January 7, 2025

NVT Health

Health Blog

What You Should Look for in a Good Multivitamin

Whenever you are at your local pharmacy or health store, you’re probably faced with shelves and shelves filled with supplements and multivitamins of different formulas and brands like  Vital Nutrients in Supplement First. Understandably, it can get quite overwhelming to figure out what multivitamins you should be taking.

It also isn’t a huge surprise the multivitamin industry is booming, with almost 75% of the US population taking some form of supplements. Among that whopping percentage, about 1/3 of them take a multivitamin.

If you’re joining suit and plan to purchase a multivitamin, you might be wondering which is best to get. Read on as we share what you must look for in good multivitamins.

Third-Party Testing

Besides making sure you get your supplements from legitimate stores like supplementfirst.com, you must also choose multivitamin brands that undergo third-party testing.

Search for brands that have a cGMP facility stamp (good manufacturing practices). This stamp means that their product is third-party tested, ensuring that the multivitamin contains what it says on the label. That way, you will feel more reassured knowing what is going on in your body.

Nutrient Forms

The form of nutrients can indicate the multivitamin quality. Many supplement companies tend to use the cheapest nutrient form, which isn’t bioavailable to the body. That means our bodies can’t actually use these nutrients, deeming it money down the drain.

Two crucial nutrients you must find on a multivitamin to indicate its qualities are calcium and magnesium. If the multivitamin contains calcium carbonate or magnesium oxide, this indicates it isn’t a good quality multivitamin.

Calcium carbonate may cause calcium deposits in the body as you won’t be able to absorb it, so it won’t have anywhere to go. Moreover, magnesium oxide doesn’t provide similar benefits to magnesium. Rather, it can likely give people diarrhea!

We also recommend searching for multivitamins containing minerals from Albion labs. This is the world leader when it comes to manufacturing bioavailable chelates, a specialized form of minerals that bind to amino acids. This is known for better absorption of nutrients compared to forms.

Dosage Requirements

It’s important to get adequate vitamins and minerals, which requires taking two capsules of the multivitamin daily.

If a multivitamin states that you only need one capsule or tablet daily, this may indicate poor quality.

You may also want to consider the supplement form. Usually, you can find multivitamins in capsule form, though you can purchase liquid forms if you have difficulty swallowing capsules.

Ingredient List

Multivitamins can also contain fillers and additives, making them tough for our bodies to absorb.

That’s why you should check the ingredient list of multivitamins, just as you would when choosing food. Here are the ingredients to watch out for:

Safe:

  • Magnesium stearate
  • Natural vegetable capsules
  • Stearic Acid
  • Safe sweeteners include fruit sources, stevia, sugar alcohols, and monk fruit extract

Unsafe:

  • BHT
  • Corn starch

Food coloring and dyes

  • Maltodextrin
  • High fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners

Wrapping It Up

Make sure you speak with your doctor to receive multivitamin recommendations based on your needs.