Whether it’s a person’s personality or their nutritional needs, no two individuals are alike. That’s why, when it comes to health and wellness, it’s time to ditch the one-size-fits-all approach for nutritional supplements. Your age, gender, lifestyle, and even geographical location can influence just how much of a nutrient you need to supplement.

A quiz can be a helpful starting point when it comes to determining the vitamins and other nutritional supplements you might need to support your unique health and wellness goals.

Nutritional Needs 101

Let’s start with the essentials – vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids – all of which are essential because the body can’t make them, so they must be acquired in the diet. There are 13 essential vitamins the human body requires for healthy function: vitamins A, C, D, E, K, and the B vitamin complex – thiamin (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), cobalamin (B12), biotin, and folate/folic acid.

Then there are the 17 essential minerals that are divided into two groups – macro-minerals and trace minerals. Because the macro minerals are found in larger amounts in the body, they are thus needed in larger amounts in the diet. The macro-minerals include calcium, magnesium, chlorine, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulfur. The trace minerals – required in considerably smaller amounts – include iron, chromium, cobalt, copper, zinc, iodine, fluoride, molybdenum, manganese, and selenium.

Each one of these vitamins and minerals plays a key role in keeping your body active and thriving. Take magnesium, for example. This mighty mineral is involved in at least 600 different enzymatic reactions throughout the body; it supports the muscles, nerves, bones, metabolic processes, and cellular energy levels.*

Beyond vitamins and minerals, other key nutrients are needed for a healthy body. For example, the omega-3 fatty acids are a class of nutrients that are vital for supporting heart and blood vessel health (Read: When is the best time to take fish oil?); brain, muscle, and nerve function; bone and joint health; and mood.* However, because the body doesn't produce omega-3 fatty acids in sufficient amounts, the only way to obtain the optimal amounts of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA is through diet or supplementation.

Botanical extracts, while not considered essential, can go a long way in supporting certain health and wellness goals. Curcumin is a prime example. This plant constituent has both antioxidant activity, as well as activity that supports a balanced inflammatory response throughout the body. Many active individuals seek curcumin’s support for promoting relief from the occasional pain and soreness associated with the overuse of joints and muscles.*

Why a supplement quiz can be helpful 

So how can you fine-tune your nutritional supplement protocol to meet your unique needs or goals? Although the U.S. Government has established nutrient intake guidelines, it’s important to keep in mind that these guidelines merely establish the amounts needed to prevent the occurrence of specific nutrient deficiencies – such as scurvy from a vitamin C deficiency.

To achieve optimal health and wellness, you very likely need more than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of a particular nutrient. For example, a woman in her 50’s or 60’s could benefit from higher amounts of calcium and magnesium than their published RDA’s to help protect her bones from osteoporosis. A woman looking to start a family would likely require higher amounts of certain vitamins and minerals, such as the B vitamin folate and the mineral iron. On the other hand, a woman training for a triathlon would benefit from upping her protein intake to support post-training muscle recovery; whereas, an individual following a vegan diet likely requires a higher intake of iron and B vitamins.

As you can see, when it comes to daily nutritional support, there is a lot to consider. That’s exactly why one of Thorne’s many supplement quizzes can help guide you toward which vitamins and other nutritional supplements might best support you and your health and wellness goals.

Types of quizzes Thorne offers

Thorne offers several types of quizzes to help you determine which Thorne supplements can best meet your needs.

At the foundational level, Thorne’s multi-vitamin/mineral quiz (our most popular quiz) helps you determine which multi-vitamin/mineral formula would be best for your specific needs. However, let’s say you have a more specific goal in mind. What if you are looking to improve your sleep and are unsure of which supplement can best help? Thorne has a quiz for that. What about finding the best probiotic based on your diet and lifestyle? Good news. There is also a Thorne quiz for that.

From finding the best B-vitamin complex, giving your mood a boost, or fortifying your immune function with supplements, Thorne offers more than a dozen quizzes based on the most common health and wellness goals and concerns.

How Thorne quizzes work 

Each Thorne quiz has been developed by Thorne’s medical team and can be completed in just a few minutes. The quizzes start by asking a few basic questions, such as your age, gender, fitness activity level, typical diet, sleep routine, and other basic lifestyle habits. At the end of the quiz, you receive a customized, individualized recommendation based on the answers you provided.

What a quiz won’t tell you 

Although a quiz is a great quick starting point that can narrow down your unique nutritional support options, to better understand your health concerns, consider taking a deeper dive to determine how some of your biomarkers are stacking up – stress hormones, sleep hormones, metabolic biomarkers, your vitamin D level, for example. Remember, people are individuals – no two are the same. Your diet, lifestyle, age, and multiple other factors contribute to determining which supplement protocol would be best for you. A health test looks at the biological data from your blood, saliva, or other biomarkers, to create a precision-based personalized health and wellness plan just for you.

What a Thorne health test can tell you

Drawing from your unique biomarker levels, coupled with a scientific algorithm that compares data points from thousands of scientific publications, a Thorne health test provides accurate and actionable insights, along with a tailored plan – not just for supplements – but a total health and wellness plan that involves diet advice, exercise routines, and other steps to make lifestyle changes to improve your health and wellness.

So, if you are feeling more sleep-deprived or stressed out than usual, then take the guesswork out of improving your health and wellness and invest in one of Thorne’s health tests that can show you the steps needed to make meaningful changes.