What is the Best Time of Day to Take Supplements?
Key Points:
- Did you know you can optimize your supplement intake by making just a few lifestyle changes? Yep, monitoring the time of day you take your supplements, alongside diet, exercise, and supplement quality can help you optimize the absorption of your daily vitamins and minerals.
- Consistency is key when it comes to supplement intake — and it’s the most important thing to consider when optimizing supplement absorption.
- Usually, the best time of day to take supplements is in the morning — so your body can use the extra energy and properly digest the added nutrients. But, many supplements are different so we’ve created a chart for when to take your supplements.
The BodyBio Guide to Optimizing Your Vitamin and Mineral Intake
Imagine this: You have your good days and bad days when it comes to taking your supplements. Sometimes, you barely remember to choke them down before bed. Other days, you have them ready and waiting for you when you get up in the morning. In fact, you’re so ahead of the game that you even wonder… are there any ways to optimize your mineral and vitamin absorption?
Good news: the answer is yes.
Here are just a few ways you can get the most out of your daily supplement regime:
- Find the best time of day to take your supplements — morning, afternoon, or evening (we’ll cover this below).
- Follow directions on whether or not to take your supplements with food.
- Eat a well-balanced diet so your body doesn’t have to completely rely on supplemental vitamins and minerals.
- Choose high-quality supplements from a source you trust.
Today, we’re taking a deep dive into the best time of day to take supplements and why this matters to your health. Whether you use a daily multivitamin or you’re on a strict schedule of sodium butyrate and PC, we’ll help you optimize your wellness routine for best results for your body and your wallet.
Table of Contents:
- Best Practices for Taking Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
- The Best Time to Take Supplements: Night vs. Morning
- The Best Time of Day to Take Minerals
- Best Time of Day to Take Zinc Supplements
- Best Time of Day to Take Magnesium Supplements
- Best Time of Day to Take Potassium Supplements
- Turn to BodyBio for High-Quality Supplements and the Latest Research on Bioavailability
Best Practices for Taking Vitamin and Mineral Supplements
Before we dive into the best time of day to take supplements, let’s cover a few important basics:
- Consistency is the most important thing you can do for your health. Stay consistent taking your vitamins, eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and taking charge of your mental health. Sometimes, you will have to sacrifice the best time of day to take supplements in order to take those supplements at all. When life gets busy, celebrate that you were able to complete your daily routine instead of beating yourself up for skipping the optimal time.
- Always choose high-quality vitamin and mineral supplements. There’s a lot of sketchy stuff happening with over-the-counter vitamins, and most of them aren’t monitored by the FDA. You can ensure you get the most from your supplement by choosing a company you trust.
- Supplements are a partial fix. Despite how difficult it is to get vital nutrients through food these days, vitamin and mineral supplements aren’t meant to completely replace nutritious food, sunshine, and movement. They are one of many tools you can use to help rebuild and sustain your health.
Now that we’ve got all that covered, let’s chat about the best time to take supplements.
The Best Time to Take Supplements: Night vs. Morning
We typically recommend you take your supplements in the morning or afternoon, though some can also be taken in the evening if desired. Taking supplements in the morning or afternoon gives your gut time to absorb and digest them well before bedtime. Unless your supplements require an empty stomach (not likely unless you’re taking a binder like activated charcoal), you should take them with a snack or a meal for best absorption.
Need more guidance? Check out our charts for when to take supplements.
Another way to optimize your supplement intake could be with an adrenal cocktail. An adrenal cocktail typically contains vitamin C (which helps you absorb other vitamins like iron), and potassium, which can help to balance sodium levels.
You can enjoy an adrenal cocktail with or without your vitamins and reap the hydration benefits all day long.
The Best Time of Day to Take Minerals
We have a lot to say about mineral supplements. Although they usually don’t get as much attention as vitamins, minerals are building blocks to a healthy and functional body. And, with depleted soil and increasing environmental stress, minerals are running drastically low in many of us.
Finding the best time of day to take minerals can help you renew your mineral stores and optimize the dollars you spend on supplements.
The Best Time of Day to Take Zinc Supplements
A few hours after a meal. Zinc is best absorbed into the body on an empty stomach. However, zinc on an empty stomach can cause nausea and digestive distress for some. If that’s you, it’s always better to take your mineral supplement with food. Like other essential minerals for the body, we recommend taking your zinc supplement in the morning or afternoon.
Tip: Zinc and copper compete for the same binding sites in the body. This means, if you have a copper deficiency, you should take care when supplementing with zinc. Excess zinc supplementation will lower copper levels.
The Best Time of Day to Take Magnesium Supplements
One recent study finds that “The vast majority of people in modern societies are at risk for magnesium deficiency.” This is due to crop quality and access to highly processed (and minimally nutritious) foods.
Magnesium is in charge of over 600 enzyme reactions in the body — so having enough magnesium is essential to your body’s well-being. For most people, magnesium is a calming supplement that helps to optimize sleep and relieve sore muscles. For this reason, it’s one of the few mineral supplements we recommend taking before bed.
However, everyone’s different. If you feel energized by magnesium, feel free to take it in the morning with breakfast.
Best Time of Day to Take Potassium Supplements
Potassium is best absorbed during the day after a full meal and with a tall glass of water or juice. This is because potassium commonly upsets an empty stomach. We recommend taking potassium with orange juice or with your daily vitamin C supplement for extra absorption.
Turn to BodyBio for High-Quality Supplements and the Latest Research on Bioavailability
There are a lot of things standing between you and enhanced mineral and supplement stores. Low-quality supplements shouldn’t be one of them.
We’re passionate about providing education on how to make supplements work the best for you, but this only goes so far — especially if you’re using low-quality products that lack liposomes and bioavailability. That’s why we created BodyBio — to provide vitamins and minerals that actually help you feel better.
Curious? Feel the real difference quality supplements can make for your body and mind. Explore liquid mineral supplements.
References
DiNicolantonio, J. J., O'Keefe, J. H., & Wilson, W. (2018). Subclinical magnesium deficiency: a principal driver of cardiovascular disease and a public health crisis. Open heart, 5(1), e000668. https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2017-000668
Michalczyk, K., & Cymbaluk-Płoska, A. (2020). The Role of Zinc and Copper in Gynecological Malignancies. Nutrients, 12(12), 3732. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12123732
Weaver C. M. (2013). Potassium and health. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 4(3), 368S–77S. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.112.003533