Is timing really everything? When it comes to finding the best time of day to take multivitamins, the answer is a little more complicated than "yes" or "no." Turns out there is a little more going on behind the scenes when we pop our multivitamins everyday. You might know, for example, that our bodies process different nutrients in different ways. Water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C and B vitamins (like vitamin B12 and folate) generally like to get to work right away before we eliminate the excess, while fat-soluble vitamins (like vitamin D, vitamin E, and vitamin K) tend to stick around in our tissues until later.
The food we consume (and when we consume it) may influence the way our bodies absorb these vitamins. When we're taking these nutrients as individual vitamins, factors like timing, the contents of our stomach, and the way different nutrients interact with each other can all impact how the body utilizes them. But what happens when you stick them all in the same multivitamin?*