During his speech at our wedding reception, my husband joked that if I'd had my way, everyone would have been given a multivitamin for dinner instead of a square meal. The preparations had admittedly been comical, as we tried to pick a gluten-free, dairy-free meal that other people would enjoy eating too.

Unfortunately, so much gluten-free food tastes like cardboard, we ended up picking one menu for everyone else and a separate one for me. Not that we should have bothered, by the time dinner came along I was upstairs lying down — my dress was so tight my fingers had gone blue.

So I missed out on my stale rice cake and melon balls, which needless to say, wasn't a bad thing. I am of course exaggerating — gluten-free food can be delicious at times¿ but more importantly, I am wandering wildly off the point.

In reality, I would never suggest that someone replaces a meal with a vitamin pill — no matter how comprehensive or full of promise the product may be.

Mother Nature is extremely clever, and one of the great things about wholefoods is that the nutrients they provide tend to come packaged up with the cofactors that maximise absorption and assimilation into the body. For example, green leafy vegetables tend to be rich in calcium — but also in magnesium which improves utilization of calcium within the body.

However, that doesn't mean I am against supplements, I actually think they can play a critical supporting role for many people. Which brings me on to this week's question, "do I really need to take a multivitamin?"

Question of the week: Do I really need to take a multi-vitamin? — S. SIMONS, DEVONSHIRE

There is no factual right or wrong answer here, all I can give you is my opinion!

The issue of supplementation continues to be debated, with some arguing that multivitamins are "no more than expensive urine" and others arguing that they provide a safety net for good health and a buffer against disease.

The expensive urine argument is valid in many ways. Some studies have found that people taking high dosage multivitamins, simply pee out the nutrients an hour later. Expensive? Yes. And alarming too — most multivitamins will temporarily turn pee a fluorescent shade of yellow, no matter how hydrated you may be.

However, when following this line of argument, what isn't made clear is whether or not the multivitamins were taken with food, what nutrient combinations were provided and what forms the nutrients took — all of which are critical factors for consideration.

Firstly, multivitamins should not be taken on an empty stomach, otherwise they can travel through your system too quickly, without being absorbed. Secondly, it's important to provide cofactors for absorption just as Mother Nature does e.g. by providing magnesium and vitamin D to aid the absorption of calcium. Finally, nutrients must be provided in an absorbable form. Zinc citrate is twice as absorbable as zinc sulphate, yet as zinc sulphate is cheaper, it's the more common choice for many supplement companies.

Opponents to multivitamins also commonly argue that there is no need to supplement if you are eating a balanced diet. And if you are eating a perfectly balanced diet, then maybe ¿ maybe¿there is some merit in that viewpoint. However, even I struggle to have a perfectly balanced diet all the time — and I've been at it for years.

The thing is, in reality, we don't eat perfectly.

If we ate perfectly we'd all have 5-9 servings of fruit and veg daily, 3 servings of wholegrains, 1 serving of unroasted nuts and seeds, plenty of vegetarian protein¿ we'd drink at least 1.5 litres of water daily, and avoid sugar, alcohol, saturated fat, table salt and processed foods totally. Who's doing that?

As we evolved, we didn't have the option to eat anything but healthily. These days, we have fast and processed food at our fingertips. Between work, family, relationships, a social life and community commitments, a perfectly healthy diet often falls through the cracks — and this is where, in my view, a good quality multi-nutrient formula comes in.

Further, we no longer eat seasonally. This means that many different fruit and veg are either forced to grow out of season or have been in storage for weeks before we eat them.

All this is great for diversity but means that the nutrient value of food is often depleted by the time it reaches our plates.

Also, it's worth considering that over-farmed soil often leads to nutrient depletion, which in turn means that the plants themselves contain less nutrients than they used to.

If this weren't bad enough, the artificial fertilizers and pesticides used to farm non-organic food all need to be detoxified by our bodies. Detoxification requires a good quota of antioxidants (such as A, C and E) which means less are then available to boost your immune system.

Finally, consider this. Stress, overcooking, environmental pollution and consumption of sugar, alcohol, bad fat and table salt, can all deplete the body of nutrients. So are you seeing the bigger picture yet? For all our development and industrialization, we're much more "nutrient-poor" than we used to be. Optimum nutrition is now more complex than simply eating a balanced diet.

However, please remember this. No matter how fabulous the formula, supplements must never take the place of a healthy diet.

While they can be good for filling in the gaps when you can't eat perfectly, they do not contain the fibre, amino acids, essential fats and complex carbs that are so essential for a healthy body and mind. Eating badly consistently whilst taking vitamins defeats the purpose.

A poor diet will always do more damage than even the best multivitamin can correct.

If I've persuaded you that you may do well to take a multivitamin, here's what you need to know. A good "multi" should actually contain both vitamins and minerals.

If you just take a multivitamin, you'll miss out on valuable minerals such as calcium, magnesium, zinc and selenium, so look for a formula that contains both.

In addition, you must buy a good quality supplement. Many standard supplements contain artificial colours and fillers such as talc. Instead of browsing the aisles of your average grocery store or pharmacy, take yourself off to Down to Earth or Rock On and buy a quality formula. The supplements stocked by specialist health stores are more likely to contain an optimal amount of nutrients, in the correct ratio and in a highly absorbable form. Brands such as Solgar, Buried Treasure, Life Extension, Naturol and Twinlab are all excellent — but discuss your specific needs with the staff in-store.

Finally, whilst Down to Earth and Rock On both have the "Health Notes" database, a system which allows you to check for any drug-nutrient-food interactions, always err on the side of caution. If you have a health condition or are on any medication, ALWAYS discuss supplementation with your physician. Women of childbearing years are better off with a quality prenatal formula that contains adequate folic acid and safe levels of vitamin A.

The advice given in this article is not intended to replace medical advice, but to complement it. Always consult your GP if you have any health concerns. Catherine Burns is a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist. She can be contacted at 291 4725 or clinicalnutrition@gmail.com.