Recently after finding out that some of my vitamin levels are low I started taking a new multi vitamin. I decided on Centrum, Caltrate Plus D, and B12 1000 mcg on the advice of my doc. While she didn’t tell me what brand of vitamin to buy, I was quite overwhelmed with all my options. I knew I wanted a tablet form rather then a plastic capsule, but other then that I didn’t know what to get. I stood there forever and ended up grabbing what was on sale. Do you take a multi vitamin? Is there a brand you prefer or would recommend?
Costco – Kirkland brand/Health Balance – heck of a lot cheaper, and has just the same ingredients. I’ve switched over to a B50 Complex & their prenatals and I’m happier than a clam. Good thing to do your research. 🙂
I was recommended “SISU” brand, find them in most RCSS and larger department store.
I second the Costco brand if they have the ones you need. That or the Webber Naturals.
Vitamins, Minerals etc are NOT monitored by anyone. You’re basically taking the word of each individual company on the ingredients. Just like everything else in life, same rule applies to this, you get what you pay for. Do a little research, find a company you feel you can trust. Generally, when purchasing store brands, the quality of ingredients may not be up to par, and they don’t have to be, since there is no regulations. Just try to be more aware of, really, what you are putting in to your body. That’s my only advice.
I agree with this comment. Costco brands are cheaper, but it is the “stuff” that is in supplements that should not be in them that we should look at. Also, where the Natural ingredients were grown, was the environment and the earth “clean”….
But, in the same breath a lot of store brands are made in the same place as the name brand, same ingredients etc.
My dr said what levels were really low and I went from there. The pharmacist gave me the b12 and what brand has better absorption cause it’s either I take that or go in for monthly shots.
multibionta is the bomb, have been taking steady for bout 9 months now and have not caught full blown cold or flu, i can get an occasional sneeze or sniffle i just double up, has probiotics keeps the cold n flu bugs away, even while others around me are sick
When I’m not taking my genetically tailored vitamins I take, Women’s one a day with, a calcium/magnesium (I take this everyother day), a vitamin D and B12.
I was in the same boat and after looking found a company that has a high absorption rate and the minerals are soluble so that you absorb them rather then peeing them out. You would need 33 Centrum to equal one daily dose! And a money back guarantee – how many grocery store brands offer that!
What brand is that Kim?
+1 Kim – You get what you pay for…I purchase my vitamins from a reputable naturopath. After a consultation with her (and blood work), I was able to tailor my vitamin and mineral intake based on what MY body needs. We review my health (and blood work) every 6 months to a year depending on how I feel. I strongly believe grocery store vitamins are for “Joe Public” and most of what you take in ends up getting flushed down the toilet. It may seem like you’re saving money on generic vitamins, but what good are they if your body doesn’t need them?
good know that the naturalpath doctors do that with the blood work i’ve been trying to get my mom off the 15 different types she seems to think she needs everyday, but really I think she over does it, and I want to get her in to see a naturalpath as I feel they could give her better advise as to what she really needs to be taking, I heard recently that some naturalpath’s don’t feel vitamins are necessary but rather a balanced diet, problem is not everyone is able or wants to eat the way a balanced diet should be.. I think supplements are good, but I do think consulting a naturalpath is a good idea If they actually are the type of naturalpath that would recommend supplements as I mentioned some prefer to just say eat better! .. I notice that my mom just buys whatever brand is on sale, and ofcourse what there are coupons for! good luck i like this post and hope others may give us some tips if they have seen a naturalpath maybe the brands they have recommended for them
I love Multibionta. Seems to be the only kind that doesn’t upset my stomach.
I too go to a naturopath. Through her I found out that I am intolerant to a lot of different minerals/vitamins/supplements, one being zinc. One of the ingredients in a multi-vitamin is zinc. She tailors her recommendations to what I need, and I’ve gotten good results because of that. She has even made recommendations for other issues that have been right on…heartburn for example – a homeopathic remedy works better than any prescription med my doc had me on.
Looking forward to coming back to this thread and reading different ideas and opinions.
I personally take the Womens One a Day and have for about 4 years (seemed like a good idea since college students don’t exactly eat a balanced diet!)
I also take Kelp and B12 – unsure of the brand, it’s whatever bulk barn carries.
I am using Nature’s Bounty,B12 and Cod Liver Oil caplets.These frequently go on sale for 40 to 50% off,and I always add a coupon,too.
I’m not brand specific but rather go by the ingredients,Whats on sale and the coupons I have play a huge part. I do take Greens Plus as well so feel my vitamin counts are great. Backed up by my blood work as I’m never low on anything as of yet. Greens Plus I get at Shoppers when it’s a 20x points day and they are on sale and I picked up my $5 coupons at Superstore. : ) Costco for my fish oil because they sell the Omega-3 triple strength and I always pick up 3 bottles when they have the $7 off. That comes up a couple times a year.
Don’t laugh, but I take the One A Day gummies! I have a hard time swallowing pills so this does the trick. I also take a chewable vitamin C&D. Seems to work fine for me!
my doc recommended centrum and caltrate with D as well.
I hate taking pills and often find that I stop and forget too often. I stick with the B12 shot monthly. I don’t need to see my doctor to do it once he prescribed it as I have the vial at home and can just stop by a local walk in clinic to get the shot. A nurse can give it to me now so I don’t need an appt and don’t need to see an actual doctor. I’m there about 5 minutes before I get called in, get my shot and am on my way.
i read that the vitamins we buy in the stores dont have nearly as much as we actually need…is it true?
sophia–I am not laughing– I take the one a day gummies also–I often choke on even the smallest of pills, but these work for me! I started buying them in the US and now I can get them in Canada–don’t forget to look for coupons–the last ones were for $4.00 off.
I have a son with Autism, so I have done a ton of research on various vitamins and omega’s and spoken to many specialist. The one vitamin that I am constantly told to stay away from, and I hope I don’t upset anyone, is Centrum. Try taking a Centrum vitamin and putting it in a glass or can of cola and leave it over night and see if it is still there in the morning. That’s one way of showing how much of it is being absorbed. I give my kids and myself, Progressive and for Omega’s I give my kids Nordic berries. I also, use a really good Omega from the GNC and I make sure that the omega that I give myself and the kids in a gel capsule. This way your body can absorb it better and faster. I have always been recommended to take a gel instead of a capsul when it comes to Omegas. That being said, I guess there are lots of oppinions, and only you can do the research and make the decisions for yourself. I do know that, if you’re going to take a high quality brand or a generic brand of Omega, take it in a gel form for better results. We have seen great differences in our son.
Chewable Vita-Vim multivitamin in Wild Berry by Jamieson is what I started taking after Christmas. It was one of three possible vitamin products I had looked up on the website to figure out what was contained in chewables. It also was on sale, so not having a coupon was ok as price was within range I could afford.
Naturopath–only if you have the money or coverage to afford them. That is out of my reach.
I use Shaklee Vitamins. Shaklee is the number one natural nutrition company in the states. They do over 80,000 quality tests every year, and have a 100 percent money back guarantee. Yes, I do sell them, but I didn’t always, I used them for months first 🙂 As someone with major health concerns, it made a tremendous impact in my life.
I agree that you need to really do your research on whether your body is even absorbing your vitamins. Do the test where you try to dissolve them in water.
X-Tend Life Total Balance, suuuper expensive, but if you do some research you may discover that it’s worth it. The coating prevents all of the good stuff from being destroyed by your stomach acid, and for a multivitamin it also has a lot of herbal supplements as well
Deborah – put anything in a glass of Coca-Cola and most of it will be gone in the morning. I have nothing for or against Centrum, but it’s a water-soluble vitamin; of course it will dissolve in pop. It might not be a great pill, but that’s not a good measure of its efficacy.
Sally – The only difference between most multi-vitamins is the carrier product they use to bind all the stuff together. They all duplicate Health Canada’s guidelines for daily recommended dose of nutrients. (The only major difference are that the ones tailored for women have more iron, and the ones tailored for pregnant ladies have folic acid.) In fact, some of them (as suggested about) seem to have NO difference at all – I’m fairly sure that One-A-Day and the Shopper’s generic version, Daily One, are made at the same place, and one is stamped with the brand name, and the other not.
There’s nearly no difference between straight Vitamin D pills or calcium with vitamin D, or anything else that’s supposed to be just the single nutrient.
As such, I just buy what’s cheapest.
All this stuff people are commenting about what absorbs fastest and what gets peed out is totally besides the point and also kind of nonsense. (Sorry guys.) (I write this as a public health student who’s taken a large # of nutrition and organic chemistry classes.)
You only need something that absorbs quickly when you’re taking pain meds — who cares if your daily multivitamin takes an hour or two to enter your system? And the stuff you pee out is the stuff that is a)water-soluble (vitamin C, for example) and that b)you’ve got enough of already. Things that are fat-soluble won’t get peed out. Things you do pee out, you didn’t need. Your body will eliminate stuff you don’t need regardless of what brand you take.
TL;DR – In sum, Sally, your doctor’s advice is good, she/he didn’t offer brand advice because it doesn’t matter that much, and if you go with the generic version wherever you shop, you’ll be fine.
The vitamins are the Vitality Pack from Melaleuca – (and yes I do promote them/sell) – they have a guarantee that if you don’t feel more energy and a general well being you get your money back – and as I mentioned before the big thing is that they are soluble (dissolve in about 20 minute) –
scary about the Coke and Centrum 🙁 I am all for a great deal and coupons (love those!) but with my health and cleaning (eco products) – I stick to these.
I use the vitamins from amway.ca I’ve been taking the vitamin c supplement for months now and haven’t been sick once this winter, which is rare for me because I get sick on a regular basis in the winter. Plus, if you know someone who works with the site (i do) they can give you a discount. Some of my relatives also use various supplements from there and are very happy with the results. if anyone is interested,let me know i can forward you to my friend for the discount.
I take Flintstones! I talked to my doctor about adding a multivitamin to my diet and said that I found Centrum to be too big. He laughed and said he thought the same thing too, he couldn’t stand Centrum! So I asked him if I could take Flintstones and he said yes and even told me that Costco sells them cheap. He said he’d take them too if he didn’t think his wife would laugh at him! He said it’s fine to take the Flintstones, I still get the proper amount of vitamins from it, but just to add an extra vitamin D to it to boost my levels due to psoriasis.
So I take a chewable Flintstones complete every day and a 1000IU Jamieson Chewable Chocolate Vitamin D. I LOVE having the chewables! I take about 8 different medications in a day (total of about 15 pills) so having the chewables just breaks the day up a bit.
I am on the side of using good quality vitamins; either from a naturopath or a good health store. As for Centrum (check the binders). If at all possible, take liquid for better absorption (such is the case of omega 3’s). There are a few on the market that do no have any fishy taste.
Jan
I take a multivitamin, vitamin d drops and nutrasea fish oil. I’m a bit surprised that Naturopaths are mentioned but not Registered Dietitians. Eat Right Ontario is a great site and they provide access to free RD services, for those living in Ontario. I know it’s not feasible for everyone but doing a 3-day dietary intake will help you determine what your body needs and that should be the first step.
I use a website called FitDay to track what I eat and see what kind of nutrition and calories are in it. At the end of the day, before supper, I can see what vitamins I need and in what amount. I take a multivitamin only if I’m not getting my vitamins from food sources — makes me more knowledgeable about the health (or junk) that I’m putting in my body. About 1/2 the time I don’t even need a vitamin that day…
I use one a day for women. I’m in my early – mid 20’s so I want to be healthy but don’t feel I need to worry a whole lot at this point.
Centrum is very good, but Centrum Forte is much better (same price, but a lot more trace vitamins and minerals, so if you are missing any in your diet, you are covered.)
Normal enzymatic reactions in the body are all assisted by the presence of vitamins and minerals, so for the price, a good multivitamin is worth the cost in case your diet is less than perfect.
If you are aging, you have additional concerns. Women need extra calcium and D for osteoporosis so you’ve got that need covered
Both men and women need to be concerned about rising homocysteine levels with age. Increased homocysteine blood levels are correlated with increase risk of cardiovascular disease and dementia.
The .6mg folic acid in the Centrum and extra B12 1000 will help convert about 50% of the homocysteine back into harmless methionine. To be extra careful, you might want to boost the folic acid to an additional 1mg tablet per day
But in order to convert some of the remaining 50% homocysteine into harmless cysteine you’ll need to add vitamin b6, say 50 to 100 mg per day. (Not enough b6 in most multivitamins)
(Webber makes a combination b12, folic acid and b6, but the b12 is way too low.)
You might consider adding a fish oil omega-3, with at least 400mg EPA and 200mg DHA for protection from inflammation. Jamieson and Webber are a couple of reputable brands
This is an interesting topic for me so I tend to go on and on, and frankly I’m JUST GETTING STARTED with my rambling. Thanks for reading.
I`ve been using Multibionta for a few months now. Usually by this time I`d have a cold but not this year. I also had problems with my stomach that have gone away. I think the probiotics work.
Flintstones chewables all the way!
I’ve been taking Women’s One-A-Day but I am thinking of switching to Centrium for Women.
Capsules aren’t made of plastic.
I buy an expensive brand but I think it is worth it called Metagenics. I was introduced to them by my chiropractor and they seem to be of excellent quality. I take their calcium and fish oil.
I love multibionta but I ran out. NEED MORE COUPONS!
I cut my centrum in half.
anyone taking Genuine Health Greens+ multi?
Yeah I buy the cheapest ones, I just make sure they are made in Canada, and not someplace sketchy. Make sure you get the right vitamins. I take vit C, these 2: vitamin b12 and vitamin D ARE VERY IMPORTANT. I also take milk thistle complex, garlic for my BP and Omega 3-6-9. I am 29 y.o. so i am not a senior yet.
Hrm… I have way to much advice to offer here.
Standard multivitamins are poor, they don’t have enough to effectively help anyone with a deficiency. Absorption can also be an issue due to poor gut, so that may be why some people like the multibionata (probiotics). On the other hand the amount of vitamins and minerals in that product is nil. Take your multivitamins with food, make sure some fat, don’t overdue the calcium, and with a digestive enzyme to better metabolize.
If you don’t know what you’re talking about / you’re not going to do research before spouting nonsense, then don’t make all these ridiculous claims.
What’s with the woman who doesn’t trust Centrum because it doesn’t dissolve in a glass of water? You’d better not eat 95% of adult foods then, because they’re not going to dissolve overnight either, huh?
Rachel – Thank you for actually offering some meaningful information.
Follow-up:
My apologies if I have misread the aforementioned comment.
A family member of mine saw a naturopath and was suckered into buying amonthly supply of vitamins that cost hundreds of dollars per month! she can’t afford it!
I trust my very trustworthy Doc on this…he says your body uses what it needs from the vitamin and you pee the rest out. (AFter all what do they go to school for MANY years for) Centrum, one a day, Kirkland, Equate, Multibionta, Jamieson. They all sound good to me! I won’t be house poor buying those if my body is just gonna pee out what I don’t need anyways!
I don’t think multivitamins are necessary. Plain and simple. A lot of your daily nutrients you can get just by eating regular food. Learn to read labels, or use an online calculator to determine which areas you might be low in. Up your food intake in whatever you’re lacking.
My journey for better health started 5 years ago when I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. I knew I needed to heal from the inside out and have been on a quest to find optimal health since. It was important for me to find a company that had a quality product but here is so much info out there it can be overwhelming. I felt this way when I started looking but what I found in doing some research is a fabulous company called USANA Health Sciences they manufacture to pharmaceutical grade this is huge! (GMP,USF,USP standard) 100% of what is on the label is in the bottle!! There are over 600 elite athletes, including Olympic athletes taking USANA. USANA products turn to liquid within 30 min. of consuming them, this is a requirement of a phama grade product.
Most of our foods are overprocessed and lack much in the way of nutritional value. Poor soil and air quality impacts our fruits and veg. We need to complement eating healthy with a quality nutritional product for optimal health, to keep away degenerative disease. People are kidding themselves if they think eating healthy alone is enough. All we need to do is look around us and see all the diseases on the rise! MS, Fibromyalgia, cancer, IBS, and the #1 cause of death, even with all the cholesterol lowering drugs is still heart disease!!!
There is a great book out there called “Comparative Guide To Nutritional Supplements” by Lyle MacWilliam. It’s a compendium of over 1500 products available in Canada and the US. It rates products out of 5 and 5 star gold being the best. Here’s a web site http://www.nutrisearch.ca for some great info from the book. If you go to Chapter’s(that’s where I bought mine)you can look things up for yourself. I was shocked at the poor quality of supplements on the market today!! I’ve gone over the emails above and have looked them up in the book so I thought I would share how they rated.
Amway(Nutrilite daily) 0.5
Amway(Nutrilite double x) US/CA 2.5
Amway(Nutrilite perfect health pack) US 4
Centrum Advantage 1,
Centrum Forte 0
Jamieson multi products ranged from 0.5-1.5
Kirkland multi products ranged from 0-0.5 Kirkland failed both disintegration tests conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta
Malaleuca daily for women 2 (The US product ranged from 1-2 but also had additional nutrient amounts not specified found in the product)
Metagenics Multi (stand alone products) US 3-3.5
Metagenics Wellness Essentials US 4 & Essentials for Women US 3.5
Metagenics multigenics optimum & Metagenics multigenics optimum without Iron both failed the stage 1 disintegration test.
Nature’s Bounty multi day women US 0, ultra women US 2, weight trim US 0.5
One A Day US/CA ranged from 0-1
Progressive 2.5-3
Shaklee 1-1.5
SISU 1-2.5 (SISU Only One- failed disintegration test)
Webber didn’t make the book
X-Tend Life Total Balance US/NZ 2.5-3
I hope this info helps with your journey for optimal health!! I’ve added a link about USANA and it’s manufacturing process and a link to my USANA web site if you are looking for more info.
http://www.usana.com/dotCom/difference/manufacturing
kelleybauer_health.usana.com
http://www.usana.com/webhosting/kelleybauer_health
Hello there! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and tell you I genuinely enjoy reading through your blog posts. Can you recommend any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same topics? Thank you so much!
A lot of people seem to be trying to pass off the information they received in a 5 minute consultation with their naturopath. Rachel certainly has the right idea.
Kim, I’m not sure what you are trying to suggest when you say that the vitamins you’re promoting are “soluble”. Every vitamin is “soluble”. Some vitamins are fat-soluble, some are water-soluble. As Rachel said, the water-soluble ones will be excreted in your urine if you take too much, whereas the fat-soluble ones are not (and thus, getting too much of a fat-soluble vitamin can be dangerous). Excreting excess vitamins in your urine does not suggest anything about the vitamin you are taking other than the fact that you’re getting too much. No multivitamin is going to give you energy unless it’s correcting a particular deficiency.
This is very basic stuff that you would learn in any nutrition course. It was taught in the first-year Kinesiology course that I took years ago in University, and I had read all about it prior to that. I guess when companies are promoting over-priced products with bogus “advantages”, they would simply prefer to be the ones giving you their biased “knowledge” so you can use that to promote their products.
Since you all have access to the Internet, I would suggest doing some of your own research. Search engines are wonderful things. The best thing to do is to examine your own diet and determine what nutrients you should already be getting. Use a site like this one: http://nutritiondata.self.com (it took me about 5 seconds to find this site by searching for ‘cheese nutrition’)
If all of the food you eat already contains these labels, I would suggest eating more fruits and vegetables. Otherwise, figure out what you’re not getting enough of and try to correct it through your diet. If you can’t, or you want “insurance”, get a cheap multivitamin that has what you’re lacking. Most of them are the same, but some, such as the gummies, tend to be missing a few things. Of course there are some tailored to specific demographics as well, and some brands will vary a bit.
If you feel like you still need to talk to someone about it, make an appointment with your family doctor and outline your concerns. I would suggest a GP over a naturopath that may very well end up trying to SELL you the product that they recommend. It may help, but their product is really no better than anything else out there.
This all applies to the average individual. If you have a medical problem, you should already know what extra steps you need to take.
Thanks Stacey and Hadathickwallet. Bought the Kirlkand brand at Costco.