Written by the Progressive Nutritional Education Team

Our bodies have unique nutritional needs. Let’s simply consider your biological make-up: you have unique genes and fingerprints. Add in your distinctive daily experiences including physical activity, stress and food choices, and it is clear that a “one-size-fits-all” strategy can not be an effective way to meet nutritional needs.

Enjoy health by choosing foods that satisfy your unique nutritional needs. And, why not take that philosophy with you when choosing a multivitamin? A multivitamin that is designed with you in mind can offer more personalized and effective results.

Active People Need Different Nutrients

Exercise is good for you, right? Exercise makes your muscles stronger, makes you feel like you have more energy, and it promotes health of the bones, brain and cardiovascular system. But, exercise does not come without its pitfalls. When you are physically active your body needs more nutrients such as protein for muscle repair and calcium for bone rebuilding.

 To be active, you will also need more energy. Energy production requires B vitamins,¹ which are lacking in some specialized diets, as they are primarily available only in animal products. And, do not forget magnesium. Research from the United States Department of Agricultural Research Services found people with low levels of magnesium expended more energy to perform exercise, and tire easily.² Using a multivitamin that has considered the unique nutritional needs of active bodies may help keep you moving.

 All the bending and pounding your joints are doing triggers oxidative stress³ – eating more antioxidants can help minimize it. Eating more green vegetables and berries is a great way to get more antioxidants into your diet, or look for a multivitamin that includes a wide range of antioxidants.

 Men and Women have Different Nutritional Needs

We have all heard the phrase, “Men are from Mars; women are from Venus.” Men and women are different in many ways, including their nutritional needs. With notoriously high muscle mass to fuel, lower needs for iron, and higher needs for essential nutrients a man’s daily supplements need to be carefully tailored. A lady’s nutritional needs include greater iron and folate requirements in younger years. In later years, a woman’s nutritional focus shifts to hormone, anti-aging and bone health. Not only do men and women have different nutritional needs, those needs change with age.

Can a Multivitamins Fight Aging?

Despite a tendency to occasionally fib about our age, we all understand that we are getting older. Older bodies have different nutritional needs than younger ones. According to researchers, taking a daily multivitamin may help prevent aging. In 2009, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that taking a multivitamin was associated with better telomere length (a biomarker of aging) in women.⁴ Telomere length helps prevent mistakes in DNA when new cells are made.⁶ An ongoing study, called the ‘Sister Study’, noted that women (35-74 years of age) who use multivitamins daily had on average 5.1 percent greater telomere length compared to nonusers.⁴ In other words, taking a multivitamin may help your genes stay youthful.

Progressive's Multivitamins:⁶ 

Progressive has created a family of multivitamins formulated to address the unique nutritional needs of you. Progressive Multivitamins include:

• Adult Men
• Adult Women
• Active Men
• Active Women
• Women 50+
• Men 50+
• Prenatal
• Kids

 All Progressive Multivitamins formulas are specially tailored to contain nutrients unique to your age, sex and activity level. As well, their divided dosages, digestive aids and minerals in citrate form help ensure the nutrients are absorbed. If you’re highly active or under significant stress, then you need Progressive’s Active formula, which includes key nutrients to help your body stay healthy including antioxidants, green foods, herbal extracts, minerals and B vitamins.

 Try a Progressive Multivitamin today!

 References:

1. Tardy AL, Pouteau E, Marquez D, Yilmaz C, Scholey A. Vitamins and Minerals for Energy, Fatigue and Cognition: A Narrative Review of the Biochemical and Clinical Evidence. Nutrients. 2020 Jan 16;12(1):228. doi: 10.3390/nu12010228. PMID: 31963141; PMCID: PMC7019700.
2. Lack Energy? Maybe its your magnesium level. Agriculture Research, May 2004. http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/ar/archive/may04/energy0504.htm?pf=1

3. Knez, W. (n.d.). Exercise and oxidative stress: An exercise paradox? Aspetar Sports Medicine Journal . Retrieved October 14, 2022, from https://www.aspetar.com/journal/viewarticle.aspx?id=10#.Y3K2hcvMI2w

4. Xu Q, Parks CG, DeRoo LA, Cawthon RM, Sandler DP, Chen H. Multivitamin use and telomere length in women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2009 Jun;89(6):1857-63. Epub 2009 Mar 11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19279081

5. Kim S, Parks CG, Xu Z, Carswell G, DeRoo LA, Sandler, DP, Taylor, JA. Association between genetic variants in DNA and histone methylation and telomere length. PLoS ONE. 2012; 7(7):e40504. Epub 2012 Jul 11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22792358
6. Health Canada Monograph on Multivitamins. http://webprod.hc-sc.gc.ca/nhpid-bdipsn/atReq.do?atid=multi_vitmin_suppl&lang=eng