New Years Resolutions: Taking a Multivitamin

Not eating properly and not getting essential nutrients can leave you vulnerable to colds, flus and all manner of agues, not to mention feeling very run down. To boost your immune system in January, in addition to trying to cut down on the junk, drinking more water and eating better (which we know loads of you are already doing), you could think about taking a multi-vitamin too. But why would you need to? Well, while you should try and get all the vitamins and minerals your body needs from your diet, realistically that can be pretty hard.

What often happens when you diet is you ditch the high-fat stuff and eat low fat foods - which of course is great for weight-loss. But that often means leaving dairy products out altogether on account of the calorie factor. We need calcium in our diets though - particularly women, and especially if you plan to have children at any point soon. We also need folic acid, and while that's found in dark leafy greens like broccoli, kale and cabbage, you should be taking quite a lot of it, if again, you plan to have a sprog.

So this is where multi-vitamins can help. They typically contain vitamins A, B Complex & C, selenium, iron, zinc, folic acid and a whole host of other minerals. You do need to be careful with them though - as they typically contain 100% of the recommended daily allowance of most vitamins and minerals, be watchful when taking other supplements with them. Some vitamins, for example, A, can lead to liver problems if taken in too high a dose. And they're not a cure-all for a crap diet either. They don't contain fibre, for example, so you need to be eating that on a daily basis.

You'll easily get yourself a pack of multivitamins in chemists, healthfood shops and the supermarket. Good brands to try are Multibionta and Centrum.