How To Choose A Quality Multivitamin With So Many Options Out There

If you've ever cruised down the vitamin aisle at your local pharmacy or health store, you've probably been straight-up overwhelmed by the number of different multivitamin options fighting for your attention. It's no surprise the market is booming, either; of the nearly 75% of the U.S. population1 that takes supplements, about one-third2 take a multi. 

Want the short answer here? Yes, you probably do need a multivitamin. Why? Well, if you rely on food alone, nationally representative data3 suggests that you're probably not getting ample amounts of key vitamins and minerals. (A few big ones: vitamins A4, D5, E6, and K7; calcium8; magnesium9; and potassium10—though they're not the only ones.)

"Multivitamins are multitaskers when it comes to our health," says Ashley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDN, mbg's director of scientific affairs. "They support the essential daily vitamin and mineral needs for women and men, young and old, enabling us to mind the gaps in our diet that national stats clearly and repeatedly demonstrate."*

Whether you just need a daily boost or true nutrient repletion, a complete multivitamin goes a long way in helping you reach micronutrient sufficiency, she says.*

Multis come in a wide variety of formulations and forms (think capsules versus liquids versus gummies), and not all are created equal, points out health coach and dietitian Jessica Cording, R.D., CDN, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers. 

Unless you have issues swallowing pills, Cording recommends steering clear of gummy multivitamins. "They often contain added sugar and can contribute extra carbohydrates and calories to your diet," she says. Typically, gummy multis also fall short on a bunch of nutrients (particularly minerals, which can be bulky), so they ultimately don't provide as complete a spectrum of vitamins and minerals as multivitamins that are packaged up in other forms, adds Ferira.

Gummies aside, many multi formulas may also contain unhelpfully small amounts of important nutrients—or leave certain nutrients out completely. "It's definitely possible to have too much of a good thing or not enough of what you're after," Cording says. That's why she recommends reading the label on potential multivitamins to check how much of your recommended daily value of certain nutrients they provide. (Again, minerals often get the boot here! Which isn't ideal considering many Americans don't get enough of them as is, and this can be especially true for certain dietary patterns...think vegetarians, vegans, and iron needs.)

Everyone's needs (and nutritional shortcomings) are slightly different, but, generally, Ferira recommends looking for a multivitamin that includes vitamins A, C, D3, E, K1 and K2, and the eight B vitamins (which are thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, B6, biotin, folate, and B12).

She also likes to see a multivitamin that contains a full array of essential minerals, meaning calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and iron, as well as often-overlooked minerals like iodine, selenium, copper, manganese, molybdenum, and chromium. (Trace minerals like boron and silica are great bonuses.)

"Certain multivitamin formulas align with dietary patterns and cultural food beliefs and practices, and I think it's important for these offerings to exist," Ferira says. One example: vegan multivitamins. These formulas exclude ingredients of animal origin (so no lanolin-derived D3, for example) and typically leverage botanicals.

People in different life stages and experiences may also need different multivitamins. "A specialized multivitamin for prenatal support in women trying to get pregnant or who are pregnant, for example, should feature higher levels of key nutrients, particularly iron, calcium, vitamin D3, iodine, and certain B vitamins—like folic acid—on top of the baseline full array of vitamins and minerals in a regular multi,'* she explains.

Children and teens also have "unique daily vitamin and mineral needs, as well as daily tolerable upper intake levels that shouldn't be exceeded unless expressly recommended and approved by their health care provider," Ferira adds.

For all of these reasons, different people may need different multivitamin products.

However, Ferira generally believes that adult multivitamins have become overcomplicated and overly fractionated. "Brands who wanted to diversify their portfolios to make more money started offering multis for women versus men, active versus not active, the list goes on," Ferira says. "In reality, these formulas have negligible or no differences and, in some cases, do silly things like cut the iron out completely for men and older adults—who still have daily iron needs, mind you—or include less calcium in a men's formula, even though men have the same exactly daily calcium needs as women."