When is the best time to take vitamins? Can you take vitamins on an empty stomach? Is it better to take vitamins at night? We answer these questions below!
Happy New Year! We love this time of year because we get to reflect on the past year while looking forward to the future. Many people make New Year’s resolutions or goals at this time because it can feel very motivating. If one of your goals is to be healthier, then you’re likely looking at your nutrition. Below we answer some important questions about supplements that may help you succeed in your new year’s goals.
Taking Supplements? Timing is Key.
Many people who take supplements to support a healthy lifestyle don’t know that the time of day you take your vitamins can affect how efficiently your body utilizes them.
When is the best time to take vitamin C? If you’re supporting your immune health during the cold months, vitamin C is a big supporting player. Vitamin C is water-soluble, so it’s better absorbed when taken with water. This also applies to B vitamins, which are also water-soluble.
Don’t forget to regularly consume these types of vitamins; they don’t get stored in the body, so replenishing them regularly is essential for optimal health.
Can you take vitamins on an empty stomach? It depends on the supplement. If it’s a water-soluble vitamin, you can take it on an empty stomach as long as you drink a glass of water with it. But fat-soluble vitamins are not absorbed well without eating, so they may cause an upset stomach.
Is it better to take vitamins at night? It depends. B vitamins can be energizing, so you don’t want to take these late in the day because they can disrupt your sleep. We also tend to eat fatty foods for dinner in the evening, so it’s a great time to take fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E and K because they’ll be better absorbed.
When is the best time of day to take multivitamins? Multivitamins are a little tricky because they contain both water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins. Rodolfo Perez-Gallardo, MD suggests taking your multivitamins with food and drinking water as well. However, Dr. Perez-Gallardo recommends taking water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins separately, to improve absorption. That’s really what we want to do, otherwise, there isn’t much of a point in taking our vitamins if we don’t think they’ll absorb fully.
Healthy New Year’s Goals
Now that you know a little bit more about how timing is key when it comes to taking your supplements, you can go and plan other ways to succeed in your new year’s goals. We even created a supplement dictionary of our most-used terms in case you’re wanting to learn more about the supplements you take.
Got any more questions for us about health, nutrition, motherhood, or supplements? Send them our way @kalvitamins!
