*This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of LATISM . I was compensated to participate in a Latino research study around Latinos and multivitamin usage. All opinions are 100% mine.
Taking vitamins and supplements has always been a part of my growing up in a Latino household. As far back as I can remember, my grandparents and parents made us take vitamins on a daily basis and always emphasized their importance to our overall well-being.
A recent consumer survey conducted by Consumer Reports en Español and LATISM** investigating the use of vitamins and supplements among Latinos found that 66% take them at least once per week. It was also found that 56% of Latinos do not discuss potential hazardous interactions that could occur from combining supplements with their prescription medications with their doctors. Additionally, 56% of Latino parents give their children multivitamins at least once per week.
According to Dr Jose Luis Mosquera, Medical Advisor for Consumer Reports, patients should maintain an open communication with their physicians regarding their supplement use. Some important questions that should be asked are:
- Do I need them?
- Can I take them with medications or supplements?
- How long do I need to take them?
- Are they best taken with or without food or at night?
Dr. Mosquera also advises that, when considering taking a vitamin or supplement, there are things that all patients should be on the lookout for. Make sure that the vitamin or supplement you are taking is USP certified by reading the label on the bottle or container. Look for supplements that do not contain artificial ingredients such as dyes, gluten, or sugar. Capsules are also preferable to tablets because they do not contain fillers or binders.
As a parent, I was very interested in what Dr. Mosquera had to say about administering vitamins and supplements to children. He stated that children can begin to take vitamins after they begin to chew food properly. In his opinion there are better ways for children to get extra calcium than by taking supplements. Other sources are good like orange juice, lentil, cold water fish like salmon sardines and soy milk.
Check out the infographic below on Latinos and multivitamin usage that was conducted by Consumer Reports en Español and LATISM. Hopefully, it will help you to make some informed decisions about your own multivitamin and supplement use and help to support healthy living habits in the Latino Community and every community.
Survey conducted by Consumer Reports en Español and LATISM, July 2013.
**We are not medical professionals and any statements we make are based on our own experiences and are not meant to be taken instead of medical advice from a licensed medical professional. We are not responsible for the misuse of vitamins or supplements and will not be held liable or responsible should injury, sickness, or death occur as a result of using these products.
Disclosure: This sponsored post was written as part of a blogging program through LATISM . Any statements made in this post are the author’s honest opinions. I only recommend products or services I use personally and I believe will be “family friendly.” I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
© 2013, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.
Vitamins are so important! I have a vitamin routine where I fill my pill box with multivitamins and fish oil at the beginning of each week so that I remember to take them each day.
I use multivitamins and calcium supplements daily and give them to my kids too!
Guilty as charged. Never thought of how multis would interact w/other medicines. Good to know. BB2U
i take a multi vitamin daily (well right now its a prenatal 3 times a day) i also take ester-c vitamin c, plant enzymes, probiotics and serapetasse
We do vitamins as per our doctors recommendation and I myself am a bit of a supplement junkie. I’m deficent in many areas. But I was doing a little research myself yesterday and was surprise to see how often they aren’t needed.
I use to always have vitamins for the kids as they were growing up as I felt it was a good bridge to making sure they got necessary vitamins they needed.
Awesome information! thank you.
I feel embarrassed to ask, but I will. This post is directed to the Latino community.I am caucasian, but 3 of my beautiful grandkids are 1/2 Latino. So,the issues you addressed are they culturally based? Language based? Genetic based? This might be good information for the kids to know so they care share it with their other grandparents and cousins who are not primarily English speaking. What can I do to help the other side of the family? One of the girls will be going to nursing school, so I think she needs this information.
thank you
Hi, Malika. You bring up a great question. This study was based on a survey that was filled out by around 500 Latinos about their habits around taking vitamins or supplements and administering them to their children. I think the important take away from this is that it’s crucial to be aware about how potential dangerous interactions can occur when those taking prescribed medications mix them with vitamins and supplements without knowing the side effects. I agree with you that language barriers play a big part in impeding different cultural communities from fully educating themselves about health or healthy living. It would be wonderful if you could share this information with as many people as possible to raise awareness.
I did pass this on. Even foods and meds don’t agree. Like kale has a lot of Vit K so if you are on blood thinner, that may you bleed out. I am on a thyroid med and can’t take that with vitamins close together.
Thanks for putting this post together. Well done!
What a great post; Vitamins are sooo importan and my kids always get theirs in the morning. Thanks for sharing