Did you know the UK spent a massive £431 million on vitamins last year? If that wasn’t enough of an eye-opener, it’s estimated that the worldwide vitamin market is now worth a staggering £102 billion per year!
Stats like these show billions of people across the globe are getting their daily dose of vitamins. There’s a dizzying array of supplements available now, and you can’t read the newspaper, listen to a podcast, or scroll through your socials without being bombarded by recommendations of what will make you feel healthy, look great (and younger!) and ace your way through life. You might well have been left scratching your head, thinking: “But what vitamins should I take daily?”
Rather than adding to the confusion, by giving you yet more recommendations… Here’s the skinny on some of our bestselling vitamin patches, and who benefits most from taking them. These vitamin heroes are popular for good reason. They help thousands of PatchWorks’ customers to feel their best, and support some of the most common health concerns.
Getting the right daily vitamin intake for adults is top of most people’s health agenda. So it’s no surprise that multivitamins have been the bestselling supplement in the UK for years.
Why? Because you need 13 vitamins to maintain optimum wellbeing: A, C, D, E, K, and the 8 B vitamins. Aside from vitamin D and B3, your body can’t make these nutrients, and you’ll need to get them from food. Plus, B vitamins and vitamin C are water-soluble – so they aren’t stored by your body and need to be replenished every day.
Are you getting enough vitamins from your diet?
Even if you eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, healthy fats, and protein, it can still be tricky to give your body a continuous supply of the right amount of nutrients. Long working hours, takeaways, and meals out all play havoc with diet. Not to mention the millions of people who suffer from leaky gut, or malabsorption issues. If that’s you, even an exemplary diet won’t ensure all the vitamins and the nutrients from food make it to where the body needs them most. So frustrating!
Not getting enough essential vitamins? You may feel fatigued and lacking in energy. Maybe you’re dizzy or experiencing muscle weakness, or tingling in your hands and feet. In a nutshell, let’s just say something will feel a little off.
What to do?
Try a multivitamin, the ultimate ‘catch-all’ supplement. The Multivitamin Vitamin Plus Patch contains every one of the essential 13 vitamins. Plus health-promoting minerals like iron, calcium, iodine, magnesium, zinc, selenium, manganese, chromium, potassium, and many more – phew! Everything you need to maintain your health in one handy patch, in the right quantities, delivered directly into your bloodstream. Sorted!
Another mega popular patch is B12 Energy Plus. B12 is one of the top vitamins worth taking, because your body can’t make it itself. B12 has tons of crucial uses in the body and helps with everything from nerve cell function, to red blood cell formation, and DNA synthesis. It can boost your energy levels, improve memory, mood, and cognitive function, support bone health. It has even been shown to help prevent heart disease when taken regularly. Wowsers.
Not getting enough? Symptoms of B12 deficiency include recurrent mouth ulcers and a sore tongue, pins and needles, disturbed vision, and feeling irritable and depressed.
Who needs it?
B12 deficiency is relatively common as you get older, with one in 10 people aged 75 and over, and one in 20 aged 65-74, in the UK living with a B12 deficiency. Vegan? You need to listen up too. Around 11% of vegans of all ages have a B12 deficiency. So if you’re over 60, or you don’t eat meat and animal products, you should definitely consider taking B12.
Ditto all the Mamas-to-be out there. It’s crucial you get enough B12 during pregnancy to help prevent brain and spinal chord defects.
Want to get your hands on a game changing anti-ageing supplement? Glutathione should be top of your shopping list. This anti-oxidant powerhouse is made from three amino acids: glutamine, glycine, and cysteine. Combined they are pretty much unstoppable in helping your body reduce oxidative stress and combat damaging free radicals. They also aid DNA synthesis.
Glutathione is made in the liver, but levels decrease as a result of getting older, stress, and being exposed to toxins. Nutritionally, it’s mainly found in raw (or very rare meat) and unpasteurised dairy products. Making it tricky to get naturally if you’re veggie, vegan, or don’t do dairy (or unpasteurised products!).
A Glutathione supplement is a great way to help prevent the metabolic declines associated with aging, without having to chow down on steak tartare every day. The Glutathione Plus Patch also contains N-acetyl-cysteine, which may help to maintain glutathione levels and enhance your body’s own glutathione production. You’ll also find energising PQQ and CoEnzyme Q10. Fountain of youth here you come!
Even pre Covid-19, the Immune Defense Plus Patch has always been topped our bestseller charts. Who wouldn’t want a secret weapon to stop you feeling under the weather?
How can a patch help immunity?
Got the dreaded ‘coming down with something’ feeling? Taking herbal immune boosters such as Echinacea and Elderberry/Sambucus can help to strengthen your immune system, and provide symptomatic relief from colds and flu. You’ll also want to up your vitamin C and D uptake, to keep your immune system functioning well and support white blood cell production.
White blood cells, in particular your natural killer cells, are the prizefighters when your body is tackling any kind of infection. Functional medicine expert and nutritionist Tanya Borkowski recommends taking Vitamin D, C, Zinc, and Glutathione to boost the production of these killer cells. The Immune Defense patch includes many of Tanya’s suggestions, plus natural anti-inflammatories bromelain and maitake mushroom – so it’s also ace at reducing allergy symptoms. Multitasking patch power!
Wondering what vitamins a woman should take daily? Iron – another bestseller – is most definitely up there. Especially if you’re pre-menopausal. Research shows iron deficiency affects up to 50% of women in the UK.
What can iron do for you?
Iron makes haemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that helps transport oxygen around the body. It helps maintain energy levels, regulates your body temperature, and even supports your immune system. Don’t get enough iron and you might start to feel very tired, look pale, get palpitations and breathlessness. You could even find yourself suffering from more infections than usual. No thanks!
It’s not just women who should be taking iron. As nutrition whizz Katherine Caris-Harris points out here, iron is also crucial if you exercise regularly. When you work out, the amount of haemoglobin in your body increases, the demand on your iron level climbs, and it can become depleted. So low iron often occurs in men who run long distances, or train hard too.
Oral iron supplements are renowned for their less than lovely gastric side effects. Give them a swerve and use the Iron Plus Patch to top up instead. This formulation also contains ascorbic acid which aids iron absorption to the max. All the benefits, with none of the negatives.
