Multivitamin-mineral supplements in the nutrition of patients with obesity and associated diseases

Many biologically active substances, including vitamins, essential macro- and microelements, and vitamin-like compounds, have properties that may potentially reduce pathological changes and improve the condition of patients with obesity and associated diseases, such as type 2 diabetes (DМ2), cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and others.

The purpose of this review is to characterize the micronutrient status of patients with obesity, to justify the need for the use of multivitamin-mineral supplements (MMS) in the dietary treatment of this disease, and to determine their doses to ensure clinical effectiveness. Patients with obesity are characterized by multiple micronutrient deficiencies of varying degrees, i.e., a simultaneous lack of several vitamins and minerals. Patients with obesity and/or DМ2 have an increased need for vitamins C and D. Many medications impair the absorption of vitamins. A sufficiently long-term intake of multimicronutrient supplements containing vitamins in a dose commensurate with the recommended daily intake (RDА) leads to an increase blood plasma micronutrient concentration and the elimination of many metabolic disturbances caused by micronutrient deficiencies. The intake of micronutrients in physiological doses should be continuous, because their «leaching» begins after discontinuation, leading to a return to the initial micronutrient deficiency status provided by the basic diet. The selection of multivitamin-mineral supplements for patients with obesity is based on the use of micronutrient doses commensurate with the RDА.

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