A multivitamin is a great way to get the essential vitamins and supplements you need without having to take numerous individual vitamins tablets. However, there is a problem with most multivitamins: They simply don’t give you enough of what you need.
Why Most Multivitamins Do Not Work
There are many multivitamins out there that simply provide 100% of the daily recommended value of each vitamin. This may sound great, however, such vitamins are often not very helpful.
Why?
Studies have shown that people benefit greatly from taking way more than the USRDA (US Recommended Daily Allowance) of many vitamins such as Vitamin C, Vitamin B, Vitamin E, and Vitamin D. So what does taking a mere 100% do for you? 100% of the daily value for some vitamins is sufficient, but for many others, 100% is woefully lacking. For some B-complexes, a good multivitamin will provide 1000 – 2000%, if not more.
Think of the USRDA as a bare minimum for many (but not all) vitamins, and you’ll be on the right track.
What it should ideally contain:
So what should a good multivitamin contain? Assuming you are not using any other supplements, here is our general guideline.
- At least 100 mg of Vitamin C (preferably much more)
- 1000% of Daily Value or more for Vitamin B1, B2, B6
- 833% or more of Daily Value of B12
- At least 100 IUs of Vitamin E
- At least 400 IUs of Vitamin D
- 5000 IUs or more of Vitamin A, preferably as Beta-Carotene
- At least 100% of Daily Value of Niacin (B2)
The following should also be included:
- Folic Acid
- Selenium
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Iodine
- Copper
- Zinc
- Biotin
These are only guidelines, and you should consult your doctor about your own specific requirements as they may vary for each individual.
Along with multivitamins, you should consider taking Vitamin C supplements since we have not found that most multivitamins do not contain enough Vitamin C. A good amount to supplement would be 250 – 500 mg of extra Vitamin C daily.
Multivitamins also do not have sufficient calcium because the pill would otherwise become too large to swallow. So you may want to consider calcium supplements if you do not get enough from food sources.
With or Without Iron?
There is some debate over whether or not one should take Multivitamins with Iron. Too much iron is not good for you and can increase the risk of disease, so this is something you want to watch out for.
Most people get sufficient iron from food sources, so extra iron should not be necessary unless you are known to have an iron deficiency, in which case you should consult a physician.
Our Favorites:
We like “Mega Multivitamin” by Botanic Choice as it has plenty of all the essential vitamins and minerals at an attractive price point. Make sure you get the “Mega” and not the regular “High Potency” one since the High Potency version is not sufficient in our opinion, despite the name.
Also, Vitamin Shoppe brand multivitamins are also great choices for the price. However, we found they usually do not contain enough Vitamin C.
