Written by Chelsea DeColle, CNP

When you walk into a store searching for a multivitamin or probiotic do you find yourself facing a sea (or wall) of options and feel clueless on where to start or what to choose? You are not alone! The process of choosing a quality multivitamin or probiotic can be one filled with confusion and overwhelm for many people. We are all unique, just like our fingerprints, and have slightly different needs based on our individual health and nutritional requirements so there is no one size fits all approach to our health. Before you reach for a supplement bottle, take a step back and consider a few things.

You might be saying “Do I really need a multivitamin or a probiotic? I already eat well and get plenty of fruits and veggies and fermented foods!”  While this may be a true statement for some people, most aren’t eating the recommended amounts of fruits and veggies or fermented foods EVERY day. And add to that the fact that most of the population is deficient in many vitamins and minerals due to sourcing of our food¹ (nutrient depletion shortly after food is harvested) and poor soil quality² resulting in our food sources being less nutrient rich.

There’s one more factor to consider when talking about the nutrients we need, and it’s directly connected to our digestion! You may have heard the old saying “You are what you eat”, but a more accurate and updated version is “You are NOT what you eat, you are what you ABSORB”. We need optimal gut health for proper absorption and utilization of the nutrients in our food. So, we must take care of our intestinal health for our bodies to properly use the nutrients from the food we eat and the supplements like multivitamins that we take.

Using a probiotic daily is a great way to support our gastrointestinal system. Probiotics provide beneficial bacteria that help to keep our guts happy! Probiotics don’t work alone though, as non-digestible carbohydrates known as prebiotics help to feed the beneficial bacteria in probiotics as well as the good bacteria living in our gut. Probiotics also help with the creation of important nutrients in the gut like certain B vitamins. So, as you can see, supporting gut health with a probiotic and probiotic is really the first step in nutrient support.

Now ask yourself a few questions before selecting a multivitamin and probiotic:

1. Who is the supplement for? Is it yourself, someone else or the whole family?
2. What is their age?
3. What is their gender? (For specific gender based needs)
4. What is their specific activity level or health needs?

All of these questions (and answers) can help you to decide what supplement may be best for you or the person you are shopping for!

Progressive’s new and improved Perfect Probiotic formulas cover all your gut health needs, from basic, everyday support with the Perfect Probiotic 30 billion formula to ultra strength 120 billion formula for additional intestinal support. The probiotic lineup includes probiotic formulas for children in powder and a new chewable format as well as probiotics formulas specific for women and for individuals over 50 years.

Progressive has a whole range of multivitamin formulas to provide all the essential vitamins and minerals needed to support your body based on your specific age, gender, and lifestyle. Whether you are looking for a children’s multivitamin, a 50 plus formula or something for an active lifestyle, Progressive has a multivitamin to support your specific needs.

For all your unique needs, Progressive multivitamins and probiotics are here to support you, help to fill in the nutrient gaps that may be missing from our diet and food sources and help take your health to the next level.

References:

1. D. J. Favell. A comparison of the vitamin C content of fresh and frozen vegetables. Unilever Research, Colworth Laboratory, Sharnbrook, Bedford, UK, accessed at: http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/datastore/608-97.pdf
2. Thomas D. A study on the mineral depletion of the foods available to us as a nation over the period 1940 to 1991. Nutr Health 2003; 17(2): 85-115
3. Goodman B. E. (2010). Insights into digestion and absorption of major nutrients in humans. Advances in physiology education, 34(2), 44–53. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00094.2009