Who needs them? Well the number of people that can say that every day they honestly eat a well-balanced diet of containing lots of fruits, nuts and vegetables, whole grains, dairy, along with chicken and fish is not just low, it is merely non-existent. Of the people who think they are doing well, most do not realize the sheer quantities that have to be consumed to maintain that 'well-balanced diet'.



Okay, so almost everyone needs a multivitamin, but which one to choose? Having 30,000+ vitamins on the market presents so much choice it normally is a case of finding the bottle you think looks the nicest ... or the cheapest. After all, a vitamin is a vitamin right?

Fortunately, 7 Canadian and American biochemists have come to rescue us from our ignorance. They looked at and compared what is in each of these multivitamins by separating and measuring each ingredient - that is, vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and other components.

They put together the 'perfect' multivitamin, which actually does not exist as some vitamins needs to be taken separately and it would be the size of large chestnut, and rather difficult to swallow!

They examined how absorbable the vitamins were, whether they were in the right amounts/form and the variety of vitamins and minerals. Also looked at was having the vitamins in the right combinations for the body's needs. The score was how close each one was to that perfect multivitamin out of 100%.

In order of importance;

Nutritional Supplements %

USANA Health Sciences Essentials...................................... 73.7

Solgar Omnium ........................................................ 56.5

Thorne Research Al's Formula ......................................... 46.9

Clinicians Vitamin and Mineral Boost.................................. 45.1

NFS Nutraceuticals Ultimate Sports Multi ............................. 44.5

Thorne Research Basic Nutrients V .................................... 44.4

Thorne Research Basic Nutrients III .................................. 38.7

Solgar VM-2000........................................................ 37.9

Pharmanex Lifepak .................................................... 28.1

Amway NutriWay Double X .............................................. 27.3

GNC LiveWell Women's Ultra Mega ...................................... 26.1

Pharmanex Lifepak Women .............................................. 25.6

BioCeuticals Multi Essentials ........................................ 25.3

Pharmalliance OxiChel................................................. 24.8

Neways Orachel ....................................................... 24.1

Solgar Formula VM-75 ................................................. 23.1

Radiance Multi-Power ................................................. 22.6

Nutra Life Active Men's Multi......................................... 22.3

GNC LiveWell Mega Men ................................................ 21.2

Pharmanex Lifepak Prime .............................................. 21.0

Nature's Sunshine Supplemental Vitamins & Minerals.................... 20.6

Thompson's Multifort ................................................. 17.5

Nature's Way Mega Multi .............................................. 17.1

Thompson's Immunofort ................................................ 16.9

Nutra Life Active Women's Multi Plus ................................. 16.4

Eagle Tresos B PluSe ................................................. 16.4

Nature's Way Women's Energy Mega Multivitamin......................... 16.4

Pharm-a-Care Women's Mega Strength MultiVitamins ..................... 16.4

Bioglan Women's Complete Multi Compex .............................. 16.4

Pretorius Women's Live Better Multi Vitamin & Mineral ................ 16.3

Kordel's Men's Multi (without Iron) .................................. 15.4

Nutrition Care Formula SF88 .......................................... 15.1

Blackmores Women's Vitality Multi .................................... 14.1

Metagenics Multigenics ............................................... 14.1

Red Seal Women's Multi................................................ 14.0

Nature's Own Daily Multi Peak Performance ............................ 14.0

Mannatech GlycoLEAN Catalyst ......................................... 13.9

Natural Nutrition Mega Potency Women's Multi Vitamin with Selenium ... 13.7

Nature's Sunshine Mega-Chel .......................................... 13.5

Metagenics Multigenics Phyto Plus .................................... 13.5

Blackmores Women's Multi & Evening Primrose Oil ...................... 13.4

Natural Nutrition Mega Potency Fifty Plus Multi Vitamins ............. 13.4

Blackmores Sustained Release Women's Multi Vitamins & Minerals ....... 13.3

Natural Nutrition Mega Potency Men's Multi Vitamin with Selenium ..... 13.3

Red Seal Men's Multi ................................................. 13.3

Pharm-a-Care Men's Mega Strength Multi-Vitamin ....................... 11.7

Bioglan Men's Complete Multi Complex ................................. 11.6

Nature's Way Men's Energy Mega Multi-Vitamin Iron-Free ............... 11.6

Blackmores Sustained Release Multi Vitamins and Minerals ............. 11.5

Swisse Women's Ultivite Formula 1 .................................... 11.5

Pluravit Time-Release Multi .......................................... 11.5

Thompson's Men's Multi with Antioxidants ............................. 11.3

Herbs of Gold Executive Multi Vitamin & Mineral ...................... 11.1

Golden Glow Senior's One-A-Day Multi ................................. 11.1

Swisse Women's Ultivite No Iron or Iodine ............................ 10.9

Swisse Men's Ultivite Formula 1 ...................................... 10.8

Blackmores Sustained Release Multi Vitamins & Minerals + Selenium .... 10.7

Melaleuca Vitality for Women ......................................... 10.6

Reliv Now ............................................................ 10.4

Nature's Own Multivitamin Plus Omega 3 Fish Oil ...................... 9.1

Avon VitAdvance Women's Complete II .................................. 9.1

Good Health Men's Multi-Plus ......................................... 9.1

Pharma Foods Pharma Day with Selenium ................................ 8.7

Herbalife Formula 3 .................................................. 8.7

Kordel's Women's Multi Plus EPO ...................................... 8.6

Cenovis Mega Multi ................................................... 8.4

Thompson's Femmefort ................................................. 8.3

Microgenics Mega Multivitamin ........................................ 8.0

Melaleuca Vitality for Men ........................................... 7.5

Reliv Classic ........................................................ 7.5

Nutrition Care Formula 33SE .......................................... 7.4

Microgenics Women's Pro Active Multi Vitamin ......................... 6.8

Golden Glow Super One-A-Day .......................................... 6.7

Herron Clinical Nutrition Men's Multi-Vitamin & Minerals ............. 6.2

Blackmores Men's Performance Multi ................................... 6.2

Good Health Women's Multi-Plus ....................................... 6.0

Vitaplex Professional One a Day Multivitamin ......................... 5.0

New Vision Essential Vitamins ........................................ 4.7

Centrum Select 50+ ................................................... 4.3

Amway NutriWay Daily ................................................. 4.2

Microgenics Men's Essential Multivitamin ............................. 4.1

Myadec Gold A-Z Guard ................................................ 4.0

Red Seal Total Multi with Minerals ................................... 3.9

Centrum Complete from A to Zinc ...................................... 3.9

Cenovis 50+ Multi .................................................... 3.8

Guardian Women's Multi Vitamins & Minerals............................ 3.6

Herron Clinical Nutrition One-a-Day Women's Multi-Vitamns & Minerals . 3.6

Cenovis Multivitamin and Minerals..................................... 3.4

Amcal One-A-Day....................................................... 3.3

Berocca Performance .................................................. 3.2

Healtheries Women's Multi (AU) ....................................... 3.2

Cenovis Women's Multi ................................................ 3.1

Nature's Own Daily Multi Essentials .................................. 3.1

Pluravit Women ....................................................... 3.1

Golden Glow Women's One-a-Day Multi .................................. 3.1

Blackmores Multi + Gingko for 55+ .................................... 3.0

Pluravit 50 Plus ..................................................... 3.0

Healtheries Women's Multi (NZ) ....................................... 2.7

Hivita LiquiVita ..................................................... 2.6

Red Seal One-a-Day Multi & Minerals .................................. 2.6

Amcal Multivitamin & Mineral Effervescent............................. 2.6

Golden Glow Men's One-a-Day Multi .................................... 2.5

Bioglan Daily Plus Max ............................................... 2.5

Cenovis Men's Multi .................................................. 2.5

Myadec Multivitamins and Minerals .................................... 2.4

Nature's Own Multivitamin & Mineral .................................. 2.4

Herron Clinical Nutrition All-in-One Multi-Vitamin & Mineral ......... 2.1

Guardian Multi Vitamins & Minerals Hi Potency ........................ 2.1

Advocare Macro-Mineral Complex ....................................... 1.1

A staggering 50 out of the total 110 multivitamins did not even reach 10% and only the top 11 multivitamins were above 25% of what the human body needs on a daily basis.

The popular supermarket brands all featured below 10% possibly due to being forced to compete on price with other supermarkets. The downside for you, means the product you take every day is a hugely inferior supplement.

In other words, you get what you pay for. In some cases ignorance is bliss, in others it is a big wakeup call. My father has taken supplements for many years before and after he developed cancer and never once questioned the quality of what he was consuming. After reading this, he too, wondered why he ever thought not to research something so important to his health, when he did such a great job of researching anything else that he bought.

My advice, choose a multivitamin that is backed by a great company with a good reputation and do not just buy any old vitamin because of the price. You would be better off spending the money on something else.