The gist:
Gummy vitamins used to be marketed to kids, but now adults are taking them for magnesium, fish oil, prenatal health, and more.
Expert insight:
With two or three grams of sugar per piece, these supplements still qualify as candy, says Melissa Majumdar, RD, Atlanta-based spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
“If one serving quickly turns into multiple, it’s best to avoid satisfying cravings this way because you’ll risk exceeding upper limits,” she says. A single piece may contain 100 percent of your daily vitamin D requirements, for example, and regular overconsumption could cause issues like nausea.
Another downside to relying on gummies, she notes: They usually don’t contain B vitamins like thiamin because their flavors are difficult to mask.
The bottom line:
In most cases, you can get all the vitamins you need through healthy whole foods. If you do take gummies, Majumdar suggests a two-per-day limit (for example, one for D and one for elderberry). That goes for sugar-free options as well, since artificial sweeteners can lead to gas and upset stomach.
To avoid getting too much of any single nutrient, crosscheck the labels to make sure there’s no overlap.