All of these multivitamins are formulated for healthy young males I assume.
I was just wondering if any of you guys know what a good multi would be for middle aged women. My mother is always sick and suffers from poor nutrition. Her bloodwork just came in and her triglycerides are very high and her HDL is very low. I've got her to start taking fish oil and cut out carbs from her diet, but I really want to go the extra mile here and get her the best stuff out there.
Can anybody suggest an appropriate multi? Has anyone else researched supps for their family members (mother, father, grands)? I want to share the nutrition with the rest of the family.
I went to the Vitamin Shoppe today to pick up Nature's Plus Source of Life with whole food.
Source Of Life W/Whole Food by Nature's Plus - VitaminShoppe.com
I did not see it so I picked up Ultra Ii Sustained Release by Nature's Plus.
Ultra Ii-Sustained Release by Nature's Plus - VitaminShoppe.com
What is the difference between these two, is it a big one? Which is better?
I've had to overhaul the FAQ section regarding multivitamins/mineral supplements due to size restrictions, so I figured it was about time to dedicate a complete thread to this topic. Props to Mr. Sinister for laying the groundwork on this multivitamin section.
Some Recommended Brands
1) GNC Ultra Mega Green - Most Americans just do not get enough greens. Plain and simple. This is another Vitamin with whole food nutrients in it.
2) Garden of Life's Living Multi - Notice a theme here? I hate the idea of purely synthetic vitamins. If you can score a good one with whole food nutrients you're going to find the health benefits a bit better. This is a good one. Garden of Life is a good line of things anyway, very reputable.
3) Nature's Plus - Source of Life - The customers who use this never, ever consider taking another one. And yet again another whole food source Vitamin.
4) New Roots - Multi-Max - Top quality multi using methyl B, P5P, Mg citrate, in a encapsulated multiple-dose formula. (Canadian)
5) Platnium Naturals - Active EasyMulti Plus - Encapsulated gelcap using methyl B, Mg carbonate. (Canadian)
6) Nu-Life - Ultimate One for Men - Althought it's tabulated, this is an excellent multi containing coenzyme forms of B2,B6,B12, along with highly bioavailable forms of ALL minerals; as an example, magnesium citrate/malate, bisglycinate. (Canadian)
===>Other recommended brands by Sherdog posters can be found in this thread.
Now, cheap? What will suffice? Well you have GNC's Mega Men, Twinlab's Daily Two, Solgar has a decent multi (Solgar is actually an excellent line but they tend to be pricey as well as they come from Japan.)
Some tips:
- Look for a capsuled multi, not a compressed pill. One word: digestibility. Some pill forms WILL have great dissolution, but you can never go wrong with a capsule.
- While one-a-day are convenient, 2 or 3 a day give you a better spread out of micronutrients.
- Check the magnesium type for quality; magnesium oxide is the cheapest form of Mg to use, therefore, it's a fairly good indication of overall quality of the rest of the ingredients. Look for magnesium citrate, aspartate, malate, or bisglycinate, which have much better bioavailability.
Q: My vitamin doesn't have any of what you've listed! Am I wasting my money??!?
- Even better, attempt to find a multi with methylcobalamin versus cyanocobalamin (aka B12). Cyanocobalamin is cobalamin (B12), bound with cyanide. Yup. Also, look for P5P, pyridoxal-5 phosphate(B6). Both of these are the biologically active forms of the vitamin. Other coenzyme forms include dibencozide(adenosylcobalamin) and hydrocobalamin.
A: You get what you pay for with mutlivitamins. Higher bioavailable forms and coenzymes cost money, so most manufactures will default to the cheapest forms. Are you wasting your money? No, because ultimately, a multi is just nutritional insurance. But a cheap multi is NOT as good as a high-end multi; conversley, a high-end multi will NOT make up for a shitty diet.
Q: What about liquid vitamins? I heard these were the best...
A: Marketing scam; there's no advantage of liquid vitamins over regular, unless you can't swallow. Then you have more issues than trying to get a good multi. Water soluble vitamins quickly degrade in liquid form. As in, hours. That bottle that's been on the self for 8 months? Expensive water.
Q: What about iron, men, and multivitamins?
A: Men specifically should look for a multi with NO iron; we have no way to excrete excess, and levels build as we age. Excess iron has been implicated in cardiovascular disease, and hemochromatosis just plain sucks. Plus, we get plenty of heme iron from meat. Women and vegetarians are a different story.
That's what I'm currently taking, XT. I'm switching back to Adam when I run out. Only difference I've noticed is that my piss is brighter yellow after taking the EcoGreen. Haven't checked but I'd guess they are higher in B vitamins or I'm not absorbing them as well, for whatever reason.
Also, Adam has the "preferred" form of B12:
Vitamin B-12 (as Methylcobalamin) 250 mcg 4167%
^that looks really good Bilder just from the ingredients, and its looking to be really cost affective for me atleast, have you noticed a difference taking it?