It’s no secret that our bodies require a host of different vitamins and minerals to function at their best.
Its effects can be subtle—but that doesn’t mean it’s not working.
If you want to optimize your nutrition for healthy hair, look no further than this list from integrative physician and skin care specialist Jessica Maloh, N.D.
And you’re probably not getting enough of it
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Molly Knudsen, M.S., RDN is a Registered Dietician Nutritionist with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition from Texas Christian University and a master’s in nutrition interventions, communication, and behavior change from Tufts University. She lives in Newport Beach, California, and enjoys connecting people to the food they eat and how it influences health and wellbeing.
Longevity is a buzzy topic. Maximizing your life and maintaining well-being along the way is a no-brainer—we all want to feel as good as we can throughout our lives. But how can we tell if our efforts are actually improving health span, optimizing life span, or even making a difference in our day-to-day, for that matter?*
Most adults aren’t meeting all of our micronutrient (think vitamin and mineral) recommendations1. And women under 50—more specifically those who haven’t reached menopause—are particularly prone to falling short on key nutrients vital to their reproductive years and longevity. This is true even for those eating a well-balanced diet.
Don’t get cut short by your multi.
Hannah Frye is the Assistant Beauty & Health Editor at mindbodygreen. She has a B.S. in journalism and a minor in women’s, gender, and queer studies from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Hannah has written across lifestyle sections including skin care, women’s health, mental health, sustainability, social media trends, and more. She previously interned for Almost 30, a top-rated health and wellness podcast. In her current role, Hannah reports on the latest beauty trends and innovations, women’s health research, brain health news, and plenty more.
Hannah Frye
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Toss your gummy vitamins.
Carleigh Ferrante
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The thing is this: Sticking to new habits is hard, and breaking old ones can be even tougher. “In general, we like to talk to people about making baby steps and building on them,” says Hensrud. This goes for all goals (health, career, etc.)—it’s important not to overwhelm yourself from the start.
Nutritionist and New York Times bestselling author JJ Virgin, CNS, BCHN, said it best in her recent mbg article: “Well-being doesn’t happen overnight. When you tackle everything at once, you’re most likely going to get burned out and ditch the entire process.” (Read Virgin’s tips for creating a personalized wellness routine that’s actually sustainable here.)
“One of the mistakes people make is they are too rigid in their approach to changing their diet,” notes Hensrud. “They go ‘on’ a diet, which means they’re gonna go ‘off’ a diet.” When you’re trying to facilitate long-term change, this mindset simply doesn’t work.
Jennifer Welper, wellness executive chef at the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program and author of Cook Smart, Eat Well, likes to promote sustainability and consistency to make healthy cooking (and eating) more effective. “Truly, it’s just about creating the environment for you to be successful,” she says.
Morgan Chamberlain
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If you haven’t heard about this incredible phytonutrient before, you’re in for a treat! Found in grapes, wine, chocolate, and key botanicals (e.g., Japanese knotweed extract), researchers believe that resveratrol is the secret behind the French Paradox: the juxtaposition of the standard French diet, which is high in saturated fats (*cough cough* butter) and red wine, and the relatively low rates of heart-health concerns among the French population.
The scientific explanation for the French Paradox? Like vitamin C, resveratrol helps regulate healthy blood pressure levels5 and support vascular and endothelial function6.* Additionally, resveratrol has antioxidant properties that inhibit vascular oxidative stress7 and help maintain a healthy antioxidant balance.*
Although resveratrol is extremely beneficial to our cardiovascular and whole-body health, its bioavailability is limited.* To help boost resveratrol’s bioactivity and retention in mbg’s ultimate multivitamin+ formula, we’ve added its buddy phytonutrient, piperine, so the two can work together to promote longevity and overall well-being.*
Morgan Chamberlain
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While a well-balanced diet should always be prioritized, a multi can serve as a valuable tool to fill the nutritional gaps that we may struggle to meet on a daily basis and help us avoid deficiencies.
Renowned nutrition researcher and professor of nutrition science at Purdue University, Connie Weaver, Ph.D., says supplements can be helpful for those trying to meet their daily nutritional needs—especially seniors. “Dietary supplement use is associated with increased micronutrient intake, decreased inadequacies, and lower risk of nutrient deficiencies, with greater benefits seen among older adults and those with lower socioeconomic status,”* she previously told mindbodygreen.
In fact, a 2017 scientific review published in Nutrients demonstrated that consistent use of multivitamins can effectively address deficiencies1 in key vitamins and minerals, including those identified as underconsumed by the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Aging poses additional challenges in maintaining sufficient levels of certain micronutrients (like minerals calcium, magnesium, and potassium and vitamins B6, B12, C, and D) and antioxidants (e.g., glutathione)—which makes redox balance all the more challenging to achieve. Add decreasing hormone levels (i.e., testosterone and estrogen) into the mix and you’ve got a whole slew of things to think about to maintain optimal health.
Incorporating a comprehensive multivitamin containing essential vitamins, minerals, bioactives, and botanicals can help promote overall well-being, hormonal equilibrium, and even longevity.* The truth is, taking a daily multi is a simple and easy way to support whole-body health as you age.* Below, see the best multivitamins for seniors that today’s market has to offer.
Morgan Chamberlain
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The act of “fairy dusting” in supplements is quite common
Hannah Frye
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If you’re at all interested in supporting your longevity efforts (like we are), you may have heard that having shorter telomeres is a sign of biological aging—and thus, having longer telomeres is a sign of living a longer life. These little chromosomal caps help protect our DNA from damage, and measuring the rate of their decay over time can give us an accurate prediction for lifespan.
While we don’t quite know if telomere shortening is the cause of death or simply a byproduct of it, one thing is for certain—telomere length is, in fact, associated with biological aging. And as it turns out, having longer telomeres is linked to a reduced risk of dementia as well.
Morgan Chamberlain
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For this research, the study authors point out that AITDs are the most prevalent organ-specific autoimmune disorders. And given that vitamin B12 plays a critical role in proper functioning of the immune system, they wanted to look closer at the correlation between vitamin B12 deficiency and AITD.
In an observational study of 306 people, the participants were divided between those who were and were not deficient in B12, as well as those who had an AITD and those who did not.
Upon the researcher’s analysis of the data, they observed that patients with AITDs had “significantly lower” levels of vitamin B12 compared to those without. Further, those who were deficient in B12 also had significantly higher mean values of anti-TPO.
TPO, or thyroid peroxidase, is an enzyme normally found in the thyroid gland. With TPO antibodies, the body has a harder time keeping the thyroid functioning optimally.
“The vitamin B12 level correlates significantly to AITD,” the study authors conclude, adding, “The concentration of vitamin B12 should therefore be determined in patients with autoimmune thyroiditis as a diagnostic test with high sensitivity and good specificity.”
Sarah Regan
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When your body has enough vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, your skin literally shines. It’s why experts consider antioxidant serums (like vitamin C) the gold standard of healthy aging treatments—but if you want to really amp up your body’s natural antioxidant defenses, you’ll want to ingest antioxidants, too.
“Even if it’s just a greens [powder] or a multivitamin—get a good one and stay consistent. Biggest difference,” says Leite. A multivitamin, in particular, can help you meet the daily dietary requirements of vitamins and minerals that are not easily consumed from diet alone. Just make sure you choose a high-quality formula, ideally one that contains antioxidant compounds from plants: Here’s a list of vetted options, all backed by a nutrition Ph.D.
Jamie Schneider
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Watch out for these multivitamin red flags!
Morgan Chamberlain
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