Vitamins are natural substances that your body needs to grow, develop and function normally. The term vitamin is derived from the words vital and amine, because vitamins are required for life and were originally thought to be amines. Although not all vitamins are amines, they are organic compounds required by humans in small amounts from the diet. An organic compound is considered a vitamin if a lack of that compound in the diet results in overt symptoms of deficiency. Vitamins are contained in food; a well-balanced diet usually provides all of the vitamins required. However, there are times, such as during pregnancy, childhood, when your body needs more vitamins than usual. Doctors recommend multivitamins for people whose health conditions, dietary choices, lifestyle habits or medications impede their bodies' ability to get or absorb proper amounts of key nutrients from foods. By supplementing the diet with additional vitamins and minerals, multivitamins can be a valuable tool for those with dietary imbalances or different nutritional needs.

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Vitamins are natural substances that your body needs to grow, develop and function normally. The term vitamin is derived from the words vital and amine, because vitamins are required for life and were originally thought to be amines. Although not all vitamins are amines, they are organic compounds required by humans in small amounts from the diet. An organic compound is considered a vitamin if a lack of that compound in the diet results in overt symptoms of deficiency. Vitamins are contained in food; a well-balanced diet usually provides all of the vitamins required. However, there are times, such as during pregnancy, childhood, when your body needs more vitamins than usual. Doctors recommend multivitamins for people whose health conditions, dietary choices, lifestyle habits or medications impede their bodies' ability to get or absorb proper amounts of key nutrients from foods. By supplementing the diet with additional vitamins and minerals, multivitamins can be a valuable tool for those with dietary imbalances or different nutritional needs.

A multivitamin is a preparation intended to supplement a human diet with vitamins, dietary minerals and other nutritional elements. Such preparations are available in the form of tablets, capsules, pastilles, powders or liquids formulations. In the early 1940s, the first multivitamin-multi-mineral tablet was introduced since than thousand product were launched. Many multivitamins are formulated and/or labeled to differentiate consumer sectors e.g. prenatal, children, mature or 50+, men's , women's, diabetic, stress or athletes.

Compositional variation amongst brands and lines allows substantial consumer choices. Modern multivitamin products roughly classify into RDA (recommended daily allowance) centric multivitamins, the components of the higher potency formulas are mostly above the RDA.

Basic commercial multivitamin supplement products often contain the following ingredients: vitamin C, B1, B2, B3, B6, folic acid, B12, B5 (pantothenate), H (biton), A, D3, E, K1, beta-carotine, minerals such as potassium, selenomethionine, borate, zinc, calcium, magnesium, chroimium, mangenase, molybdenum, iodide, iron. Some high potency and more complex formulas may include additional ingredients such as other carotenes (e.g. lutein, lycopene), "near" B vitamins (inositol, choline, PABA), trimethylglycine (anhydrous betaine), vitamin K₂ as menaquinone-7, lecithin, bioflavonoids etc.

While multivitamins can be a valuable tool to correct dietary imbalances, it is worth exercising basic caution before taking them, especially if any medical conditions exist. In particular, pregnant women should generally consult their doctors before taking any multivitamins. Severe vitamin and mineral deficiencies require medical treatment and can be very difficult to treat with common over-the-counter multivitamins. Multivitamins in large quantities may pose a risk of an acute overdose, due to the toxicity of some components, principally iron.

According to the scientific researches we can state that the inadequate intake of several vitamins has been linked to the development of diseases including coronary heart disease, cancer, and osteoporosis.

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