I’ve gotten a lot of emails regarding “quality of supplements”, namely how to pick a good multivitamin. So go to your cupboard, grab your multivitamin and listen up cause I’m going to show you three quick ways to show you if your multi’s are a waste of money!
If you multi is a ‘one a day’, throw it out! You’re just wasting your money. It’s physically impossible to get everything you need vitamin and mineral wise in just one pill once a day. The body is in constant need of vitamins and minerals and is absorbed best when taking in smaller dosages throughout the day. You might be asking “why are they so popular then”? Well they are cheap, convenient and let’s face it; most people are lazy and opt for the easy way out!
You may not know this but it’s quite possible that the calcium found in your multivitamin is nothing more than ground up Oyster shells…completely unabsorbable by the body but legal for supplement companies to sell you. Make sure your calcium says “-ate” at the end of it, such as calcium citrate. AVOID supplements that say “elemental calcium”.
There are actually 8 forms of vitamin E! Go ahead and check to see how many your multi’s have! When looking at your vitamin E make sure it DOES NOT SAY dl-alpha-tocopheral. That little “l” signifies that it is synthetic! Synthetic vitamin E is not absorbable by the body and can actually cause damage. Don’t even bother giving it to your dog! Look for a minimum of 4 types of vitamin E and make sure it’s not synthetic.
Now there are more ways to check to see if your multi’s are good or not, but chances are if they are NOT a 1-a-day, it has the proper calcium in it and it has a minimum of four different types of natural vitamin E, it’s a good brand. Brands I’ve always trusted and recommend (although this list is not limited to these brands) are Metagenics, Thorne, Douglas Labs, AOR and New Chapter.
If you have more questions, please feel free to contact me at joe@joearko.com or visit my website at www.joearko.com for more information.
Joe Arko
Strength and Conditioning Coach
Nutritionist
www.joearko.com
Thanks Joe!
Hey what do you think of companies like juice plus. They claim using real fruits and vegetables and break them down into powder for in a capsule?
Greg
Great post would love future posts like this on other vitamin products and supplements! My one a day has calcium carbonate in it which I guess is good due to the -ate at the end. the vitamin E however just says natural source of vitamin e.