MegaFood | Feb. 2021

You need premium fuel to power you on your journey, and a multivitamin is a great way to fill the gaps in your diet and ensure you’re getting all the necessary vitamins and minerals. You may wonder, then, why we opt to omit calcium and magnesium from our MegaFood multis - aren’t they just as important as vitamin C and D?

Calcium and magnesium are both incredibly important minerals, best known for their role in supporting optimal bone health.* They are considered macro-minerals, meaning you need to obtain them in large quantities from your diet (compare the 1300mg daily value [DV] of calcium for example, to the 55mcg DV of selenium, a micro-mineral). The human body is amazing at breaking down food and extracting nutrients, but it can only do so much at one time, and some nutrients are better than others at getting the body’s attention.

When taken with other nutrients, like those found in a multi, calcium and magnesium are the bullies of the playground, pushing around the other minerals and competing for absorption. Unfortunately for selenium and friends like zinc and iodine, calcium and magnesium win out. This results in the “bullied” minerals not being utilized by the body, which makes a multi less effective.

For this reason, we’ve chosen to omit calcium and magnesium from our multis - it’s as simple as that. Doing so allows us to focus on delivering a range of nutrients together with real foods, and to give them the best chance for absorption possible. This, in turn, allows our multis to best nurture your nature.

So how do you get the calcium and magnesium you need? Ideally, we recommend taking a multi two hours apart from your Calcium & Magnesium supplements. This ensures your body has the time it needs to utilize each supplement to its fullest. Want to optimize your calcium intake further? Our friend and Chief Medical Advisor Tieraona Low Dog, M.D., offers this: “Calcium can’t be absorbed in large quantities. Don’t supplement with more than 500mg at a time” (Fortify Your Life, 153).

Dr. Tieraona Low Dog walks us through the decision to keep calcium and magnesium out of MegaFood’s doctor-formulated multis:

Want to choose a multivitamin that suits your unique needs? Find your multi.

Interested in learning more about how our multis are made? Read about our promise and process, and obsession with quality.