Losing weight in a healthy way is not about going on some random crash diets. Starving yourself without knowing the consequences can prove to be harmful. Completely cutting off calories, proteins, or even fat can result in muscle loss. So, it is important to take the correct number of calories to live a healthy lifestyle.
If you are one of those who take vitamin supplements, you must be wondering do vitamins have calories?
No, vitamins do not contain any calories. So, eating vitamin-rich foods or supplements is perfectly okay if you are obese, or have diabetes.
Want to know whether they are beneficial or just overhyped? Then continue reading.
Table of Content
Why Does Your Body Need Vitamins?
Before entering into the topic of vitamins and calories, let me give you a brief regarding the importance of vitamins.
Vitamins play an important role in most biological processes of your body. Without them, your body will be unable to function properly. They are very important for healing wounds, maintaining cells, and fighting off infections.
Let’s take a look at some functions of vitamins in our body:
- Helps in absorbing and metabolizing other nutrients
- Provides energy for your regular activities
- Maintains normal cell function
- Promotes appropriate development and growth
- Keeps your immune system active
Want to know, where do vitamins come from? Well, humans get them from animals, plants, and supplements. They are super important for health and their deficiency can cause severe problems.
Different types of vitamins play different roles in our body. Thus, their deficiency has different effects on the body too.
For example, vitamin D deficiency causes weariness, bone loss, depression, and anxiety. Likewise, the deficiency of vitamin K won’t allow blood clots to form in case of bleeding.
Vitamins and Calories: Some Important Details
Although most vitamins are calorie-free, some vitamin supplement companies add gelatin and sucrose. These substances contain calories, but they are not present in large quantities.
Supplements in tablet form, in general, do not contain calories. But other types of supplements can contain a surprising number of calories.
What should you do then?
By picking a pure or no-calorie vitamin supplement, you can stay away from calories. Don’t buy supplements that include artificial sweeteners.
Gummy or chewable supplements often contain calories due to sugar and gelatin. They are fun to chew but be aware of the calories. Still, even if you’re taking sweet multivitamins, the calories will still be low.
It is easy to discover a vitamin supplement that is completely devoid of calories. The key is to read the Supplement Facts label mandated by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Besides vitamins, people also ask the same question about minerals.
Do Minerals Have Calories?
Are you one of those who think, do vitamins and minerals contain calories or not?
The majority of people believe minerals contain calories. This is not the case.
Just like vitamins, minerals don’t have calories as well. But they do help with energy metabolism, which is an important activity in our bodies.
Minerals are also essential for the functioning and the development of our body.
They also have some other functions such as:
- Plays role in fluid balance
- Causes proper bone tissue formation
- Helps in normal bone production
Macrominerals and microminerals are the two types of minerals that our body requires. Without them, you cannot live healthily.
But you also need vitamins to extract all the minerals’ benefits.
Vitamin D is a partner of calcium. The body cannot absorb Calcium without this vitamin.
Wondering, does vitamin D have carbs or not?
No, vitamin D does not have carbs. In fact, it is crucial for our bone health.
Similarly, Iron needs Vitamin C for its proper absorption. So, you should keep monitoring how many minerals and vitamins you have consumed.
All you need for optimal health is a modest amount of minerals (1000 milligram per day).
Do Vitamins and Minerals Cause Weight Gain?
People often wonder, do vitamins cause weight gain? And can minerals cause obesity? Well, you will get the answers here.
The quick answer is no. Vitamins and minerals do not induce weight gain. They contain either very few calories or none at all. Even high-calorie supplements can’t cause weight gain soon. You have to take them in large numbers for this.
Then, the question is how many calories do vitamins have in sugary supplements?
One sugary brand of gummy multivitamins, for example, has 14 vitamin calories per gram. Doctors recommend 2,000 calories for women and 2,600 calories for men per day.
So, vitamins and minerals do not cause weight gain and are safe to use.
Side Effects of Taking Excessive Vitamins
It is true that Vitamin supplements will not make you fat or cause you to gain weight. But that does not imply you should use them in excess amounts. High vitamin doses might have negative health consequences.
Fat-soluble vitamins are present in the body’s tissues and tend to stay there for a long time. If you consume too many fat-soluble vitamins, they can build up in your system over time. This can cause a hazardous disease known as hypervitaminosis.
Likewise, intaking excessive water-soluble vitamins, such as vitamin C, can cause diarrhea.
If you’re on medicine, you should tell your doctor about any vitamins you’re taking. Vitamins can interact and interfere with medications. This can make them ineffective or might also cause other negative consequences.
Have Any Questions?
Do prenatal vitamins have calories?
No, Prenatal vitamins do not contain any calories, fats, proteins, or carbs. So, they also do not cause any weight gain. This supplement contains vitamin A, B, C, D, E, calcium, and iron only.
Do Bassetts vitamins have calories?
Bassett’s multivitamins do not have any calories. But, the Omega-3 and “all sorts of vitamins” do have some carbs in them.
Do flintstone vitamins have calories?
No, Flinstone also does not contain any calories and fat. So, there is no need to worry about gaining weight or rising blood sugar levels.
Conclusion
So, do vitamins have calories?
Do they cause weight gain? To sum up, taking vitamins will not cause you to gain weight, but only if you take them in pure form. Consuming vitamin gummies or supplements that include sweeteners will definitely have some calories.
Vitamin supplements are an excellent way to complement your diet with critical nutrients.
These nutrients are super important to carry out vital functions in the body. Hence, use these supplements if you want to but avoid their excessive use as it may cause some problems.
