Nutritional Science: Multivitamin/Multimineral A simple multivitamin/multimineral supplement is helpful in preventing common nutrient deficiencies (which will be discussed in the next chapter). We generally recommend a broad spectrum multi that provides around 100% of your needs. Products that contain mega-doses of vitamins and minerals are not typically recommended—you are consuming a multi to help ensure adequate intake, not to treat a specific deficiency or cure an ailment. Nutrient deficiencies are more prevalent than people realize, even if they don't contribute to clinical diagnoses (e.g. a niacin deficiency causing pellagra, or a vitamin C deficiency causing scurvy). Taking a simple multi can help to prevent these sub-clinical deficiencies and ensure a more optimal physiological environment with adequate raw materials. It is important that you seek out a product that is most relevant to your needs. For example, a woman planning on becoming pregnant will want to ensure she chooses a product with adequate folate, iron, and iodine and not have excessive vitamin A. A man who consumes an omnivorous diet may want a multi that doesn't contain iron, while a man who consumes a plant-based diet may want one with iron, as well as other specific nutrients mentioned in the section on plant-based diets.