What Vitamins Should Men Age 23 Take Everyday?

If you are a young man in your 20s, you need to learn to take care of your body now, to prevent disease in the future. This includes consuming vitamins everyday. This is especially important if you eat a poor diet. A poor diet will deprive your body of the essential nutrition that your body must have to be healthy.

To be healthy you need to eat properly, exercise and avoid unhealthy habits such as smoking and drinking excessive alcohol. Eating properly includes consuming essential vitamins everyday. Young men need the same 13 essential vitamins as women, but you need them in larger amounts. The 13 essential vitamins are vitamins A, C, D, E, K and the eight B vitamins. The B vitamins are thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate.

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, there are specific requirements for each of the essential vitamins for young men. Each day you should consume 900 micrograms (mg) of vitamin A, 90 mg of vitamin C, 1,000 to 2,000 international units of vitamin D, 15 mg of vitamin E and 120 mcg of vitamin K. The current recommended daily requirements for the B vitamins are 1.2 mg of thiamine, 1.3 mg of riboflavin, 16 mg of niacin, 5 mg of pantothenic acid, 30 mcg of biotin, 1.3 mg of B-6, 2.4 mcg of B-12 and 400 mcg of folate.

To get these amounts you need to get them through the foods that you eat or take a multivitamin. The best way is to eat a balanced diet that contains ample fruits, vegetables, lean meats, nuts, seeds and vegetable oils. The B vitamins are found in food sources such as leafy green vegetables, beans, peas, fish, poultry, meat, eggs, fortified breakfast cereals and dairy products. Great sources of vitamin A are carrots and other colorful vegetables. Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits and in vegetables such as tomatoes and broccoli. Vitamin D is found in foods such as egg yolks, saltwater fish and liver, but you also produce vitamin D naturally when your skin is exposed to sunlight. Vitamin K is naturally found in green vegetables and dark berries. Vitamin E sources include vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and leafy greens.

According to MedlinePlus, the life-expectancy gap between men and women has decreased, but men need to pay more attention to their bodies. You need to take care of your body to prevent chronic illness. The Harvard School of Public Health states that daily exercise combined with a healthy diet that includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains and the essential vitamins and minerals can decrease your risk for developing heart disease, arthritis and some forms of cancer. If you do not eat a healthy diet, it recommends that you add a daily multivitamin to your diet to ensure that you get the proper vitamins that you need everyday.