The Best Multi-Vitamin?

Nutrition
21

I’ve used Multi-Pro 32X from Ast-SS for the last 2 years or so and I am very happy with it. Its around $15 for 100 tablets.

I’m not a real big fan of Animal Pak from Universal. I used it for about 2 months before deciding that swallowing 11 pills just wasn’t for me. Besides, do you really need all that stuff in a multi vitamin? If you need amino acids, eat protein. If you need enzymes, then take an enzyme supplement. Same way with the herbs. Most of the ingredients in Animal Pak definitely have there place at some time or another, I just can’t see putting all of that extra stuff in a multi.

My 2 cents

22

[quote]TopSirloin wrote:
go for organic! most vitamins are synthetic (isolated individual nutrients in a fine powder, then pressed into a pill). organic “should” be much more bioavailable and should contain phytonutrients, where synthetic don’t. bascially, it’s the difference between white bread and whole wheat bread.

I’ve heard Cooper’s Complete is good and Double X (only sold through Quixtar).

TS[/quote]

are you kidding me??? cooper’s complete is 40 bucks for one month, and you have to swallow 8 a day!

i think i’ll stick with gnc mega men (25 bucks for 2 months)

23

What about the Greens+ supplement which Berardi recommends, i would have thought that was better as it contains more “real food”? Or is that completely different from a multi, do you need both?

24

[quote]dev wrote:
What’s a good multi on the CHEAP side?

Student :([/quote]

Give garbage brand a try.

25

My god, the life extension foundation products are WAY TOO expensive! Even when buying in the largest size as a member, servings can cost over well over $1!
What do you guys think of NOW ADAM?

26

Mufasa,

I seemed to have missed your question. I certainly do agree it is a positive.

However, some people, who aren’t really that aware of the state of affairs, will take the word of the FDA as gospel, and be scared away by the confrontational tone.

I just wanted people to be ready when they got there… so they wouldn’t be run off by the stance.

27

[quote]SpeedStrength wrote:
My god, the life extension foundation products are WAY TOO expensive! Even when buying in the largest size as a member, servings can cost over well over $1!
What do you guys think of NOW ADAM?[/quote]
It is a good quality vitamin.

28

[quote]Creasy wrote:
What about the Greens+ supplement which Berardi recommends, i would have thought that was better as it contains more “real food”? Or is that completely different from a multi, do you need both?[/quote]

Thats what I use, and I have actually grown to enjoy the taste.

Lots of Greens+, fish oil, CLA, ZMA, lots of Grow!, lots of fruits/veggies, lean meat, and you won’t even need a multi.

29

Life Extension Mix - 14 caps a day? Gimme a break…

30

Okay, since this post has been around for over a year and I have continued to research mutli’s, I have all my clients on something similar to Greens+ called Greens Today (which I have no vested interest in, BTW).

It’s an organic (that’s key) multi-vitamin/mineral with tons of what I call “peripheral” (not necessarily essential) additives. So, besides getting ALL of the recognized essential vits/mins, including several hundred % RDA of the B-complex, it has probiotics, alpha lipoic acid, omegas 3/6, milk thistle, CoEQ10, grape seed extract, green tea extract, flax meal, digestive enzymes, broccoli powder, spirulina, alfalfa and wheat grasses, several mushroom extracts, royal jelly, etc, etc.

Now, before I hear someone say that these non-essential ingredients are not in significant quantity to do much, I have found that over time they may offer some “maintenance” qualities, though no marked pharmaceutical effects per se. For instance, if one wanted to stave off a cold with echinacea, Greens Today offers a “booster shot” of only 25mg, when you need at least 900mg to really kick up your interferon.

As a holistic nutritionist, I mostly recommend them to clients because: they standardize the essential vits/mins from organic sources, there are 4-strains of probiotics equalling a billion organisms and a few digestive enzymes. These are the items most of my clients really need to get thier health back on track.

I’m not saying its the absolute best, but when considering the cost/quality of buying just the short list I mentioned above in an organic form, its a great comprehensive product. Being that its really a food - not a synthetic powder pressed into a capsule that might not even break up upon digestion - I think its worth at least looking into. They also make chewables that are great for kids (Flinstones Vitamins should be left in the stone age…).

TopSirloin

31

I can’t believe this topic keeps coming up.

Because multi-vitamins/minerals are a SUPPLEMENT to your regular, GOOD, CLEAN, diet, a childrens chewable is the best. Chew half with your breakfast and half with your dinner.

32

I like Optimum Nutrition’s Opti-Men - its fairly cheap 17 bucks for 120 tabs.
Specs: (2tabs)
Vitamin A: 7,500 IU
Vitamin C:300 mg
Vitamin D: 200 IU
Vitamin E: 200 IU
Vitamin K: 75 mcg
Thiamin :30 mg
Riboflavin: 30 mg
Niacin: 30 mg
Vitamin B6: 30 mg
Folic Acid: 400 mcg
Vitamin B12: 100 mcg
Biotin: 250 mcg
Pantothenic Acid: 30 mg
Calcium: 200 mg
Iodine (as kelp): 150 mcg
Magnesium: 100 mg
Zinc: 30 mg
Selenium: 70 mcg
Copper: 2 mg
Manganese: 5 mg
Chromium: 120 mcg
Molybdenum: 80 mcg
Raw Oyster Concentrate: 50 mg
Saw Palmetto, powdered (berries): 100 mg
Pygeum Africanum, powdered (bark): 70 mg
Damiana, powdered (leaf): 100 mg
Nettles, powdered (leaf): 30 mg
Lycopene (as LYC-O-MATO natural tomato lycopene): 250 mcg
Alpha-Carotene: 140 mcg
Cryptoxanthin: 34 mcg
Zeaxanthin: 28 mcg
Lutein: 250 mcg
Alpha Lipoic Acid: 25 mg
Citrus Bioflavonoids (fruit): 70 mg
Grape Seed Extract: 25 mg
(Vitis vinifera) (seed)
(standardized to 95% polyphenols)
Deodorized Garlic, powdered (bulb): 50 mg
Ginkgo Biloba, powdered (leaf): 70 mg
Korean Ginseng, powdered (root): 100 mg
PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid): 10 mg
Choline (as choline bitartrate): 10 mg
Inositol: 10 mg

33

[quote]bikemike wrote:
I can’t believe this topic keeps coming up.

Because multi-vitamins/minerals are a SUPPLEMENT to your regular, GOOD, CLEAN, diet, a childrens chewable is the best. Chew half with your breakfast and half with your dinner.[/quote]

It keeps coming up because its a very important topic.

This doesn’t make a whole lot of sense bro and its really not that simple either. Did you know that the average head of lettuce has TWENTY TIMES less nutrition than lettuce from the 1950’s? I agree that we should ALWAYS start with a GOOD, CLEAN diet, but because of farming techniques and food processing in general, if you want OPTIMAL health, a solid, preferrably organic multi is key.

Further, not everyone can afford to eat absolutely perfectly, meaning a very wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Some people are just limited and a multi is a great way to make sure there are no gaps. A childrens multi, especially synthentic, does not cover all the bases.

TS

34

The LEF Mix is a divided dose supplement, such that you take it throughout the day.

This ensures that the nutrients are somewhat present over the course of the day, not just passed through your system and eliminated in one fell swoop.

It also contains relatively high doses of a ton of nutrients. The older you are and the more you earn, the more it will seem like a good idea to get every advantage you can when it comes to health.

It is costly though, so I stretch it out a bit by taking 2/3 of the recommended dose. That’s 6 tablets (not the higher dose capsules).

Some of the other better supplements you will notice are also multi-dose oriented, though the nutrients are probably more specifically related to bodybuilding instead of health and disease prevention.

None of them are “bad”, but as usual you do get what you pay for.

35

[quote]SpeedStrength wrote:
My god, the life extension foundation products are WAY TOO expensive! Even when buying in the largest size as a member, servings can cost over well over $1!
What do you guys think of NOW ADAM?[/quote]

ADAM is a good one.

I still take and recommend twinlab daily ONE without iron and add stuff as needed e.g. a multi-tocopherol with listed amounts of gamma (the daily two has 400 IU just d-alpha tocopherol)…

Anyway I would put LEF as the best (but I think you gotta get the helper thing to get the gamma tocopherol, etc).

36

Nature’s Plus Source of Life…the best on the market, period, if you want more info PM me.

37

[quote]bikemike wrote:
I can’t believe this topic keeps coming up.

Because multi-vitamins/minerals are a SUPPLEMENT to your regular, GOOD, CLEAN, diet, a childrens chewable is the best. Chew half with your breakfast and half with your dinner.[/quote]

Where’s the studies that show these are the best ? For every one you show me, I’ll show you 10 for the effects of suboptimal nutrient intake which are highly unlikely to be sourced from anything but extreme diets (like getting a lot of pyridoxne from food).

Whilst you are at it, you said that Calcium Carbonate was the most absorbable form of Calcium in another post, you can show me the study for that too whilst you are there. I know you got that kids vitamins things from Musclemag or something, I remember reading it, and laughing at it.

38

Source Naturals Life Force. 2-4 tabs per day come closer to the recommendations on this site than any other formula.

39

I received a masters degree in foods and nutrition twelve years ago. I’m the first guy to admit that that’s a long time when it comes to scientific knowledge.

I’m not working in this field, so everything “modern” that I’ve learned has come from Drs. Berardi and Lowery.

When somebody rebuts somebody elses post with no references or credentials of their own, they have no more authority than the original poster.

40

Can anybody show me proof that these multi-vitamins are actually being absorbed by the body? I’ve read mult-vit are basically useless and expensive piss.

The green suppliments I take are proven to be good for you: Jarrows Chlorella and Earthrise Organic Spirulina.