In fact, generic multivitamins may be doing much more harm to you than you realize. According to a 2013 study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the supplements that so many people take to boost their health provide “no clear benefit and might even be harmful.” It’s their one-size-fits-all nature that makes them problematic, and Multiply Labs is looking to fix that.
The pills Multiply Labs creates are meant for you and you alone. “For the first time, we made it possible to create your own personalized supplement pill that can be customized to release different supplements at various times throughout the day,” said startup co-founder Tiffany Kuo. “With one pill in the morning, you can have your standard health-boosting supplements released immediately and a burst of caffeine released later in the day.”
Each 3D-printed pill has different chambers that contain individual supplements. And because the chambers’ walls can vary in thickness, not everything is being released at the same time. For example, if you know that you’ll need a caffeine boost around 3 p.m., you can design a pill that addresses that need. “With a regular caffeine pill, I can’t guarantee it’s going to give me the boost when I need it, because it’s mass produced,” said co-founder Fred Parietti. “But we can customize it.”
While the focus of Multiply Labs is currently exclusive on vitamins, this could change in the near future, Parietti suggested in an interview with TechCrunch. But for now, creating truly personalized, effective multivitamins is enough saving the world for one day.
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