Compare over 100 Vitamin Brands and Find the Right One for You
Do you know exactly what you’re getting when you buy vitamins at the store?
You want to improve your health, feel better, and boost your energy levels, and you wonder if the multivitamin supplements you see at the grocery store can help. Unfortunately, the honest answer is "no" in most cases – but as you’ll see, there are vitamins that will help you feel more energetic and healthier. You just need to know what they are and where to find them.
The vast majority of vitamins and other nutritional supplements that you find at the store are practically worthless, and buying them is a waste of your money. To find the few that are truly effective and give you good value for money, you need to tune out the marketing noise and do just a little independent research. You’ll soon discover the best multivitamins to take.
This Multivitamin Guide is a good first step in your research. We’ve done scientific comparison and multivitamin reviews of over 100 brands, including popular supplements such as Centrum, One-A-Day, GNC, Shaklee, Nutrilite/Amway, Equate, Nature Made, NOW Foods, Melaleuca, and Puritan’s Pride.
After six years of scientific research and reviews, we have the detailed information you need to decide which vitamin is best for you. Each vitamin was evaluated against four key parameters: composition, potency, bioavailability, and safety. Then each supplement was assigned a score from 0 to 10 so you can easily compare the different brands and determine the best multivitamin to take.
How effective are the vitamins you currently take?
The table below provides the Effectiveness Scores from multivitamin reviews of popular brands available on the market.| Company | Product | Effectiveness | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xtend-Life | Total Balance | 9.6 | 1 |
| Douglas Laboratories | Ultra Preventive X | 9.4 | 2 |
| USANA Health Sciences | Essentials | 9.3 | 3 |
| Shaklee | Vitalizer Gold | 8.9 | 4 |
| Source Naturals | Life Force Multiple | 8.7 | 5 |
| FreeLife | Reverse! | 8.6 | 6 |
| Nutrilite (Amway, Quixtar) | Double X | 8.3 | 7 |
| Life Extension Foundation | Life Extension Mix | 8.2 | 8 |
| Vitamin Research Products | Extended Plus | 7.9 | 9 |
| Karuna | Maxxum 4 | 7.9 | 10 |
| Solgar | Omnium | 7.8 | 11 |
| Ultimate Nutrition | Super Complete | 7.7 | 12 |
| SportPharma | Multiguard | 7.6 | 13 |
| Dr. Julian Whitaker's | Forward Multi-Nutrient | 7.6 | 14 |
| Metagenics | Multigenics Intensive Care | 7.2 | 15 |
| Mountain Naturals of Vermont | Superior Care | 7.1 | 16 |
| amni | Added Protection III | 7.0 | 17 |
| Purity Products | Perfect Multi Focus Formula | 7.0 | 18 |
| GNC | GNC Mega Men Sport | 6.9 | 19 |
| Doctor's Nutrition | Mega Vites | 6.8 | 20 |
| DaVinci Laboratories | Spectra | 6.8 | 21 |
| Nutrition Dynamics | Optimum Health Essentials | 6.8 | 22 |
| TwinLab | Daily One Caps with Iron | 6.7 | 23 |
| FoodScience of Vermont | Superior Care | 6.6 | 24 |
| Puritan's Pride | High Potency Ultra Vita Time Release | 6.5 | 25 |
| Colgan Institute | Formula MCS | 6.4 | 26 |
| Rainbow Light | Advanced Nutritional System | 6.4 | 27 |
| NOW Foods | Multiple Vitamins - Liquid Gels | 6.4 | 28 |
| EAS | Multi-Blend | 6.3 | 29 |
| Mannatech | PhytoMatrix | 6.2 | 30 |
| Nature's Way | Alive! Whole Food Energizer | 6.1 | 31 |
| Jean Carper's | Stop Aging Now! | 6.0 | 32 |
| Natural Factors | MultiStart | 5.9 | 33 |
| Advanced Physician's Products | Maximum MultiVitamin/Mineral without Iron | 5.8 | 34 |
| EcoNugenics | Longevity Rhythms Gold | 5.8 | 35 |
| Solaray | Iron-Free Spectro Multi-Vita-Min | 5.8 | 36 |
| Nature's Blend | Vitaminix Ultimate | 5.6 | 37 |
| Pharmanex (Nu Skin) | LifePak Prime | 5.4 | 38 |
| Melaleuca | Vitality Pak | 5.3 | 39 |
| Herbalife | Formula 2 Multivitamin Complex | 5.3 | 40 |
| QCI Nutritionals | Ultra Vitality #1 | 5.2 | 41 |
| KAL | Multiple Energy | 5.2 | 42 |
| Essentials by Megafood | Essentials for Life | 5.2 | 43 |
| Optimox | Androvite | 5.1 | 44 |
| Swanson Ultra | Whole Food Multi without Iron | 5.0 | 45 |
| Jarrow | Multi E-Z Powder | 5.0 | 46 |
| Great Earth | TNT - Total Nutrition Tablet | 5.0 | 47 |
| Nikken | Kenzen Mega Daily 4 | 4.9 | 48 |
| Garry Null's | Supreme Health Formula | 4.8 | 49 |
| Thorne Research | Al's Formula | 4.8 | 50 |
| Atkins | Basic #3 | 4.7 | 51 |
| Vitamin World | Daily 3 With Antioxidant Factors | 4.7 | 52 |
| PhytoPharmica | Clinical Nutrients | 4.7 | 53 |
| Centrum | Silver | 4.6 | 54 |
| 4Life | BioVitamins Type III | 4.5 | 55 |
| Bronson Laboratories | Performance Edge | 4.5 | 56 |
| One A Day | Essential | 4.5 | 57 |
| Country Life | Maxine | 4.4 | 58 |
| Nature Made | Multi Complete | 4.3 | 59 |
| Quest | Maximum Once A Day | 4.2 | 60 |
| Nature's Bounty | Green Source Vegetarian Formula | 4.1 | 61 |
| Matol | Matolife | 4.1 | 62 |
| Greens+ | Multi+ | 3.9 | 63 |
| Michael's Naturopathic Programs | Pedia Vites | 3.8 | 64 |
| Natrol | My Favorite Multiple Original | 3.8 | 65 |
| Nu-life | Ultimate One | 3.7 | 66 |
| Jamieson | Super Vita-Vim | 3.7 | 67 |
| Walgreens | Ultra Choice Premium | 3.5 | 68 |
| Swiss Natural Sources | Super Adult Chewable | 3.4 | 69 |
| Ripple Creek | Mega-100 (Slow Release) | 3.3 | 70 |
| Thompson | Human Nature Green Multi | 3.0 | 71 |
| Safeway Select | Super Multivitamin | 2.9 | 72 |
| Perfect Choice | Multivitamin Specially Formulated | 2.9 | 73 |
| Watkins | Superfood Multiple | 2.8 | 74 |
| Vitamin Power | Power Source 100 | 2.8 | 75 |
| Pilgrim's | Silver Stars Multi | 2.7 | 76 |
| Absolute Nutrition | Dieters' Multi's | 2.7 | 77 |
| Nature's Sunshine | Super Supplemental Vitamins and Minerals | 2.7 | 78 |
| Freeda Vitamins | Ultra Freeda Iron-Free | 2.7 | 79 |
| ZonePerfect | Multi Vitamin & Mineral | 2.6 | 80 |
| Sisu | Only One | 2.5 | 81 |
| Schiff | Single Day | 2.4 | 82 |
| Nature's Plus | Uitra One | 2.0 | 83 |
| Kirkland Signature (Costco) | Daily Multi | 1.9 | 84 |
| Sunkist | Multi-Men's | 1.7 | 85 |
| Lifestyles | Lifecycles | 1.6 | 86 |
| Western Family | Multra Forte | 1.3 | 87 |
| Avon | VitAdvance Complete Multivitamin | 1.2 | 88 |
| Flora | MultiCaps | 1.2 | 89 |
| Reliv | Classic | 1.1 | 90 |
| Sundown | Complete Ultra | 0.9 | 91 |
| YourLife | Super Multi with Herbs | 0.9 | 92 |
| Rite Aid | Whole Source | 0.8 | 93 |
| 21st Century | One Daily Maximum | 0.7 | 94 |
| Spring Valley | Maximum One Dally | 0.6 | 95 |
| Life Brand | Optimum | 0.6 | 96 |
| Good Neighbor Pharmacy | Balanced Care Complete Multi | 0.6 | 97 |
| Kroger | Advanced Formula Complete | 0.6 | 98 |
| Equate | One Daily | 0.6 | 99 |
| Action Labs | Essential Nutrients | 0.5 | 100 |
| Geritol | Complete | 0.4 | 101 |
Findings of the comparison
Contrary to popular belief (and much advertising), some of the most widely available and well-known multivitamin brands received low scores, meaning they are not very effective. Some received such poor scores that they should be pulled off the market. To be honest, they’re not much more effective than a simple sugar pill.Let’s look at where store brand vitamins went wrong in our reviews:
- Their compositions do not follow the Optimal Daily Intake index, so from the start, they’re poorly formulated.
- Their bioavailability is low, meaning the body does not absorb them well.
- Finally, their potency levels are below the Optimal Daily Intake index, so you’re not getting the vitamin strength you need.
Use our guide to look for a vitamin with a score that exceeds 8.0, which is excellent. Unfortunately, the vast majority of vitamin products do not come close to that benchmark.
We strongly advise using a multivitamin product with a score of 8.0 or above for best results
