The Women Health magazine mentions in its May review — “While Food and Drug Administration daily value recommendations for vitamins haven’t changed since 1968, what we know about nutrition has.

The Institute of Medicine has new recommendations for vitamins called dietary reference intakes.” The complete review by Lisa Drayer,a nutritional adviser and contributing editor to Women Health can be seen at the ABCNews.com

The main four essential multivitamin supplements that women require are

• Calcium,
• Vitamin D,
• Magnesium and
• Vitamin K

Finding the best brand of vitamin supplements can be quite difficult with so many brands to choose from on the market. Though this may seem to be impossible with every manufacturer saying they are the best, we have found it not to be the case. Today more so than before you can do your due diligence by finding reviews that independently compare vitamins. It is important to find a calcium pill that has Vit D in it as the Vit D helps in the best absorption of the calcium into your cells.

Calcium is best needed to help develop peak levels of bone mass in the growth years of a developing woman. If minerals such as calcium intakes are lower in the early years the onset of osteoporosis is quite common when adulthood is reached.

Marilyn Stephenson, a registered dietitian with FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition quotes “The most important time to get a sufficient amounts of calcium is while bone growth and consolidation are occurring, a period that continues until approximately age 30 to 35,” says Marilyn Stephenson, a registered dietitian with FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “The idea is, if you can build a maximum peak of calcium deposits early on, this may delay fractures that occur later in life.”

The supplementation of magnesium not only assist with proper absorption of calcium but also plays an important role in disease protection, lowering the risk of diabetes, heart disease and colon cancer. New DRIs say that we should be taking at least 320mgs a day of magnesium for best results.

Vitamin D is fat soluble and is sparingly found in foods, maybe found as an added nutrient to processed foods or maybe taken as a supplement pill. This special vitamin may also be produced by the action of ultra violet rays of the sun converting Vit D in our skin. For Vitamin D to be bio-available in our bodies it has to undergo a couple of changes in our body system for it to be beneficial and play its part in calcium absorption.

The importance of Vit D in our bodies especially women are that it helps in the calcium absorption in the intestine and helps to maintain required amounts of serum calcium and phosphate level concentrations which are important for bone mineralization and prevention of hypocalcemic tetany.

Hypocalcemic tetany means less serum calcium resulting in muscle spasms. The lack of Vit D will trigger bone brittleness and thinness such as found in patients suffering from rickets. Proper levels of Vit D helps prevent rickets in children. If you took adequate amounts of calcium along with Vit D the occurrence of osteoporosis in adults is reduced.

Vitamin K is an important ingredient that helps with bone health. Though Vit K has benefits you should alway consult your doctor if you are on medication as it can interfere with blood thinners in drugs.

What vitamins prenatal or pregnant women need for optimum health?

For women who are exercising regularly or are pregnant it is recommended that their iron intake should be increased as compared to females who are not. The reason why iron is important during this period is because it plays a vital role in helping hemoglobin to best deliver oxygen to our cells in greater amounts. The lack of or loss of iron will cause headaches, pallor and fatigue among women. Try taking a vitamin that has all the B complex supplements in it. The B group of vitamins help in energy production and good carbohydrate metabolism. Please be aware that women over the age of 50 may need less iron as they do not loose iron as younger women do during their periods. If older women have an iron problem then they need to consult their doctor as the loss of iron could be something their doctor needs to look into.

If women find it hard to have a meat diet, then it is recommended that they should consider supplementing vitamins with the B group of vitamins and iron. Women get tired more easily than men and hence need more B group of vitamins. They can add carrot juice to boost the delivery of Vit A.

For those women who are considering falling pregnant it is prudent to start supplementation of a high quality vitamin before pregnancy.

• Vit B6 or folic acid plays an important role in reducing spina bifida in infants.This infant deformity occurs early in the pregnancy if folic acid is absent.
• Taking a high quality fish oil supplement from a trusted vitamin manufacturer will help with the development of the baby’s brain. Omega 3 fatty acids have been found to improve the baby’s brain development during pregnancy.
• If you are considering falling pregnant please be warned that some supplements have Vit A present in them. Vit A can harm the unborn baby in the womb.

Trading Standards watchdogs and charity Birth Defects Foundation Newlife found a third of products do not carry clear labels showing they contain vitamin A.