You may have heard that you should take supplements with food, take them on an empty stomach, take them before breakfast, take them before you go to sleep - which is it? Well, the answers depend on the ingredients, what you want to accomplish, and, most importantly, what you want to avoid - like insomnia.

Water-Soluble Vitamins

The human body does not naturally store water-soluble vitamins; therefore, you need to replenish them every day through your diet or supplements. The two most well known water-soluble vitamins are vitamin C and B complex vitamins.

Vitamin C naturally occurs in citrus fruit like oranges, grapefruit, and lemons. No matter how you get your vitamin C - fruit or supplements - the benefits are enormous. For this reason, you should get it daily, ideally, in smaller doses throughout the day. Vitamin C elevates your body's ability to absorb calcium, so take them together if you can. At the same time, vitamin C interferes with vitamin B12 absorption, so take them separately.

In general, B vitamins are known to boost your energy; therefore, the best time of day to take them is first thing in the morning. Recent research also shows that B Vitamins may interfere with sleep and even cause vivid dreams - more reasons to take them earlier in the day.

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Some examples of fat-soluble vitamins include vitamins A, D, E, and K.

Fat-soluble vitamins dissolve in oil, so should be taken alongside food. Studies show that taking fat-soluble vitamins immediately following a meal may boost the amount your body absorbs and improve the impact on your overall health. So it doesn't matter what time you take them, as long as you take them with food.

Probiotics

Probiotics are helpful bacteria that generally provide health benefits by restoring your gut flora and balancing your gut microbiome. Because your digestion system becomes less active while you sleep, the best time to take probiotic supplements is at bedtime. This way, the probiotics have the chance to hang out longer in your intestines and colonize.

Minerals

Take minerals such as zinc and magnesium before bedtime because some minerals produce a calming effect that may help you fall asleep more quickly and sleep more deeply. If you've been prescribed a mineral supplement twice a day, morning and evening is the best time to take them.

Omega-3's

Omega-3 supplements offer a wide range of health benefits from a better mood to better mobility. They also have an anti-inflammatory effect that helps protect your brain from stress and can calm anxiety symptoms. These essential fatty acids should be consumed between meals or on an empty stomach. An emulsified form like krill oil is best, which can help facilitate absorption. The exception to this rule is fish oil.

Fish oil is a popular omega-3 supplement that has a reputation for causing indigestion and nausea. Because fish oil is hard to digest, take fish oil in divided doses if you can and never before exercise or bedtime; the physical activity or prone position may cause unpleasant fish reflux.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants help protect our cells from free radical damage caused by exposure to pollution and chemicals and as a byproduct of our unhealthy lifestyle choices. It's best to take antioxidants supplements like saw palmetto, turmeric, and red raspberry before bedtime. Although the mechanism is not clear, they seem to have a bigger impact when taken at night. If you're taking a twice a day dosage, take one in the morning and one before bed.

Multi-Ingredient Supplements

Nutritional supplements that address specific health goals like boosting immunity to help stave off infection or improve prostate function often have a variety of ingredients that don't fit entirely into one category.

Take Prostavol Prostate Support. It's a combination of 33 ingredients, including vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidant herbs that support your prostate's health while also helping to reduce uncomfortable prostate issues like urgency to urinate. For multi-ingredient supplements like this, follow the instructions on the bottle or split the dosage between morning and evening.

And one last thing, supplements are not monitored by the FDA for quality, purity, or safety like prescription drugs. You should always select supplements made by a reputable source that are third-party tested and assembled in the USA in an FDA registered and GMP-certified lab like Prostavol Prostate Support.

Sources "The Best Time To Take Vitamins: Recommendations For Different Types". 2020. Medicalnewstoday.Com. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319556.Trebatická, Jana, Zuzana Hradečná, František Böhmer, Magdaléna Vaváková, Iveta Waczulíková, Iveta Garaiova, Ján Luha, Igor Škodáček, Ján Šuba, and Zdeňka Ďuračková. 2017. "Emulsified Omega-3 Fatty-Acids Modulate The Symptoms Of Depressive Disorder In Children And Adolescents: A Pilot Study". Child And Adolescent Psychiatry And Mental Health 11 (1). doi:10.1186/s13034-017-0167-2."When Is The Best Time To Take Vitamin D? Morning Or Night?". 2020. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/best-time-to-take-vitamin-d.