Breakfast time

Taking your supplements with a meal is important because “vitamins are components of food, and whether water soluble or fat soluble, they are absorbed better with food,” says Shari Lieberman, Ph.D., a New York City and Hillsboro Beach, Florida, nutrition scientist and a coauthor of The Real Vitamin & Mineral Book (Avery Publishing, $13, www.amazon.com). “Also, as with many other pills, you’re more likely to get queasy if you take multivitamins on an empty stomach.”

Breakfast is the meal of choice. Because most people have it at home (whereas lunch and dinner are often eaten elsewhere), making the morning meal your time for vitamin-popping will help you stick with the habit. Another reason dinnertime may not be a good option, Lieberman adds, is that certain nutrients, including vitamin B, may keep you awake.