Can Women Take Men's Vitamins?

You can never go wrong with taking vitamins … or can you?

Vitamins are an important part of living a healthy lifestyle and having a balanced diet. Your body quite literally needs them to maintain your health and perform a wide variety of functions!

Also, whether your goal is to lose weight, build muscle, or improve your overall health ... your body needs these micronutrients to see the best possible results.

So can women take men’s vitamins? Yes, because there is no such thing as a gender specific vitamin. Now, you are probably more curious about multivitamin supplements. Multivitamins are a combination of vitamins, minerals, and oftentimes, several other ingredients. Like most supplements, they can take time to kick in depending on consistency, diet, and individual nutrient levels.

Some of these multivitamins are great for both men and women. However, there are also multivitamins that are gender specific instead of gender neutral.

I'm sure you're wondering ... "Isn't that just marketing?" In some cases ... it certainly can be. In a lot of cases, though, there are multivitamins that include ingredients that actually cater to specific genders.

So can women take a men's multivitamin? The answer is yes, they can. But should women take a men's multivitamin? I would say no, and for good reason.

In this article, I’ll explain why it’s not a great choice for women to take men's vitamins ... the differences between men’s and women’s multivitamins ... and everything else you need to know to get the best vitamins for YOUR body!

What Is a Multivitamin?

Multivitamins are a daily supplement that most usually come in a capsule, tablet, or chewable form. For the most part, you will always find a full dose of every essential vitamin and mineral in multivitamins.

That’s because multivitamins are designed to make sure you’re covering all of your bases when it comes to micronutrients. This is especially important if you are not following the most nutritious diet.

While it is always ideal to get as many of these essential vitamins and minerals through whole food as possible … it's very difficult. Finding, sourcing, and measuring every individual micronutrient is wickedly expensive. It also requires an unbelievable amount of hassle.

That’s where multivitamins were born! I think of them as somewhat of an insurance policy to make sure you are getting a sufficient amount of these nutrients.

Men’s Vs Women’s Multivitamins: What’s the Difference?

There is plenty of overlap when it comes to men's and women’s vitamin needs, like how both men and women need about the same amount of B12. But, there are also differences that help explain our answer to the question: "Can women take men's vitamins?"

The differences between men’s and women’s multivitamins come down to the quantities of each individual vitamin and mineral. On top of that, a lot of gender specific multivitamins include nutrient blends to appeal to specific aspects of male or female health.

Women, for example, typically need more iron than men … Even up to twice as much. That’s because iron is primarily stored in the bloodstream, and women will lose more iron simply because of their menstrual cycles. Not enough iron can lead to anemia, low red blood cell count, tiredness, and shortness of breath.

However, once a woman enters menopause, they don’t need the same intake of iron.

Women over 50 are also generally at a much higher risk of losing bone mass more rapidly than men. For this reason, women’s multivitamins typically have more calcium.

Another factor considered in the formulation of a women’s multivitamin is pregnancy and breastfeeding. Most health professionals recommend that women take more folic acid during pregnancy. That's because folic acid can help support healthy baby development.

Can Men Take Women's Vitamins?

Now let's talk about the guys. For one, men's multivitamins typically have more vitamins, minerals, and nutrients as a whole. That's because men are usually physically bigger than women.

I should also point out that some women's vitamins include nutrients tailored to female-specific needs. On the other hand, men's multivitamins can have higher amounts of vitamins like vitamin C, vitamin D, and the antioxidant nutrient lycopene. These nutrients can help support needs such as prostate health and cardiovascular health (1, 2).

So what's the verdict? Can men take women's vitamins? I'd say the short answer is yes, men can take women's vitamins, but it's not ideal.

Let's look at some key considerations to keep in mind when selecting vitamin and mineral supplements specifically formulated for women.

As we mentioned above, women's multivitamins and prenatal vitamins typically contain higher amounts of iron and folic acid (a B vitamin folate). This is to help support reproductive health and compensate for iron loss during menstruation.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but men generally require less iron, and taking women's vitamins regularly could lead to potentially excessive nutrient levels. This may pose health risks such as secondary iron overload or liver disease.

Can I Take Too Many Vitamins?

This isn't common, but the answer is yes. As I mentioned, men taking women's vitamins would need to be aware of the high iron levels. In rare cases, too much iron can lead to liver disease, diabetes, and even heart problems.

Other nutrients can cause health problems as well when taken in high doses. For example, too much Calcium or Vitamin D can lead to kidney stones, too much Vitamin B6 over a long period of time can result in nerve damage, and too much Vitamin K can interfere with blood thinners.

What Else Do I Need to Know?

Taking the right multivitamin for your body and gender can be a game-changer for your health. These essential vitamins and minerals are important for everything from your metabolism to your immune system, bone strength, muscle tissue, cognitive function, and so much more.

At 1st Phorm, we have a wide variety of multivitamin supplements to best fit your needs and goals! For the ladies, we have M-Factor Goddess, which is a complete multivitamin. It also includes female-specific ingredient blends designed to support energy, mood, immune function, and act as a hormone-balancing supplement. We even have our Prenatal Plus for women who are pregnant or nursing.

For the guys, we have M-Factor Men, which is another complete multivitamin with extra male-specific ingredient blends designed to support immunity, performance, and natural testosterone boosters to help maintain healthy hormone levels.

I currently use our Micro Factor, which is a non-gender-specific micronutrient pack! Micro Factor goes above and beyond your typical multivitamin by giving your body much more. Each Micro Factor pack has a multivitamin, essential fats, CoQ10, a probiotic, a superfood blend, and an antioxidant blend.

If you have any more questions about whether women can take men's vitamins, or anything else for that matter … reach out to us! We have a full team of NASM Certified Personal Trainers and Nutrition Coaches right here in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Just give us a call at 1-800-409-9732 or send us an email at CustomerService@1stPhorm.com. We're available Monday through Friday from 6 AM to 8 PM Central and Saturday & Sunday from 9 AM to 7 PM Central. We'll be more than happy to help in any way we can!

References

(1) Sayehmiri K, et al. The association between Selenium and Prostate Cancer: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2018;19(6):1431-1437.

(2) Ford NA, et al. Lycopene and apo-12'-lycopenal reduce cell proliferation and alter cell cycle progression in human prostate cancer cells. Nutr Cancer. 2011;63(2):256-63.

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