Hello and welcome to Ask Dr Hazel, our mini episodes where I answer all your burning questions.

So let's hear from this week's listener. Hey Hazel, I wondered if you recommend taking a multivitamin

as a precautionary measure during the winter months to avoid getting sick. Thank you so much for your question and it's a really good one and I think it seems intuitive

that we should try to help support our immune system and boost our nutrition. But do multivitamins

help? And the short answer is you're probably wasting your money. Paradoxically, most people take

multivitamin supplements are quite

health conscious anyway and already consume a healthy balanced diet. So getting nutrients from supplements

is also not the same as getting it from food. And now it's becoming increasingly clear that food is

much more than the sum of its parts and that nutrients function

better when consumed as part of a whole food rather than in pills. Having said that, supplements can be

helpful in specific situations. So supplementing with vitamin D, for example, in the UK during autumn

and winter is really important because we don't make

enough from the sun during these months. So maybe you want to head your bets and take a multivitamin

anyway, but is it safe to do so? Now, I would say most multivitamin supplements purchased from

reputable sources in the UK are unlikely to cause any adverse effects if you're taking them in the

correct doses. But I have to say that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. So for example,

if you're taking a multivitamin tablet, which already includes vitamin D, you don't need additional

vitamin D supplements unless it's been advised by a health professional. Those taking medications should also check with

their doctor or GP before starting any supplement as they may interact with medication.

And I guess the top line is there is no real nutritional supplement that can have the same

benefits as a healthy balanced diet. If you feel like you're deficient in a specific nutrient

or you're unsure, then please just speak to your GPR pharmacists and they can advise you further

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