Breakfast good time for taking vitamins

Question: What is the optimum time of day to take vitamin and mineral supplements? Are there certain foods that interfere with absorption?

Answer: There are no rules about the best time of day to take supplements. Take them when they agree with you most. Many people find taking pills of any kind as part of a morning routine is easier to remember, so taking them with breakfast is a popular option. Vitamin and mineral supplements can cause nausea, heartburn and other gastric disturbances, especially when taken on an empty stomach. For best absorption and the least irritation to the stomach, take your supplements with a meal containing fat. This is particularly important for fat-soluble vitamins (A, D and E).

Experiment with taking your supplements with lunch or dinner if they cause you problems when taken with breakfast.

Foods - or an empty stomach - can interfere with absorption of some vitamins and minerals. With calcium, for instance, you need enough stomach acid to assimilate it, so you’re better off taking it after you’ve eaten, because food in the stomach stimulates acid secretion. Tannins in tea can block absorption of iron, but vitamin C enhances iron absorption, as do fermented soy foods, such as miso, and the lactic acid in yogurt and sauerkraut.

Also interfering with iron absorption are caffeinated beverages, eggs, milk and bran. (You shouldn’t take iron supplements or a multivitamin/mineral containing iron unless you’re a premenopausal woman with a heavy menstrual flow or your doctor has recommended an iron supplement because a test has shown that you’re iron-deficient.)

In addition, excess consumption of alcohol can interfere with absorption of several vitamins and minerals.

If you’re eating a healthful, balanced diet, however, you have no reason to worry about foods interfering with the absorption of your vitamin and mineral supplements.

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