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Weed out the junk from the good stuff when picking a multivitamin.
Warning
Speak to a physician before starting to take a vitamin of any kind.
Step 1: Select form
Narrow down your choices based on how you would like to ingest your vitamin: in powder form, capsule, tablet, or liquid.
Step 2: Choose dosage
Further narrow down your selection by deciding how often you would like to take a vitamin: a single daily dose or spread out throughout the day.
Step 3: Check essential vitamins
Make sure it provides at least 100 percent of the eight essential vitamins: thiamine or B-1, riboflavin or B-2, niacin or B-3, B-6, B-12, D, E, and folic acid.
Step 4: Confirm vitamin A & C
Check that it contains some vitamin A and vitamin C.
Tip
Too much vitamin A has been found to increase hip fracture when over 4300 incremental units are taken daily; and too much vitamin C may cause an upset stomach and/or diarrhea.
Step 5: Check mineral level
Check mineral levels. It should provides at least 50% of your daily chromium, copper, magnesium, selenium, and zinc.
Tip
Magnesium can be obtained from whole-grains and may not require supplementation.
Step 6: Separate calcium
Don’t worry about getting calcium in your multivitamin — it’s better taken separately, as the daily recommended levels are too large to be contained a single pill.
Step 7: Avoid too much phosphorus
Avoid multivitamins with too much phosphorus, which we get plenty of in our diets.
Step 8: Consider iron
If you’re a woman, vegetarian, or have been diagnosed as anemic, select a multivitamin that contains iron in ferrous form, which is most readily absorbed.
Tip
If your multivitamin contains iron, take it with a piece of fruit. Not only can it cause intestinal discomfort on an empty stomach, but the fruit’s vitamin C will help it absorb.
Step 9: Compare prices
Compare prices and remember that you’re shopping for a daily multivitamin, which can add up.
Tip
Cheaper multivitamins may contain fillers such as starches and silica, while expensive multivitamins tend to be more pure.
Step 10: Confirm quality
Only purchase quality-guaranteed or laboratory-tested multivitamins.
Step 11: Take regularly
Now that you’ve chosen your multivitamin, make sure you take it regularly.
Did You Know?
In 1747, Scottish naval surgeon James Lind discovered that a nutrient in citrus foods — now known as vitamin C — prevented scurvy.
