[00:00:06] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to a Wonder Care podcast. I'm Sheena Mitchell, a pharmacist and mum of three. I combine healthcare and practical advice to support you on your parenting journey. [00:00:17] Speaker B: Welcome to the second installment of my Multivitamin conversation. Part One was released two days ago and is called does My Child Need a Multivitamin? So I would definitely have a little listen to that one before listening to. [00:00:30] Speaker A: This because it gives you a better. [00:00:32] Speaker B: Understanding of what you're looking for in a multivitamin and whether or not your child actually needs one or not. And another point I just want to bring up before I talk about the different brands of multivitamin is that, as discussed in the last episode, food is the best resource for vitamins and minerals that your child can get. But obviously, as I also discussed, that's not always possible. Not all children will eat all food types. And I also want to add that you can actually do more damage than good by forcing a food type on a child. Their long term relationship with food must remain a priority, and creating negative associations is unhelpful and avoidable. Most phases that children go through are short term. They might even last a couple of years. But as I discussed, lots of vitamins and minerals are available in different food categories. So just because your child won't eat one thing, like perhaps mushrooms, does not mean that they're going to miss out. Always when feeding your child, remember that. [00:01:32] Speaker A: The goal is to give your child. [00:01:34] Speaker B: A desire to eat rather than an instruction, bribe or punishment. And I know that sounds awful, but I've also been sucked into sometimes stressful dinner meals when your child just won't eat anything, and you do, of course, get frustrated. It took me three children to realize that they will eat when they're hungry, and all you can do is try and model a healthy diet yourself. For example, I started eating Hague this year and the kids initially wouldn't touch it. They were like, no. And I just kept cooking that for myself and cooking them other breaded fillets. [00:02:11] Speaker A: That they'd eat or whatever. [00:02:14] Speaker B: So I'd cook the hake for myself, wrapped in foil with a bit of lemon on top, and I'd have the same veg and potatoes as them, but they might have a breaded fish fillet or one child might have a chicken fillet, whatever. I just didn't force it on them. And I did notice that after about a month of me eating hake, maybe once or twice a week, suddenly the youngest, the eight year old, well, he was seven at the time, piped up, I want hake, and he ended up eating all my hake. So I ended up with a chicken fillet. And then about two weeks later, one. [00:02:48] Speaker A: Of the other kids said, well, I'll try hake. [00:02:50] Speaker B: And eventually, after a few months, all. [00:02:53] Speaker A: Of them literally asked to eat hake. [00:02:55] Speaker B: And so now I just cook hake there's not much to that story other than to say you have a choice. And the choice is either get into a fight and make it a problem down the road where your child has negative association with food, it's damaging to your relationship with them and it's also damaging to their relationship with the eating and the pleasure of mealtime. And now obviously it's not always possible, but mealtime should be a time where as a family you can sit down together and chat, or like in my house, myself and the eight year old chash while the two girls read books and ignore us. But I'm working on that. I haven't perfected parenting. The other option is just work around them a little bit, so long as they're getting good nutrition and it's not putting you out too much. I'm not a big one for cooking loads of different meals, but if there's a particular version, I do try and avoid it. Like in the lunch boxes. I had one child who didn't like fresh red peppers cut up and two. [00:03:53] Speaker A: Kids that loved it. [00:03:54] Speaker B: And eventually, and I'm talking two years later, the eleven year old Turner has. [00:03:59] Speaker A: Said, oh, I'll have red peppers too. [00:04:01] Speaker B: It all works itself out with time. So don't be scared if your child is a fussy eater. Just keep it positive and keep modeling. [00:04:08] Speaker A: A good diet yourself. [00:04:09] Speaker B: There's no point in trying to feed. [00:04:12] Speaker A: Your child a bright colorful plate while. [00:04:14] Speaker B: You'Re on the junk food. And in a way it is good to work together to create healthy meals. And sometimes I'll let them flick through a recipe book and pick something. Now I'm probably a bit more encouraging because I have a celiac child and sometimes she feels very restricted. So we get out gluten free cookbooks and we'll flick through them so that she can pick a recipe and have a bit more control and choice in what she can eat. [00:04:44] Speaker A: But it works whether you have a. [00:04:46] Speaker B: Celiac child or not. It just allows them to have a bit more of an interest and love for food and curiosity. But when you're in the situation where your child won't eat anything other than say, beige food, then yeah, maybe it is prudent to supplement them. And I discussed the pros and cons of that in the last episode, so I'm not going to dive into that again. Then this episode I look at several different main pharmacy brands of vitamins. So again, just like the last episode, I have a chart for this. If you use the link on my Instagram or in the show notes to sign up for the PDF versions of both my Reference Intake and Natural Sources chart and then also the Multivitamin Review chart, you will be able to compare the products and see exactly what's in. [00:05:40] Speaker A: What, because all of the products are. [00:05:42] Speaker B: Extremely different and they all have different offerings. [00:05:46] Speaker A: It is hard to record this episode. [00:05:48] Speaker B: In a clear way where I could just pick one product because it totally depends on what your child's dietary requirement is. So do bear with me and then maybe download the charge or you'll get an email once you sign up, I think a couple of days after you sign up. And that way you'll be able to make an informed choice on how you spend your money. Because ultimately all of these products cost money and they vary in price. And always remember to look at pack size as well. I know the Junior Revive only comes in 20 packs so it can look cheaper compared to say, the likes of. [00:06:23] Speaker A: Well Kitchuable, but that's got a 30. [00:06:25] Speaker B: Day supply in it. So just look, that's a financial thing. But at the moment in the current climate, money is so important. And other thing I'd say is a few people have sent me pictures of various supermarket brand multivitamins so I didn't put them on my chart and I haven't really included much conversation about them because to be honest, I'd end up in some sort of bashing conversation. And as my mother always says, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say it at all. Now, I'm not sure that I managed. [00:06:55] Speaker A: To do that the whole way through. [00:06:56] Speaker B: This episode, but there are brands made or supplied available for purchase from the likes of Aldi and Lidl and everything. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with them at all, but from particular ones I've looked at, they maybe are good for vitamin C, but have very low vitamin B's, and they lack the correct amount of vitamin D and other minerals as well. So again, no matter what vitamin brand you're using, whether it being a pharmacy brand or a supermarket brand, all you. [00:07:25] Speaker A: Need to do is look at the. [00:07:26] Speaker B: First chart, which has the reference intakes and the benefits and natural sources, and you can compare any product up to that chart. And you'll know if what you're getting is good value or not. Because while the price might be right, the ingredients might not be. So just bear that in mind. But even within the pharmacy multivitamins, there. [00:07:46] Speaker A: Are a few that just have a very small amount of ingredients. So one of the ones that mentions immune in it is the active immune kids and this is for three years plus and it's one tubal tablet a day and that contains vitamin D at the appropriate level, it also contains vitamin C and it also contains zinc. So I mean that's fine, but it is worth remembering that that is all it's containing. So absolutely, it's got your essential everyday HSE recommended vitamin D and it's got some vitamin C and it's got some zinc. Now, the levels of vitamin C and zinc in them aren't particularly high, so your child would want to be taking in vitamin C and zinc in their diet somewhere, as well. But that might suit someone who just literally wants to give them a little bit of vitamin D, and they think, okay, it's no harm to add in a bit of vitamin c and zinc. Then we've got the abidec range. So they do two products, they do drops for children from birth up to twelve years, basically. So from zero to one year they're just taking a 0.3 mil dose. And then from one to twelve they're taking 0.6 mils. So it doubles the dose once your child is over one. But do remember that for children under six months of age, or any child taking 500 mils of formula, they're going to get adequate amounts of vitamins apart from vitamin D. So if your child is still taking over 500 mils of formula, all they need is a vitamin D drop. But for children who are not still on formula and have transferred over to regular cow's milk, the abidec drops have the recommended amount of vitamin D in them, which is great. Again, they have some vitamin C, but again, not too high. Their B vitamins are there at a very average dose. So I wouldn't say that it's too strong. It's just a little top up that you're getting with the abidec drops, but it may well be useful instead of using just a vitamin D drop. So in Abidec advanced Syrup, which is ten mil dose, and it's for kids from one to five, that has much more ingredients than the regular abidec drops have. So if you're looking at the abidec range and your child is over one, it might be worth considering abidec syrup over the drops because you're getting higher doses of vitamin A. Obviously they're still within the reference intake and you're getting higher doses of your B vitamins for energy release and nervous system development. You're also getting a higher dose of vitamin C and you are getting some vitamin E and vitamin K as well. There again, just anyone who has any blood clotting disorders, et cetera, should watch out for vitamin K. It's only present in two of the products that I'm talking about today, one of which is Abidext syrup and the other one is Junior Revive Active. So just to be aware of that, I'm going to bundle the rest of the products together because they are more broad multivitamins, they all contain a lot of ingredients. They all contain vitamin A, vitamin B one, and most of them contain B two, they have B three, they have B six, they have B five, B twelve, biotin, which is B seven, they've got vitamin C, vitamin D and vitamin E and some other ingredients as well. Like most of them have some folic acid and manganese or magnesium, some have iron and some have zinc. So moving on to the others, centrum for children, the chewable tablets offer quite an array of multivitamins. So you've got quite a broad spectrum vitamin in this. It's suitable from four years of age and it's a chewable tablet. My kids do like the taste of it. It's got some vitamin A in it and it has got a kind of standard amount of all of the B vitamins. It's got an average amount of vitamin C and it also has vitamin D in it. I would highlight with the centrum for children, the amount of vitamin D in it is not really good enough, I think, because for vitamin D, for children five to eleven, they should be on ten micrograms a day and centrum is from four up and it only has three micrograms. So centrum for me falls short on the vitamin D, which is the one that HSE recommended, so that's a little bit off putting for that one. It does have the recommended amount of folic acid though, and it does contain iron and a low dose of selenium and a low dose of zinc, so wouldn't be particularly strong on those. Its strengths are kind of just a mild top up of your B vitamins and an average amount of vitamin C. Junior Revive this is for children aged four to twelve years, and it's one sachet daily. So it has some vitamin A in it and it has the recommended reference intake for vitamin B, one which is good, and almost all of your B three that you need. So if you weren't getting any dietary vitamin B, this does offer quite a good intake of the B vitamins, so that is definitely a strength of it. So just bear in mind that your B vitamins are in most of all meat, fish, eggs, wheat, flour, poultry, chicken, beef. There's some B one in oranges, but mostly you're talking meat, fish, eggs and cheese, that kind of thing. So if your child isn't eating any of those foods, junior Revive does offer a good top up of B vitamins in terms of vitamin C, it's also the strongest contender on the market. And the D, unfortunately, the D lets it down a little bit because it doesn't contain the recommended supplement amount as per the HSE, which would be ten micrograms for the age group. It only contains five micrograms. So that's something that I wish could be different. [00:13:47] Speaker B: I am delighted to partner with one of my all time favorite products, Salon Plus. This is the world's 1st 100% natural. [00:13:55] Speaker A: Dry salt therapy device. [00:13:56] Speaker B: It's clinically proven to relieve a wide variety of allergens and respiratory conditions. This salt therapy method has been trusted for generations and has become hugely popular worldwide. As more and more people recognize the superb results achieved from a natural and noninvasive method, this device will help you breathe easier and sleep better. [00:14:18] Speaker A: If you're listening, Junior Revive up the vitamin D. It does, however, have a good amount of vitamin E, not too much, and it also has a very small amount of folic acid that really isn't worth looking at. It contains magnesium at a decent level, slightly higher than you actually need, and it also contains iron, but in a very small amount. So I wouldn't be going to Junior Revive for your vitamin D or your iron. It's very strong on the B vitamins, but not great for vitamin D and iron. It does, however, contain copper and it does contain selenium. Again, these aren't in huge amounts. I know with Junior Revive they have added ingredients and I suppose things that I amn't looking at within the scope of this podcast and these charts, all I am looking at are the essential minerals and vitamins. So I'm not really interested in all of the added ingredients under the scope of this because really this is evidence based and so I don't see it as relevant. While I'm sure they have health benefits, they're not tangible then for Well Baby, which is a syrup, and it's from six months to four years of age, it is a little bit broader than the Abidec syrup, which would be the comparable one in the age group. So Abidec syrup is from one to five, whereas Well Baby is from six months to four years. It has a lot less vitamin A in it and it has a lot less of vitamin B one and two. [00:15:53] Speaker B: Okay. [00:15:54] Speaker A: It's actually got a lot less of everything, if I'm perfectly honest. The only real strength that I would note here is that it has got the recommended daily intake of vitamin D and it does have the addition of iron at a decent dose. So if I was comparing Well Baby versus Abidex syrup for a child, you'd be finding out if they're eating meat and iron rich foods or if they're suffering with maybe a bit of lack of energy and paleness, then you'd maybe want to go for the iron based product, which would be your Well Baby. Also just remember that it also is stronger for the vitamin D. So if you had a child who maybe wasn't taking any fortified super milk or anything like that, the D is quite good in the Well Baby, but for the general B vitamins and for the vitamin C, you're going to go with the Abidec syrup. So there is nuances. And this is why it's so important to know what the different ingredients do and where they come from, because then you can actually look at the product and go, I mean, I see it has a lot of things, but does it have decent amounts of those things? Because as is clear here from the Well Baby list, you look at it and go, good, great, it's got all of the B vitamins. But no, it doesn't have significant levels, it doesn't have enough and it doesn't compare to Abidext syrup. And then if you look at Abidext syrup, you go, well, it's only got the B vitamins, but it's also got vitamin C in a higher level. So it's just about balancing it up and figuring out what your child's dietary requirement is, or where their deficits are. I am going to bundle three of the wellkid products together. They do a chewable tablet, they do an immune chewable tablet, and then they do soft jelly pastels. So I'm going to tell you what the story with those is and compare them maybe to the likes of the Junior Revive and the Centrum, which are also for children, kind of four plus. So the welkid products have more vitamin A in them than the likes of Centrum and Junior Revive. Overall, they have a broader vitamin B content than the Junior Revive in most of them, they have higher levels and they also have B two, which Junior Revive doesn't have and is also useful for the release of energy from food. So moving on then, from the vitamins, when you look at the vitamin C content, junior Revive has pretty much doubled the vitamin C than the wellkid have. So that is definitely a strength for the Junior Revive there. And again, that is almost double what Centrum has as well. So definitely for vitamin C. Your junior revive is the best performing in terms of vitamin D. I've already highlighted that junior revive doesn't have a great amount of vitamin D. But it's worth noticing that the well kid chewable tablets and the soft jelly past heels both have ten micrograms of vitamin D. So that's the recommended amount for children of the four to twelve age group which they're targeting. And for some strange reason, the well, kid immune doesn't. So I get it, they're going more after an increased level of vitamin C, but to be honest, Junior Revive has more vitamin C, so this is where it just gets a little bit messy. And I would definitely pick Junior Revive over the Wellkid immune chewable tablet, if immune is your focus. But as a general multivitamin, really, the other two wellkid products, so they're the wellkid chewable tablet, not the immune one, and the soft pastels are a bit better for the vitamin C's, B's and B vitamins. So the pastels kind of run out wind. Then they have a small bit of folic acid. They don't contain any of the other minerals like magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, selenium, chromium, whereas the other two products do to varying degrees. So the wellkid chewable tablet would come out on top there and it contains the broadest range, I would say, of minerals. So your things like iron, zinc, copper, selenium, chromium, iodine and even flaxseed oil, which gives some omega three. Bosch again, I'm not really talking about omega three S today. That's a different topic and I will cover it. Bosch in essence, they have strengths and weaknesses, and the last one then would be the Well Kid Peppa Pig multivitamin. This is kind of more like the soft jelly pastel. The Peppa Pig ones are only for three to seven years of age and I'm glad to see that it has the recommended amount of vitamin D. So that might be a winning reason. If your child is a big Peppa pig fan, at least you know they're getting their daily HSC recommended dose of vitamin D and it also contains vitamin A and some B vitamins in kind of smaller amounts and a small amount of vitamin C and E as well. Easiest thing to do now, because I know that can all sound a little bit gobbledy goop, so I'm just going to go into my instagram here and go to the questions and I'm just going to look at some of the examples and case studies that people gave me. I have one person here saying that their child won't eat mushrooms. And to be honest, if your child is eating everything else except mushrooms, you really don't need to worry. If they're eating good balanced meals and they're including all of the food groups, then that's absolutely fine. To have one dislike, obviously they'd be missing out from the vitamin B two in mushrooms, but that's also present in milk and eggs and plain yogurt, so wouldn't be too concerned about one aversion. That's absolutely fine. Some people saying my child won't eat veg, but they'll eat lots of fruit. If they are eating lots of fruit, obviously that's great. If they're eating bananas, they're getting some vitamin B six. If they're eating citrus fruits, they are getting some vitamin C. It is great. [00:21:47] Speaker B: That they're eating fruit and they are getting a whole host of vitamins from that. They're lacking in maybe iron and vitamin K and certain other things. The other thing to be aware of is obviously fruit contains sugar. So with fruit you might get fluctuating, blood sugar levels and energy up and downs. But eating fruit only, instead of eating. [00:22:10] Speaker A: No fruit or veg is a big. [00:22:12] Speaker B: Plus and you can grow from there. [00:22:14] Speaker A: So just maybe be conscious of things like vitamin K and folic acid, which rely heavily on green leafy veg, but there is some folic acid in things like oranges and eggs as well. So it may well be that they're getting enough if they're eating fruit regularly. Many people wrote back to say that fruit and veg are completely out. So if fruit and veg are completely out, you are going to end up with less than optimal levels of vitamin C. You might be down some vitamin B six, some vitamin B one, potentially some B five, and vitamin K, folic acid, magnesium, might be no harm to consider that. So for that reason, you might potentially want to top up on those particular vitamins. A lot of people saying that their children only eat bathe, food, carbs, basically, and that is so, so common. So I really just want to empathize because that is the most common thing that I hear in the pharmacy and that I get online and look, carbohydrates, you have to remember, carbs are ready to use energy, so that's good for kids and they're also calories. And if you can get them to go from kind of beige carbs to kind of whole grain carbs, sneak in a bit of both, any of those goodness of both brands of bread that can add some fiber to the diet as well, so all is not lost. I would definitely recommend supplementing with a multivitamin in that case, though, because they may be lacking in vitamin C, and if they're not eating meat or vegetables or dairy or fruit, like, there's a lot there that they could be missing out on. They could be missing out on vitamin A, whole host of B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E, K, folic acid. The list kind of goes on. So it would be definitely worth going with a general multivitamin in that case. So it kind of depends on if they eat meat or not. So if they're not a meat eater, I'd be inclined to recommend the wellkid chewable tablet because the other ones really aren't as adequate. So Junior Revive is obviously strong on vitamin C and the B vitamins, et cetera, but it doesn't have as much iron in it and then the centrum just doesn't have adequate vitamin D in it. So I would be inclined to recommend welkid chewable tablets for the beige food eaters. [00:24:48] Speaker B: It's important to be aware that if your child is only eating carbs, that there is a limit to what your body can store. So carbs basically are stored in your body as glycogen. And that glycogen is used for energy, which is great and particularly helpful if they're doing a lot of exercise. But once your body stores are full, so you've taken on enough glycogen and your body isn't using what you're now consuming, any excess glycogen is then converted. [00:25:18] Speaker A: Into a type of fat called triglycerides. [00:25:22] Speaker B: So if you're on a pure carb diet, you just want to be aware of that, that you're taking on energy, which is great because that's how we fuel our bodies. But if we're taking on more energy and converting it to glycogen than we can use, then it is going to. [00:25:38] Speaker A: Be stored in the body as fat. [00:25:39] Speaker B: So this is why we talk about a balanced diet. [00:25:42] Speaker A: You need some carbs, you need some. [00:25:44] Speaker B: Fruit, you need some veg, you need some protein. A blend of everything is ideal. So look, we're doing this podcast because that's not always possible, but I did just want to highlight that a lot. [00:25:55] Speaker A: Of people are saying dairy, dairy is completely out. Now, dairy isn't always a problem because remember, for example, vitamin A comes from things like yogurts and cheese, but it also comes in eggs. So maybe if they eat eggs, that would work. If they don't eat eggs or have any fortified spreads, then they would be kind of maybe short on vitamin A. And a decent vitamin for vitamin A. The best one for vitamin A actually is the Abidec advanced syrup. So it's got the highest amount of vitamin A. And just be conscious that it depends on what age your child is because it's only suitable for one to five. So if they're over five years of age, then the highest vitamin A would again be the well kid chewable vitamin. No wet food. I've had this in my house. Nothing but sauce. I mean, that's kind of okay. It is annoying because it rules out things like bolognaise, casserole, lasagna, curry, any kind of stew, any kind of shepherd's pie, anything mince based. Really frustrating when they won't eat wet food, but that happens. And generally in my experience, they grow out of it if they don't obviously can seek help from a nutritionist. I am not a nutritionalist, I am just a pharmacist. But if it's a little phase, then all you can try and do is look at their plate and try and provide some form of carbohydrate, so maybe potatoes or rice and then separate so not wet. And for a lot of kids, they don't like touching food, but then you can give them their choice of vegetables. And just try and always remember to have a colorful plate. So offering something like broccoli and peppers or broccoli and carrots is a great way of getting different vegetables in. So you're getting your green leafy veg, so you're getting your kind of folic acid, vitamin K and stuff in there. And then from your red peppers, you're getting loads of vitamin C. And then you're also getting vitamin C in the potatoes as well. So bear that in mind. And if they'll eat poultry or meat in whatever dry format, that be goujons or whatever, that is not a failure. I just want to say that just because they won't eat wet foods does not mean that they're going to be deficient in everything. You can absolutely work with that. It's just a bit annoying for everyone else who wants to eat other kinds of foods, but it's certainly copable with for a short period of time. And if it lingers, do talk to a dietitian or a nutritionist. Basically all of the messages came in around white carbs and then a certain few dislikes someone saying about salmon, obviously oily fish are great and there's amigas in them. But in terms of essential vitamins and minerals, there is things like iodine and zinc and copper in other types of fish. And there's vitamin A in eggs and cheese. So if they won't eat any oily fish at all, just remember that it is in other sources and it's not likely that they're going to get substantially deficient if they are having a balanced diet otherwise of other food groups. So that is kind of all of the case studies. Okay. I do realize that that episode is huge. I feel like I'm shipping people off to do homework and I hate that. I wish I could just give one answer. What is the best multivitamin? I. Mean, that would be a much easier podcast to record. The whole point of this is that it totally depends on your child's dietary intake. They may need no supplementation or you just simply might not feel strongly enough about reaching those reference intake levels because as I said, they are not targets, they are just a guideline. If your child isn't displaying any symptoms of deficiency or you feel they're bouncing fun of energy and they're thriving, well, that is absolutely great. So you don't need to take a multivitamin in a lot of cases, so I want to make that really clear. But if you want to optimize your child's health, that's a choice you can make too. And there's nothing wrong with that. What I would say is being aware of what the different products are, there are vast differences. And now I just hope that the charts that I have produced can make it really easy to see what's in what and what's the benefit of taking particular supplements and which product is going to offer you the most decent levels. Because you don't want to be paying for something and it not really doing anything. And the other side of it is you don't want to be taking vitamins you don't need because as we said earlier, it is just going to be expensive urine. Your body's not going to absorb any of the vitamins that it doesn't need, apart from vitamin A-D-E and K and they are the ones that you don't want to overdose on. So it's not essential, but it is a personal decision. And all I wanted today was to enable you as a parent or caregiver, to make that choice with clarity and with the information laid out by stripping back some of the marketing hype and discussing the different roles of essential vitamins and minerals and giving you an idea of how to navigate the vitamin market when you're looking at all of the different products on the shelf, because they can be overwhelming. I picked the most popular vitamins in my pharmacy to talk about, but you can use my chart to look at any vitamin range you want. You now have the reference intake values in front of you, you have the natural sources of those vitamins, so you've got ideas of where your child should be getting them in their diet and then you've got the benefits of them on your health system. So you've got all the information I wish you all optimal health. I think that's probably impossible, but it's nice to have a goal. Hopefully you'll be able to get your children feeling great and bounding full of energy so that they can do lots of exercise and run around and have loads of fun. Because that is the other big part of maintaining optimal health. Getting out, keeping fish and burning off all that energy that your B vitamins are allowing you to convert from food and using up some of that magnesium that you've taken through sweating and having fun. It was an absolute pleasure to talk to you. As always, follow, share and review this podcast on Spotify or Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And as I said earlier, if you would like the PDFs, you just sign up to the link that's on my Instagram and Facebook and we will get them emailed out to you in PDF version. Thank you so much for listening. Talk next week.