Vitamins For Weight Loss 2023: How Do It Support & Best Vitamins

When it comes to weight loss, it’s not merely about cutting back on carbs and fat, or counting calories. It’s also not solely about exercise. The body needs to be in an ideal, healthy state in order to burn fat and lose excess weight, and one way to do that is to ensure the body is getting enough of certain vitamins and minerals – vitamins like vitamin D^[1] and vitamin C which are necessary for a healthy immune system, and minerals like iron which help the body make energy from the nutrients we ingest. Let’s discover more key vitamins and minerals that play a role in weight loss.

How Do Vitamins Support Weight Loss?

What’s important to understand is that vitamins alone do not work as a “weight loss” pill, but rather, they help the body function properly (even optimally) so that weight loss is possible and more effective. Different vitamins support the body in different ways, but it all adds up to putting the body in an ideal, healthy state so that it is more susceptible to weight loss, healing and overall well-being.

7 Best Vitamins For Weight Loss

Magnesium

It not only helps to lower blood pressure^[2], but it’s also an element the body uses to make energy. Magnesium plays a key role in hundreds of necessary functions in the body, some of which include regulating our blood glucose levels (an essential component of weight management) and managing our nervous system. Magnesium can also aid in constipation relief – another necessary factor in maintaining a healthy weight.

Multivitamins

Multivitamins are great to have on hand to cover your nutritional bases. While a multivitamin may not be enough to address major deficiencies in any one particular vitamin or mineral, they allow for a wide spectrum of support in the main elements that the body needs to function. Some multivitamins are tailored to specific demographics based on what support they need more of. For example, older women may need more calcium. Here are some of the best multivitamins for women over 50.

Vitamin D

Most people are deficient in vitamin D^[3] because the best way to get it is from the sun, which most people don’t get enough exposure to. It can be hard to spend time outdoors in our modern world, and even when we do, we have to be careful not to expose ourselves too much to the sun which would lead to sun damage. Yet we need vitamin D for a variety of reasons: Digestive health, immunity, weight loss and mental health. Indeed, vitamin D leads to improved mood as much as it does improved physical health. Keeping your vitamin D levels in a normal range is important for weight loss. In fact, some studies have shown a connection between obesity and vitamin D deficiency. 

B Vitamins

From B1 to B12, there are many B vitamins^[4], all of which have their own role to play in supporting a healthy metabolism, immune system and overall working body. One of the main jobs of vitamin B is to metabolize the food we eat, specifically macronutrients (protein, fat and carbs), and to help the body utilize the energy from these foods. Therefore, not having enough B vitamins can inhibit weight loss by interfering with how the body metabolizes food.

Iron

Iron is an essential mineral which, when depleted, can make people feel weak and in some cases, they can become anemic^[5]. One of iron’s main functions is transporting oxygen into each cell of our body and oxygen is a necessary component of weight loss. Having low levels of iron can inhibit this oxidizing process, which means a harder time losing weight. Another thing to consider is that, with low iron comes low energy, and without energy, it’s difficult to exercise regularly. Without enough exercise, we inhibit the weight loss process.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is probably best known for its immunity-enhancing powers, but it does many other important things in the body, one of which is supporting weight loss. It does this by slowing down the loss of age-related lean body mass, while at the same time, assisting in fat reduction. Together, these elements are needed to sustain a healthy body weight. It’s also been suggested that having enough vitamin C can keep stress hormones at bay, which may otherwise cause the body to hang onto visceral fat, particularly “stubborn belly fat”. In this sense, supplementing with vitamin C may not only reduce pounds/kilos, but also waist circumference.

Calcium

Calcium is another mineral that supports good metabolism and the body’s ability to burn fat. That being said, many calcium rich foods (such as dairy) are fattening, making losing weight more difficult. If you’re low on calcium and want to lose weight, it’s best to get your calcium from low-calorie, non-dairy sources such as leafy greens and nuts. Taking calcium supplements may also be a useful strategy to ask your healthcare practitioner about.

Supplements For Weight Loss That Are Ineffective

Many supplements and supplement brands claim to be effective at helping individuals lose weight, whether by suppressing appetite, burning fat faster or promising some other “silver bullet” result. However, very few of them have been studied extensively enough to support these claims. This does not necessarily mean that they definitely don’t work, but rather, that there’s no scientific evidence to show that they do work. In some cases they have been studied and the findings show that they are ineffective at helping people lose weight. Some of these ineffective supplements^[6] include:

• Capsaicin
• Beta-glucans 
• Bitter orange (synephrine)
• Carnitine
• Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)
• Forskolin
• Chromium picolinate
• Fucoxanthin
• Garcinia cambogia

Side Effect Of Consuming Supplements For Weight Loss

Every vitamin and mineral has their own benefits as well as side effects. The side effects you may encounter when taking vitamins for weight loss will depend on the vitamin itself. For example, magnesium may cause stomach irritation, while iron may cause constipation. This will vary not only from vitamin to vitamin and mineral to mineral, but also from person to person. 

If you’re consuming a weight loss supplement specifically, rather than individual vitamins, you may experience side effects such as reduced appetite. And for those taking a weight loss prescription drug, such as a stimulant^[7], side effects can be more severe and include elevated heart rate, insomnia, nervousness, blindness and headaches. 

When Should You Consult A Doctor

Any consideration of taking new supplements, even vitamins and minerals, should be discussed with your doctor. It this important to get a thorough medical workup to assess your levels of vitamins and minerals to detect any deficiencies before assuming it’s healthy to take certain vitamins. It’s also good to rule out any underlying medical issue that may be causing you to feel like you need to be taking more vitamins (for example, extreme fatigue and/or rapid weight gain could be a sign of a thyroid problem).

It’s important to remember that vitamins and minerals are meant to be present in the body within certain ranges and you can have too much. Not only can too much of certain vitamins and minerals be harmful, but some may have contraindications and interact poorly with other medications you’re taking.

All individuals should run their concerns by their doctor before starting new supplements, but particularly those with serious medical conditions, those on certain medications, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and people with suppressed immune systems. 

Conclusion

Vitamins and minerals play essential roles in how our body functions. We need the right balance of different vitamins and minerals in order for our bodily systems to operate at full capacity, which then supports healthy weight loss. While one vitamin or mineral alone does not reduce fat or build muscle, they work together as a team to help the body metabolize food, use energy from the food, carry oxygen into our cells, and reduce stress, all of which allows weight loss to happen more smoothly and efficiently.

Frequently Asked Questions