One of the more important aspects of your nutritional supplement program is your daily multiple. Often overlooked in favor of more "exotic" supplements, your daily multiple is the foundation of your program simply because, in one tablet (or capsule), it provides so many nutrients on a daily basis.

Quite often I'm asked, "What's the difference between your Multiple Vitamin and one of the leading brands?" I was in Rite-Aide and dropped by their vitamin aisle. I found one of the leading brands with the proclamation on the box "#1 Doctor Recommended Multivitamin". 100 tablets, a 3-month supply.  It set me back $9.29.

Leading Brand Ingredients

When I got back to our store and examined the ingredients list, it was very surprising. Among the ingredients were "pregelatinized corn starch". What is that? Turns out it is a thickening agent and I wondered why it was in there.

Next is "dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate". This is the synthetic form of vitamin E. Many researchers and nutritionists consider the "L" form of vitamin E to have little effect in the body and recommend staying away from it.

Moving down the ingredients list led to a whole list of questionable substances:  BHT (a preservative), more corn starch, and crospovidone, (here a description I found on this stuff - Crospovidone is a water-insoluble synthetic cross-linked homopolymer of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidinone.).  Then came FD&C Yellow No. 6 Aluminum Lake (Aluminum Lake?!?), Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Hypromellose (another semisynthetic thickener), phytonadion (a synthetic form of vitamin K), polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, sodium benzoate, silicon dioxide, sodium metavanadate (sounds like a chemistry lab), sucrose (Why sugar? This was not a chewable vitamin.), talc, titanium dioxide, tripasic calcium phosphate, maltodextrin (more sweetener?), sodium aluminosilicate.

So this is the ingredients for a product designed to improve health. I'm not sure what all those chemicals do and just because some of the names sound scary does not mean they are bad, nonetheless it is easy to see this is not a natural product.  My biggest question was "why were there sweeteners in this product?"

But is there enough?

As for the quantities of each of the vitamins, this is also seriously lacking. Sure, many of them are 100% of the Recommended Daily Value (RDV), but what does that mean? The RDV's were established to insure the population is not deficient in a particular nutrient. Many of the RDV's were set years ago. There is little or no concern for determining a value that would promote optimum health. All the B vitamins in this product are well below 25 mg. The B vitamins are water soluble and the body excretes them quickly.

Now let's take a look at our Mega One Time Released Super Potency Multiple. The same 3-month supply will cost $28.99 (or just under $10 per month vs. $3 per month).
 

Mega one levels part 1

mega one levels part 2

Listed under "other ingredients" are five items: Dicalcium phosphate (yes, it is chemical sounding because it is used as a binding agent for the tableting process. No ill effects are reported with moderate use), silica (a mineral that helps the ingredients flow into the tableting machine), zein coating (a protein coating used as the time-release agent), and trace minerals.

And, the quantities are much more in line with the current science. For example, our Mega One has 1,000 units of vitamin D as opposed to the usual 400 units in many brands. It is packed full of B vitamins, too. There are 100mg. EACH of B-1, B-2, B-3, B-5, B-6, and 100mcg. of B-12. There are 150 IU's of vitamin E, all of it in the natural "d-alpha" form for better utilization.

Now, granted, no daily multiple is going to offer the recommended amounts of calcium or magnesium. The body requires just too large a quantity to put in a single tablet and still have the average person be able to swallow it. For these minerals it is best to take a separate calcium/magnesium supplement if you or your doctor feels it is appropriate.

Find the Right Multiple for YOU!

Finding the right multiple can be a tricky proposition for some. Tablet size can be one of the big considerations and that is why we have a wide variety to choose from. Solgar's VM-75 provides good amounts of the B vitamins in a vegetarian tablet. Nature's Life offers a Soft Gelatin Multiple. Soft gel caps are easier to swallow and many feel the liquid concentrate inside is better absorbed. For those who prefer a regular hard gelatin capsule, Twinlabs Daily One is a good choice.  There is even an iron-free version for those avoiding iron.  Lastly, for those who can not swallow pills of any kind, we have our own Daily Multiple Plus liquid.  Just one ounce a day and you are good to go!

One of my main tenets of health is, "The benefits of nutritional supplementation accrue with consistent use over time." That means the benefits of taking supplements dramatically increase the longer you take them. This is why it is so important to find a DAILY multiple that provides all the BASIC vitamins and minerals your body needs to function properly on a daily basis.

Once you get a multiple that you like you can move on to areas where you may need extra help.  Later, we'll tackle special aspects of supplementation such as "What's best to lower cholesterol?", "How can I slow osteopenia?", or "What's best for prostate problems?"  Do you want to get started today?  Check out the coupon below.