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, synergistic effect, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21st Century | One Daily Maximum | 0.7 | 94 |
| 4Life | BioVitamins Type III | 4.5 | 55 |
| Absolute Nutrition | Dieters' Multi's | 2.7 | 77 |
| Action Labs | Essential Nutrients | 0.5 | 100 |
| Advanced Physician's Products | Maximum MultiVitamin/Mineral without Iron | 5.8 | 34 |
| amni | Added Protection III | 7.0 | 17 |
| Atkins | Basic #3 | 4.7 | 51 |
| Avon | VitAdvance Complete Multivitamin | 1.2 | 88 |
| Bronson Laboratories | Performance Edge | 4.5 | 56 |
| Centrum | Silver | 4.6 | 54 |
| Colgan Institute | Formula MCS | 6.4 | 26 |
| Country Life | Maxine | 4.4 | 58 |
| DaVinci Laboratories | Spectra | 6.8 | 21 |
| Doctor's Nutrition | Mega Vites | 6.8 | 20 |
| Douglas Laboratories | Ultra Preventive X | 9.4 | 2 |
| Dr. Julian Whitaker's | Forward Multi-Nutrient | 7.6 | 14 |
| EAS | Multi-Blend | 6.3 | 29 |
| EcoNugenics | Longevity Rhythms Gold | 5.8 | 35 |
| Equate | One Daily | 0.6 | 99 |
| Essentials by Megafood | Essentials for Life | 5.2 | 43 |
| Flora | MultiCaps | 1.2 | 89 |
| FoodScience of Vermont | Superior Care | 6.6 | 24 |
| Freeda Vitamins | Ultra Freeda Iron-Free | 2.7 | 79 |
| FreeLife | Reverse! | 8.6 | 6 |
| Garry Null's | Supreme Health Formula | 4.8 | 49 |
| Geritol | Complete | 0.4 | 101 |
| GNC | GNC Mega Men Sport | 6.9 | 19 |
| Good Neighbor Pharmacy | Balanced Care Complete Multi | 0.6 | 97 |
| Great Earth | TNT - Total Nutrition Tablet | 5.0 | 47 |
| Greens+ | Multi+ | 3.9 | 63 |
| Herbalife | Formula 2 Multivitamin Complex | 5.3 | 40 |
| Jamieson | Super Vita-Vim | 3.7 | 67 |
| Jarrow | Multi E-Z Powder | 5.0 | 46 |
| Jean Carper's | Stop Aging Now! | 6.0 | 32 |
| KAL | Multiple Energy | 5.2 | 42 |
| Karuna | Maxxum 4 | 7.9 | 10 |
| Kirkland Signature (Costco) | Daily Multi | 1.9 | 84 |
| Kroger | Advanced Formula Complete | 0.6 | 98 |
| Life Brand | Optimum | 0.6 | 96 |
| Life Extension Foundation | Life Extension Mix | 8.2 | 8 |
| Lifestyles | Lifecycles | 1.6 | 86 |
| Mannatech | PhytoMatrix | 6.2 | 30 |
| Matol | Matolife | 4.1 | 62 |
| Melaleuca | Vitality Pak | 5.3 | 39 |
| Metagenics | Multigenics Intensive Care | 7.2 | 15 |
| Michael's Naturopathic Programs | Pedia Vites | 3.8 | 64 |
| Mountain Naturals of Vermont | Superior Care | 7.1 | 16 |
| Natrol | My Favorite Multiple Original | 3.8 | 65 |
| Natural Factors | MultiStart | 5.9 | 33 |
| Nature Made | Multi Complete | 4.3 | 59 |
| Nature's Blend | Vitaminix Ultimate | 5.6 | 37 |
| Nature's Bounty | Green Source Vegetarian Formula | 4.1 | 61 |
| Nature's Plus | Uitra One | 2.0 | 83 |
| Nature's Sunshine | Super Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals | 2.7 | 78 |
| Nature's Way | Alive! Whole Food Energizer | 6.1 | 31 |
| Nikken | Kenzen Mega Daily 4 | 4.9 | 48 |
| NOW Foods | Multiple Vitamins - Liquid Gels | 6.4 | 28 |
| Nu-life | Ultimate One | 3.7 | 66 |
| Nutrilite (Amway, Quixtar) | Double X | 8.3 | 7 |
| Nutrition Dynamics | Optimum Health Essentials | 6.8 | 22 |
| One A Day | Essential | 4.5 | 57 |
| Optimox | Androvite | 5.1 | 44 |
| Perfect Choice | Multivitamin Specially Formulated | 2.9 | 73 |
| Pharmanex (Nu Skin) | LifePak Prime | 5.4 | 38 |
| PhytoPharmica | Clinical Nutrients | 4.7 | 53 |
| Pilgrim's | Silver Stars Multi | 2.7 | 76 |
| Puritan's Pride | High Potency Ultra Vita Time Release | 6.5 | 25 |
| Purity Products | Perfect Multi Focus Formula | 7.0 | 18 |
| QCI Nutritionals | Ultra Vitality #1 | 5.2 | 41 |
| Quest | Maximum Once A Day | 4.2 | 60 |
| Rainbow Light | Advanced Nutritional System | 6.4 | 27 |
| Reliv | Classic | 1.1 | 90 |
| Ripple Creek | Mega-100 (Slow Release) | 3.3 | 70 |
| Rite Aid | Whole Source | 0.8 | 93 |
| Safeway Select | Super Multivitamin | 2.9 | 72 |
| Schiff | Single Day | 2.4 | 82 |
| Shaklee | Vitalizer Gold | 8.9 | 4 |
| Sisu | Only One | 2.5 | 81 |
| Solaray | Iron-Free Spectro Multi-Vita-Min | 5.8 | 36 |
| Solgar | Omnium | 7.8 | 11 |
| Source Naturals | Life Force Multiple | 8.7 | 5 |
| SportPharma | Multiguard | 7.6 | 13 |
| Spring Valley | Maximum One Dally | 0.6 | 95 |
| Sundown | Complete Ultra | 0.9 | 91 |
| Sunkist | Multi-Men's | 1.7 | 85 |
| Swanson Ultra | Whole Food Multi without Iron | 5.0 | 45 |
| Swiss Natural Sources | Super Adult Chewable | 3.4 | 69 |
| Thompson | Human Nature Green Multi | 3.0 | 71 |
| Thorne Research | Al's Formula | 4.8 | 50 |
| TwinLab | Daily One Caps with Iron | 6.7 | 23 |
| Ultimate Nutrition | Super Complete | 7.7 | 12 |
| USANA Health Sciences | Essentials | 9.3 | 3 |
| Vitamin Power | Power Source 100 | 2.8 | 75 |
| Vitamin Research Products | Extended Plus | 7.9 | 9 |
| Vitamin World | Daily 3 With Antioxidant Factors | 4.7 | 52 |
| Walgreens | Ultra Choice Premium | 3.5 | 68 |
| Watkins | Superfood Multiple | 2.8 | 74 |
| Western Family | Multra Forte | 1.3 | 87 |
| Xtend-Life | Total Balance | 9.6 | 1 |
| YourLife | Super Multi with Herbs | 0.9 | 92 |
| ZonePerfect | Multi Vitamin & Mineral | 2.6 | 80 |
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.
- They have little synergistic effect, which means the proportions of vitamins and minerals do not work well with each other.
- 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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