Looking for a Good Multivitamin?
See Comparison of 100 Vitamin Brands and Find the One for You
You want to improve your health and boost your energy levels. You wonder if vitamin supplements can help. The honest answer is "no". The vast majority of supplements available on the market today are simply not good enough and buying them is a waste of your money. To find the ones that are truly effective, you need to tune out the marketing noise and do some independent research. Only then you can discover what the best multivitamin for you is.
This Multivitamin Guide can be a good first step in that direction. The guide offers scientific comparison of over 100 multivitamin brands, including popular supplements such as Centrum, One-A-Day, Kirkland, Herbalife, Shaklee, Nutrilite/Amway, Equate, Nature Made, NOW Foods, Melaleuca, Puritan’s Pride, TwinLab, and Walgreens.
The information on this site is the result of over 6 years of scientific research and analysis. Each of the reviewed multivitamins is evaluated against 4 key parameters, such as composition, bioavailability and potency. Then each supplement is assigned a score ranging from 0 to 10, which enables you to easily compare the effectiveness of the different brands and helps you determine for yourself what the best multivitamin to take is.
Counter to expectations, some of the most widely available multivitamin brands have received low scores. At the same time only eight relatively unknown multivitamin brands have been found to meet or exceed the benchmark for high vitamin supplement quality, potency and bioavailability.
How effective are the multivitamins you are currently taking?
The table below provides a summary of the Effectiveness Scores of some of the more popular multivitamin brands available on the market.
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.
For best results, using a multivitamin product with a score of 8.0 or above is strongly advised.
Effectiveness scores and ranking of the most popular multivitamin brands
| 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 |
| SupraLife | Maxum Essentials | 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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