Did you grow up taking Flinstones chewable vitamins like I did? They tasted like no one’s favorite candy, but they got the job done. It was part of my routine growing up, but it wasn’t something I really focused on after childhood.

As an adult, I’ve dealt with an iron deficiency, as well as a dip in one or two other minerals. I was a vegetarian for many years, which meant that I struggled to meet my iron needs — it’s hard making sure you’re getting enough protein and iron and calcium, and everything else!

So, as an adult who’s almost 30 years old, is it time for me to start taking a daily multivitamin?

According to the ads I’m served on Instagram: it is.

I constantly get ads about vitamin subscription services; some of them you can even take a quiz to customize what’s in your vitamin packs based on what you “need.” All of these new services tend to mention that they’re not out to fix your life’s problems — they’re not even positive that you need to take these vitamins in the first place.

On the whole, humans get enough vitamins and nutrients from the foods they eat. This is why, most of the time, a “balanced” diet is promoted. This often gets tied to the “food pyramid,” which became reimagined as the “MyPyramid” in 2005 which then became the “MyPlate” concept in 2011. In an attempt to get rid of some stigma around foods that were previously deemed “bad” by the pyramid, the plate concept was mostly to grab consumers visually while promoting “healthy eating.” (Click here to see the USDA’s graphic design for healthy diets over the years — they’re always changing!)

The idea is that if you’re eating a variety of foods that you’re getting the vitamins/minerals/nutrients that you need. Occasionally, you might have a deficiency of a particular vitamin. Vitamin deficiencies manifest depend on the individual as well as the type of vitamin; they can often cause fatigue, a lack of energy, brittle hair/nails, and many other symptoms.

How can you tell if you have a vitamin deficiency? The only way to know for sure is to check with your doctor. They will likely perform a blood test to scan multiple vitamin and mineral levels in your bloodstream to see if any are below a certain level. If that’s the case, they’ll likely prescribe or recommend the supplements or dietary changes you’ll make in order to get your levels back up.

When I was first diagnosed with an iron deficiency (the most common vitamin deficiency), I started taking iron supplements and started to eat more foods that were both high in iron and helped with iron absorption. I absolutely have not maintained a steady routine of taking iron supplements — I tend to only take them when I’m on my period to help account for what my body is losing during that week — and that can lead to a baseline level of fatigue for me.

Care/of’s minimalist design appeals to the digital generations, who’ve been groomed to take quizzes and get results.

Many of the “flashy” new vitamin subscription companies list out their ethically and vegan-friendly sourced ingredients. Some of them also include vitamins that we can’t get from our food, but that have alleged benefits for overall health.

It’s a hard, and ultimately personal, choice. For years, I’ve heard that multivitamins don’t do a lot for people. (Put more crassly, I’ve heard that they only give us more expensive urine.) But if they can give us a better baseline of many vitamins at once, despite what we are or are not eating, perhaps investing in them is overall a good idea. Perhaps it also is not!

You don’t need to attach yourself to every subscription trend that comes your way, though I’m certainly struggling with the appeal of convenience and legitimate sustainable sourcing. You most likely can create your own little pill pouches of what your doctor has instructed you to take, or what you know your body needs.

At the end of the day, you’re the expert in you, which means you get to call the shots.

Should you be taking multivitamins?