How to Choose a Multivitamin
Weed out the junk from the good stuff when picking a multivitamin.
Up next in How to Get Your Vitamins and Minerals (16 videos)
Don't pop that pill until you see how you can get your vitamins and minerals the natural way, in the food you eat, with this Howcast video series.
You Will Need
- Multivitamins
- Patience
Steps
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Speak to a physician before starting to take a vitamin of any kind.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Step 4
Confirm vitamin A & C
Check that it contains some vitamin A and vitamin C.
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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.
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Step 5
Check mineral level
Check mineral levels. It should provides at least 50% of your daily chromium, copper, magnesium, selenium, and zinc.
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Magnesium can be obtained from whole-grains and may not require supplementation.
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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.
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Step 7
Avoid too much phosphorus
Avoid multivitamins with too much phosphorus, which we get plenty of in our diets.
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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.
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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.
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Step 9
Compare prices
Compare prices and remember that you're shopping for a daily multivitamin, which can add up.
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Cheaper multivitamins may contain fillers such as starches and silica, while expensive multivitamins tend to be more pure.
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Step 10
Confirm quality
Only purchase quality-guaranteed or laboratory-tested multivitamins.
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Step 11
Take regularly
Now that you've chosen your multivitamin, make sure you take it regularly.
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In 1747, Scottish naval surgeon James Lind discovered that a nutrient in citrus foods -- now known as vitamin C -- prevented scurvy.
