Looking for a Good Multivitamin? Compare over 100 Vitamin Brands and Find the Right One for You from Multivitaminguide

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Looking for a Good Multivitamin?

Compare over 100 Vitamin Brands and Find the Right One for You

Did you know that many vitamin supplements are not effective?
Do you know exactly what you’re getting when you buy vitamins at the store?
You want to improve your health, feel better, and boost your energy levels, and you wonder if the multivitamin supplements you see at the grocery store can help. Unfortunately, the honest answer is "no" in most cases – but as you’ll see, there are vitamins that will help you feel more energetic and healthier. You just need to know what they are and where to find them.
The vast majority of vitamins and other nutritional supplements that you find at the store are practically worthless, and buying them is a waste of your money. To find the few that are truly effective and give you good value for money, you need to tune out the marketing noise and do just a little independent research. You’ll soon discover the best multivitamins to take.
This Multivitamin Guide is a good first step in your research. We’ve done scientific comparison and multivitamin reviews of over 100 brands, including popular supplements such as Centrum, One-A-Day, GNC, Shaklee, Nutrilite/Amway, Equate, Nature Made, NOW Foods, Melaleuca, and Puritan’s Pride.
After six years of scientific research and reviews, we have the detailed information you need to decide which vitamin is best for you. Each vitamin was evaluated against four key parameters: composition, bioavailability, safety, and potency. Then each supplement was assigned a score from 0 to 10 so you can easily compare the different brands and determine the best multivitamin to take.

How effective are the vitamins you currently take?

The table below provides the Effectiveness Scores from multivitamin reviews of popular brands available on the market.

Company	Product	Effectiveness	Rank
Xtend-Life Natural Products	Total Balance	9.6	1
Shaklee	Vitalizer Gold	9.4	2
Douglas Laboratories	Ultra Preventive X	9.3	3
USANA Health Sciences	HealthPak	8.9	4
Life Extension	Life Extension Mix	8.7	5
Metagenics	Wellness Essentials	8.5	6
Nutrilite (Amway, Quixtar)	Double X	8.3	7
Garden of Life	Vitamin Code	8.2	8
Source Naturals	Life Force	8.1	9
Karuna	Maxxum 4	7.9	10
Solgar	Omnium	7.8	11
Optimum Nutrition	Opti-Men	7.7	12
Muscle Pharm	Armour-V	7.6	13
Dr. Julian Whitaker's	Forward Multi-Nutrient	7.6	14
FreeLife	Reverse!	7.2	15
Mountain Naturals of Vermont	Superior Care	7.1	16
amni	Added Protection III	7.0	17
Purity Products	Perfect Multi Focus Formula	7.0	18
Universal Nutrition	Animal Pak	6.9	19
Doctor's Nutrition	Mega Vites	6.8	20
DaVinci Laboratories	Spectra	6.8	21
GNC	GNC Mega Men Sport	6.8	22
TwinLab	Daily One Caps with Iron	6.7	23
FoodScience of Vermont	Superior Care	6.6	24
Puritan's Pride	High Potency Ultra Vita Time Release	6.5	25
Colgan Institute	Formula MCS	6.4	26
Rainbow Light	Advanced Nutritional System	6.4	27
NOW Foods	Multiple Vitamins - Liquid Gels	6.4	28
EAS	Multi-Blend	6.3	29
Mannatech	PhytoMatrix	6.2	30
Nature's Way	Alive! Whole Food Energizer	6.1	31
Jean Carper's	Stop Aging Now!	6.0	32
Natural Factors	MultiStart	5.9	33
Advanced Physician's Products	Maximum MultiVitamin/Mineral without Iron	5.8	34
EcoNugenics	Longevity Rhythms Gold	5.8	35
Solaray	Iron-Free Spectro Multi-Vita-Min	5.8	36
Nature's Blend	Vitaminix Ultimate	5.6	37
Pharmanex (Nu Skin)	LifePak Prime	5.4	38
Melaleuca	Vitality Pak	5.3	39
Herbalife	Formula 2 Multivitamin Complex	5.3	40
QCI Nutritionals	Ultra Vitality #1	5.2	41
KAL	Multiple Energy	5.2	42
Megafood	Essentials for Life	5.2	43
Optimox	Androvite	5.1	44
Swanson Ultra	Whole Food Multi without Iron	5.0	45
Jarrow	Multi E-Z Powder	5.0	46
Great Earth	TNT - Total Nutrition Tablet	5.0	47
Nikken	Kenzen Mega Daily 4	4.9	48
Garry Null's	Supreme Health Formula	4.8	49
Thorne Research	Al's Formula	4.8	50
Atkins	Basic #3	4.7	51
Vitamin World	Daily 3 With Antioxidant Factors	4.7	52
PhytoPharmica	Clinical Nutrients	4.7	53
Centrum	Silver	4.6	54
4Life	BioVitamins Type III	4.5	55
Bronson Laboratories	Performance Edge	4.5	56
One A Day	Essential	4.5	57
Country Life	Maxine	4.4	58
Nature Made	Multi Complete	4.3	59
Quest	Maximum Once A Day	4.2	60
Nature's Bounty	Green Source Vegetarian Formula	4.1	61
Matol	Matolife	4.1	62
Greens+	Multi+	3.9	63
Michael's Naturopathic Programs	Pedia Vites	3.8	64
Natrol	My Favorite Multiple Original	3.8	65
Nu-life	Ultimate One	3.7	66
Jamieson	Super Vita-Vim	3.7	67
Walgreens	Ultra Choice Premium	3.5	68
Swiss Natural Sources	Super Adult Chewable	3.4	69
Ripple Creek	Mega-100 (Slow Release)	3.3	70
Thompson	Human Nature Green Multi	3.0	71
Safeway Select	Super Multivitamin	2.9	72
Perfect Choice	Multivitamin Specially Formulated	2.9	73
Watkins	Superfood Multiple	2.8	74
Vitamin Power	Power Source 100	2.8	75
Pilgrim's	Silver Stars Multi	2.7	76
Absolute Nutrition	Dieters' Multi's	2.7	77
Nature's Sunshine	Super Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals	2.7	78
Freeda Vitamins	Ultra Freeda Iron-Free	2.7	79
ZonePerfect	Multi Vitamin & Mineral	2.6	80
Sisu	Only One	2.5	81
Schiff	Single Day	2.4	82
Nature's Plus	Uitra One	2.0	83
Kirkland Signature (Costco)	Daily Multi	1.9	84
Sunkist	Multi-Men's	1.7	85
Lifestyles	Lifecycles	1.6	86
Western Family	Multra Forte	1.3	87
Avon	VitAdvance Complete Multivitamin	1.2	88
Flora	MultiCaps	1.2	89
Reliv	Classic	1.1	90
Sundown	Complete Ultra	0.9	91
YourLife	Super Multi with Herbs	0.9	92
Rite Aid	Whole Source	0.8	93
21st Century	One Daily Maximum	0.7	94
Spring Valley	Maximum One Dally	0.6	95
Life Brand	Optimum	0.6	96
Good Neighbor Pharmacy	Balanced Care Complete Multi	0.6	97
Kroger	Advanced Formula Complete	0.6	98
Equate	One Daily	0.6	99
Action Labs	Essential Nutrients	0.5	100
Geritol	Complete	0.4	101

Findings of the comparison

Contrary to popular belief (and much advertising), some of the most widely available and well-known multivitamin brands received low scores, meaning they are not very effective. Some received such poor scores that they should be pulled off the market. To be honest, they’re not much more effective than a simple sugar pill.
Let’s look at where store brand vitamins went wrong in our reviews:

• Their compositions do not follow the Optimal Daily Intake index, so from the start, they’re poorly formulated.
• Their bioavailability is low, meaning the body does not absorb them well.
• Some of them exceed the safe doses for certain nutrients.
• Finally, their potency levels are below the Optimal Daily Intake index, so you’re not getting the vitamin strength you need.

The reviews found that only eight multivitamin brands met or exceeded the benchmark of 8.0 for high supplement quality, potency, and bioavailability. You may not have heard of these brands, so we show you where to find them.
Use our guide to look for a vitamin with a score that exceeds 8.0, which is excellent. Unfortunately, the vast majority of vitamin products do not come close to that benchmark.
We strongly advise using a multivitamin product with a score of 8.0 or above for best results.

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