Multivitamins are crucial for those taking GLP-1 medications, mainly due to their main benefit—they can fill your nutrient gaps. However, this case is slightly more complex. In this article, we look deeper into the role of multivitamins and explain why you should consider taking them, as well as what products you should choose. We invite you to read on!

Why Do GLP-1 Users Need Additional Vitamins and Minerals?

To begin with, let’s discuss why GLP-1 users need to supplement themselves with vitamins and minerals. It all goes down to two effects of GLP-1 agonists:

• They reduce your appetite → you eat less → you consume fewer nutrients;
• They can cause multiple side effects → some of them impact nutrient absorption → fewer nutrients stay in your system.

The above is quite tricky, as GLP-1 agonists don’t cause a specific vitamin or mineral deficiency. Instead, they impact all nutrient intake. This means that your diet is crucial—you’re most susceptible to nutrient deficiencies of those vitamins and minerals that you do not consume much on a daily basis.

Choosing the Right Multivitamin for GLP-1 Therapy Users

As we mentioned before, you absorb fewer nutrients overall—it’s difficult to define which nutrients you will lack the most. Therefore, to choose the right multivitamin for your GLP-1 therapy, you have two options:

• You can look at it from a general perspective and select supplements that contain a lot of different nutrients;
• You can adopt a personalized approach; however, this will require a consultation with your healthcare practitioner and likely with a dietician.

If you chose the first option, you still need to remember the most common deficiencies in patients on GLP-1 receptor agonists, which are:

• protein,
• vitamin D,
• vitamin B12,
• calcium,
• iron.

In such a case, you should only opt for multivitamins that contain all the abovementioned nutrients (and more).

The Benefits of Taking Vitamins for Individuals Using GLP-1 Medications

We’ve explained why you should take multivitamins while on GLP-1 receptor agonists, but now let’s look at the bright side. Such supplementation comes with a plethora of benefits. What are they? Take a look below.

• Taking multivitamins may enhance your therapy. Many nutrients depleted by GLP-1 drugs are essential for weight loss, so resupplying your body with them will lead to better results.
• You will feel better. The nutrients depleted are also responsible for your mood, energy, and bone strength. By taking them, you will improve your well-being throughout the therapy.
• You will be in better shape after the therapy. If you don’t take multivitamins, you pose yourself at risk of becoming weaker (since your bones lack building blocks), less energized, or even unhappy after the therapy. Taking vitamins and minerals may help you avoid this risk and enjoy the new look right away.

As you can see, it is much better to take multivitamins during your GLP-1 treatment. However, it is not always necessary. If you plan your diet with the help of a dietician, you might avoid nutrient deficiencies, hence feel well and stay in good shape even without multivitamins. Yet, this requires you to change your habits, plus you never know how far the deficiencies will go, so the choice isn’t straightforward nor easy.

The Takeaway

Multivitamins play a crucial role while on GLP-1 medication, especially considering their potential benefits. Nevertheless, even if you feel fine, you don’t want to pose yourself at risk of suffering from vitamin or mineral deficiencies; therefore, we recommend that you consult your healthcare practitioner and select the right multivitamin together to ensure that your therapy is as effective and pleasant as possible.