Review of Centrum & 100 other multivitamins
The MultivitaminGuide.org website offers Centrum reviews and direct comparison between the Centrum multivitamins and of all major vitamin supplements available on the market.
Some of the unique aspects of this guide include comparison of the Centrum multivitamins with 100 other vitamin supplement products, including popular brands such as One-A-Day, GNC, Equate, Kirkland, Nutrilite/Amway, Nature Made, NOW Foods, Melaleuca, Puritan’s Pride, Herbalife, TwinLab, and Walgreens.
The information on this site is the culmination of over 6 years of scientific research and analysis. Each of the reviewed products is evaluated against 4 key parameters, such as composition, bioavailability and potency. Then each supplement is assigned a score from 0 to 10, which enables you to easily compare the effectiveness of different brands.
Counter to expectations, some of the most widely available vitamin supplement brands have received a poor review and consequently - low scores. At the same time only eight relatively unknown multivitamin products have been found to meet or exceed the benchmark for high vitamin supplement quality, potency and bioavailability.
What is the score of the vitamin supplements you are taking?
The table below provides a review of the Effectiveness Scores of some of the more popular vitamin supplement brands available on the market, including the Centrum multivitamins.
Any vitamin supplement with a score that exceeds 8.0 is considered to be "excellent". Unfortunately a quick glance at the table below reveals that the great majority of multivitamin products available on the market do not meet that threshold.
Using a multivitamin product with a score of 8.0 or above is strongly advised.
Effectiveness scores and ranking of the most popular vitamin supplements (including Centrum)
| 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 |
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With a rank of 54 out of 101 supplement brands, the Centrum multivitamins are only average among all supplements available on the market. The overall conclusion is that Centrum multivitamins fall well short of the 8.0 treshold for quality, potency and bioavailability and their use is not recommended.
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Centrum Reviews
| boeingdriver29 Review posted on Apr 4, 2011 |
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Cons: See below. Overall: This product is a total waste of money. If you look at the Centrum ingredients closely you will notice that the majority of it's vitamin and mineral elements are the cheapest most ineffective esters available. The easiest way to determine the worth of a multi is to check its vitamin E. This product uses the dl version which is synthetic and and is less than half as effective as natural E. There is also many vitamins in levels which are completely ineffective. Eg 60mg of vitamin C, better off eating a qaurter of an orange. For some reason (beyond me) they have added hydrogenated palm oil, wonderful we should all add trans fats to our diet if we want an early grave. I note this product is made by Pfizer a major drug company that has brought us many wonderful products that after a short time on the market have been removed after serious life threatening side affects. Well you don't have to worry here as there will be absolutely no affects. LOOK ELSWHERE. |
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| nnekazika Review posted on Dec 9, 2010 |
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Pros: Centrum was recommended to me by my dietician. I have finished one bottle. Cons: I do not like the fact that i cannot point at anything and say this is what centrum has done for me. Overall: After taking 100 caplets one should be able to see a difference, but i didn't so i stopped. But it was recommended by my dietician. I have bought another bottle today to give it another shot, after almost a year break. |
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| Mell_Bell09 Review posted on Dec 28, 2009 |
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Pros: It's a got a lot packed into one medium-sized tablet, easy to swallow, no horrible after-taste, available from most supermarkets & chemists.etc Cons: Low amounts of all the a-z ingredients, so don't really feel much different after taking them each day. Bit pricey considering they are pretty average. Overall: I've been taking Centrum for about 6 months & haven't noticed much difference, they seem to have a lot of ingredients but only in smaller amounts, so doesn't improve energy levels or anything like that. Basic multivitamin, if you want something to take once a day...this is your tablet, but if you want a bit more out of a multivitamin then I'd suggest keep looking! :) |
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| patbateman Review posted on Nov 30, 2009 |
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Pros: I didn't notice any difference? Cons: I think it's a sugar pill Overall: It's all marketing, I think the product is very poor and didn't feel any effect. The people who advertise Centrum don't take it |
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| Memphis35 Review posted on Oct 4, 2008 |
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Pros: I didn't find that the Centrum multivitamins had any benefits because I stopped taking them shortly after buying a bottle. I'm sure that they have benefits in terms of the viatmins and minerals that they contain. Cons: I felt very lethargic taking these which might make them a good sleeping aid. Overall: I bought these because they advertised the benefits of 100 vitamins and minerals, increased well being. However, I had to stop taking them at work because they made me lethargic and a little hazy at work. I think that by eating a balanced diet, you should not really be required to take supplements like this. |
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