherwise. Moreover, our habits can also pave the way for nutritional deficiencies. Therefore, while multivitamins are no way a replacement for a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, they can help reduce the likelihood of more problems in the future while we continue to work on improving our lifestyle daily.

Keep Striving for Health!