Because those gummy vitamins are really just an excuse to eat candy.
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Vitamins and minerals are substances your body needs to grow and function properly.
You've probably heard of the 13 essential vitamins (A, C, D, E, K and 8 B vitamins) and essential minerals (like calcium and potassium). They're good for you and keep your body running smoothly. But since we don't make enough of these on our own, we need to get them through our diet, as Dr. Donald Hensrud, Medical Director of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, tells BuzzFeed Health.
Each vitamin and mineral has a recommended daily allowance (RDA) determined by the USDA. That's because you only need so much of each vitamin and mineral; too much or too little can cause problems, registered dietitian Brian St. Pierre, director of performance nutrition at Precision Nutrition, tells BuzzFeed Health.
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But loading up on extra vitamins won't improve anything or give you superpowers.
Vitamins kind of work like gas in a car. "If your tank is empty, then you need to add more gas for your car to run properly — but if the tank is full, adding more gas isn't going to make the car run any better," Hensrud says. So, while a vitamin A deficiency can lead to vision problems, getting more vitamin A than recommended won't make you wake up with perfect vision.
In fact, your body can only absorb as much as it needs of a certain vitamin, and any extra amount won't be used. Excess amounts of water-soluble vitamins (like B-complex or C) will just come out in your urine, Hensrud says, and excess amounts of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K ) will get stored in your body's tissues.
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Instead of popping a multivitamin, most people should be getting the bulk of their vitamins and minerals from food, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
That's because whole foods have thousands of other compounds and phytochemicals that interact with the vitamins and minerals to give us a more complex source of nutrients. If you just get your vitamins from a pill, you miss out on all the other good stuff, St. Pierre says.
"Mother nature is pretty smart, so the concentration and combination of nutrients in whole foods is way more optimal than a synthetic supplement," Hensrud says. Population studies on people who consume mostly whole foods like veggies, fruits, nuts, and fish show a lower risk of overall mortality (death), cardiovascular disease, and cancer. But randomized controlled trials on people who take isolated supplements show little to no benefit, Hensrud says.
That said, there are exceptions where vitamin supplements are necessary — like in people with diagnosed vitamin deficiencies caused by another medical condition, or in pregnant women who need prenatal vitamins like folic acid to support embryonic development, says Hensrud.
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