Best Multivitamins for Basketball Players

There is more to being a basketball player then being able to score on the basketball court. That is, to be an all-around and competitive player, you will need to take care of your body both on the court and off of it.

One such way to do so is to take a daily multivitamin. Packed with essential nutrients, multivitamins provide an easy, efficient, and low-frills method to ensuring your body is getting all the essential vitamins and nutrients needed to sustain muscle strength and growth.

But not all multivitamins are made the same and some brands offer better protections and nutrients which are more geared towards the needs of a basketball player and an athlete in general.

Below, we are going to look at the best multivitamins for basketball players. However, we are briefly going to discuss just what a multivitamin consists of and whether or not a multivitamin would be a good option for your particular needs.

And although the vitamins and nutrients within a multivitamin are useful for nearly anyone interested in taking one, for some athletes who maintain proper diets and caloric intakes, taking one would be unnecessary as you will be consuming those vitamins through your daily diet.

What is a Multivitamin?

A multivitamin is a form of a supplement and are some of the most popular supplements in the world. With their popularity increasing in recent years, more and more individuals are beginning to consume daily multivitamins in the hope that they will be able to improve their overall health.

And while you may be able to ingest certain vitamins and minerals individually, a multivitamin contains a slew of differing vitamins and minerals in one easy to take and ingest tablet, pill, powder, or chewable gummy.

Essentially, a multivitamin is a combination of some of the most important vitamins and minerals and can help an individual to ensure proper intake of those vitamins and minerals on a daily basis.

However, given that there is no uniform standard on what constitutes a multivitamin, their nutrient composition varies from band to brand and by product. Similarly, multivitamins are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, so their health claims are not independently verified by an official agency.

What Vitamins and Minerals do Multivitamins Contain?

For a healthy human, there are thirteen vitamins and 15 minerals which are essential for you health. These 28 vitamins and minerals help a human body to function and ensure the avoidance of chronic disease. And even with a complete diet, you may not be getting the adequate amount of nutrients you need on a daily basis.

And that’s where multivitamins come in.

Multivitamins are able to provide you with these essential vitamins and nutrients and can help to ensure that you are not deficient in any of them. However, as multivitamins are not regulated, the onus is on the consumer to ensure they are receiving the most important vitamins and nutrients from their multivitamin.

As such, before purchasing a multivitamin, you should ensure that the specific brand contains some of the more important vitamins and nutrients. Those more important vitamins and nutrients are as follows:

• Vitamin D – Vitamin D helps our bodies to absorb calcium and a deficiency in Vitamin D can increase your chances of getting sick, having bone or back pain, and experiencing bone or hair loss.

• Magnesium – an essential nutrient, magnesium is best known for being important to our bone health and energy production. In addition, magnesium has been known to help calm the nervous system, ease sleep problems, and regulate muscle and nerve functions.

• Calcium – we’ve all heard of the importance of calcium in a daily diet. Calcium helps to ensure strong bones and teeth and is one of the best nutritional defenses against the loss of bone density.

• Zinc – another essential nutrient, zinc helps to support our immune system and aids in the use of carbohydrates, protein, and fat for energy. In addition, zinc helps in healing of wounds.

• Iron – as a basketball player, iron is essential in your diet. Iron helps with increased energy, better brain function, and the creation of healthy red blood cells.

• Folate – folate is most often associated with reproductive health. And though folate is an important mineral for reproductive purposes, it also helps in nail health, combatting inflammation, and fighting depression.

• Vitamin B – While there are a ton of health benefits to vitamin B, their overall contribution to your health can be best summarized as having a direct impact on your energy levels, brain function, and cell metabolism. In addition, for male basketball players, vitamin B plays a key role in increasing testosterone levels and may also help men build muscle and increase strength.

Do You Need a Multivitamin?

Contrary to popular belief, most healthy adults don’t need a daily multivitamin. That is, if you eat a healthy, balanced diet, then the nutrients and minerals provided by a multivitamin provide little additional nutritional value.

However, with that said, the key consideration here should be on a healthy and balanced diet. That is, if you are eating processed foods, diets low in nutritional value, or a diet consisting of similar ingredients and vitamin makeup, then taking a multivitamin doesn’t hurt.

That is why, for so many of us, the option to take a multivitamin is just that, an option. Most would agree that a multivitamin isn’t strictly necessary. However, most would also agree that taking one has little negative affects and would be an insurance against a poor diet or one consisting of low nutritional value.

That does not mean that a multivitamin should be used as an excuse to eat poorly, but if you are not getting all the recommended nutrients through your diet, then a multivitamin is a good option and one we would suggest considering.

However, in consideration that we are not trained medical professionals nor are we physicians, we recommend consulting with a medical professional or a primary care doctor to ascertain just whether or not beginning a multivitamin routine is a good idea for you.

Multivitamins for Basketball Players

Below, we’ve compiled some of our favorite multivitamins. We’ve used many on this list and for the rest have consulted with family and friends to better understand how they’ve felt after using the multivitamin. In addition, as we are looking specifically into multivitamins for basketball use, we looked for ones which provided the highest levels of essential nutrients and vitamins and the ones which were not filled with additives and fillers.

• Klean Athlete Multivitamin – We really like Klean Athlete Multivitamin and are currently utilizing this multivitamin for our own needs. GMO-free and formulated without wheat, gluten, or artificial coloring, flavoring or sweeteners, Klean is one of the cleanest and purest multivitamins on the market. And with all the essential nutrients listed above, Klean Multivitamin also adds in a blend of antioxidants to further support a healthy immune system.

• Bodybuilding.com Multivitamin – we have yet to try the Bodybuilding.com Multivitamin but are listing it here as the website is one of the best known and most reputable when it comes to general fitness. Bodybuilding.com has been around for nearly two-decades and continues to provide timely, relevant, and pertinent information for athletes worldwide. We trust them and trust any formulation they would put out, so we would definitely give their multivitamin a shot.

• Peregrune Runner’s Multivitamin – while Peregrune Runner’s Multivitamin is aimed towards runners, the basic formulation can be utilized for athletes across differing disciplines. As such, their focus on vitamin B, antioxidants, and vitamin A and D make it perfect for basketball players. In addition, from the multivitamins we reviewed, this is the only one that was certified vegan.