When Should You Take Your Vitamins?

Real Simple Magazine had an article on the best time of days to do certain activities. I’ll be featuring some of these suggestions over the next few weeks.

When is the best time of day to take a multivitamin? The answer: breakfast. I think I have vaguely heard something like this, but here are some convincing reasons why:

“Taking your supplements with a meal is important because ‘vitamins are components of food, and whether water soluble or fat soluble, they are absorbed better with food,’ says Shari Lieberman, Ph.D., a New York City and Hillsboro Beach, Florida, nutrition scientist and a coauthor of The Real Vitamin & Mineral Book (Avery Publishing, $13, www.amazon.com). ‘Also, as with many other pills, you’re more likely to get queasy if you take multivitamins on an empty stomach.’

Breakfast is the meal of choice. Because most people have it at home (whereas lunch and dinner are often eaten elsewhere), making the morning meal your time for vitamin-popping will help you stick with the habit. Another reason dinnertime may not be a good option, Lieberman adds, is that certain nutrients, including vitamin B, may keep you awake. “

Isn't that good to know?