Multivitamins For Teenagers — All You Need To Know

Why do we need to consider multivitamins for teenagers? During the teenage years, our body undergoes a lot of transformations and demands all the essential nutrients. If kids don’t get adequate nutrients through a daily diet, they will not have normal and healthy growth. This is the stage where we need to look for the best multivitamins for teenage growth.

Planning the Diet for Teenagers

It is best to start with the basic rules of a healthy, varied, and balanced diet. You can follow the following basic rules:

1. Follow the five-a-day rule for your fruits and vegetables. 
2. Eating whole grain, high fibre, and starchy carbohydrates.
3. Going for healthy protein sources like pulses, eggs, fish and lean meat.
4. Having low-fat dairy products.
5. Drinking plenty of water.
6. Cutting back on saturated fats, salt, and sugar.

If you follow the above rules, it would mean you get all the desired nutrients. Go for multivitamins if the diet does not suffice. 

What are the Best Multivitamins for Teenage Growth 

Teenagers, too, need the same vitamins and minerals as anybody else. But some nutrients are essential for teenagers when they are growing and going through puberty. Therefore, when choosing multivitamins, make sure the following nutrients are present:

1. Iron 

One of the vital minerals for teenage girls is Iron. Since periods are heavy and irregular during teenage for some girls, most of them need iron supplementation in their diet to avoid anaemia. This will show up through symptoms like tiredness or lack of energy, shortness of breath, heart palpitations (noticeable heartbeats), and pale skin. Iron is essential in making red blood cells that carry oxygen around the body.

Hence, iron is a must and is one of the growth vitamins for teenagers. 

Sources of Iron:

1. Nuts
2. Beans, such as red kidney beans, edamame and chickpeas
3. Dried fruits such as apricots.
4. Fortified breakfast cereals.
5. Soybeans flower.
6. Red meat.

2. Calcium

Calcium is vital for many functions of the body like building bones and healthy teeth, regulating muscle contractions (including the heartbeat), and blood clotting. During teenage, the body undergoes significant growth as kids gain height and the body structure matures. For it to be strong, calcium is needed. Calcium is one of the minerals essential for healthy growth for teenagers. 

The deficiency of Calcium can cause several diseases. The deficiency of calcium can be seen through symptoms like weak and brittle nails; easy fracturing of bones; numbness and tingling in hands, feet, and face; muscle spasms and cramps; depression; confusion and memory loss; and bone deformities (Rickets)

Sources of Calcium:

1. Milk, Cheese and other dairy products
2. Soya drinks with added calcium
3. Items made with fortified flour like bread
4. Fish where you eat the bones like prawns, sardines and pilchards
5. Green leafy vegetables like kale and okra 
6. Collard greens 
7. Dry fruits like Apricots, prunes and figs

3. Vitamin D 

Vitamin D is unique, and it is an essential nutrient which our bodies can create through exposure to the sunlight. It helps regulate calcium and phosphorus in our bodies that are vital for bones, teeth, and muscles. It is one of the essential growth vitamins for teenagers. The signs that you have low Vitamin D include fatigue, bone pain, muscle weakness, mood changes, and muscle aches or cramps.

The deficiency of vitamin D can cause heart problems and weaken bones. Vitamin D deficient teens and children are at a higher risk of developing rickets – a condition of soft and weak bones that can suffer from bone deformities. Hence, vitamin D forms an essential part of the fundamental multivitamin for teenagers. 

Vitamin D sources:

1. Sunlight exposure for 30 minutes
2. Oily fish   
3. Eggs 
4. Fortified Soy milk / Rice milk/almond milk.
5. Mushrooms (wild mushrooms have the highest amount of vitamin D)
6. Fortified cereals    

How Much and When to Take Vitamins 

Doctors and dieticians recommend a daily intake for each of the multivitamins for teenagers discussed above. The following table shows the quantity in which boys and girls in their teenage years should take the nutrients: 

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Conclusion

Multivitamins for teenagers are super essential and it is vital to ensure their intake remains balanced and as per recommended values. This ensures proper growth and development during this crucial age. Multivitamins also aid mental health besides facilitating physical health. Therefore, if need be, do not hesitate to supplement the diet of a teenager with multivitamins for better health.