Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Multivitamin
Who can benefit from a multivitamin?
While nobody’s diet is perfect, there are certain segments of the population who can truly benefit from taking a multivitamin. This is usually due to a few factors, including:
- Dietary preferences and health conditions that result from low intake of nutrients, such as:
- Poor diet or appetite
- Vegan or vegetarian diet
- Weight loss diets
- Physiological issues that impact the body’s ability to utilize and absorb nutrients, such as:
- Bariatric surgery
- Older age
- Certain medications
- Health conditions or lifestyle factors that increase the body’s need for certain nutrients, such as:
- Pregnancy & breastfeeding
- Periods of growth, such as infancy and childhood
- Exercise
- Wound healing
HOW TO CHOOSE A MULTIVITAMIN
AGE & GENDER
First things first: age and gender. While there are some gender-neutral products available, the vast majority are split between men and women. And quite honestly, there’s a good reason for that considering the two have physiological and nutritional differences. When it comes to age, multis run the gamut through the whole lifecycle from prenatal, infants, children, teens, adults, and older adults.
HEALTH GOALS
The next decision is to choose a multi that meets your goals. Are you just trying to maintain overall health? Are you pregnant or breastfeeding? Are you trying to boost your energy levels? There are multis specifically formulated to meet these goals with higher levels of specific vitamins and minerals PLUS added ingredients “below the bar” in the facts panel. Check out one of GNC’s multis for targeted health, which has specific ingredients for a variety of health goals, such as energy and metabolism, prenatal, diabetic support, sport and fitness, prostate health and more!
Potency, Price, & Delivery Format
Next, you need to take into account potency, price, and delivery format – these three really go hand in hand. When I say potency, I’m referring to how high the dosages of the micronutrients are. If you have a poor diet or have increased nutrient needs due to a health issue – you want to look for a high potency multi, which I consider ingredients at 200% of the daily value or more. High potency multis can be found in pills that require you to take two or more per serving OR even multivitamin powders because it is easier to fit more nutrients in a powder format than a pill or gummy. If you eat decent amounts of fruits and veggies, you can probably go with a lower potency multi that provides 100% of the daily value or less. Lower potency multis tend to be in gummy formats or small, one-daily pills. Generally, the higher the potency, the higher the price. You could also try an all-in-one solution with a GNC Vitapak® Program, which provides a multivitamin plus additional products in one convenient, daily pack.
Quality & Efficacy
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, you want to consider quality and efficacy – which can sometimes be the hardest to determine. You want to purchase a multi from a reputable brand you can trust with years of experience and expertise. You can also look for 3rd party quality certifications on the label such as USP or the term “Good Manufacturing Practices”. If you’re a competitive athlete who undergoes drug testing, you’ll want to look for products that are tested for banned substances.
And this brings us to, efficacy – which basically means “does it actually work”? Again, this can be hard to determine without doing lots and lots of research. Some products will say on the label – clinically researched or clinically proven. GNC’s premium Mega Men and Women’s multivitamins have been tested in a clinical study (something other competitors rarely do). Our researchers wanted to understand how this combination of vitamins and minerals would impact nutrient levels in the body. After just six weeks, GNC’s multivitamin blend showed impressive results^:
- Boosts the absorption of B vitamins, which are essential for energy production
- Improves levels of antioxidant and immune-building nutrients
- Works better than a basic multi
If you’re looking for a best-in-class multi with proven results, look no further.
Bottom Line
In conclusion, taking a multivitamin is a great choice for overall health. There are many factors to take into consideration when choosing a multi, from demographics, lifestyle choices, diet, and exercise, to personal preferences. To keep things simple, GNC takes out all the guesswork because you know you’re going to find a high-quality multi that fits your needs. As always, talk to your healthcare provider if you have any questions about taking supplements. And you can always talk to a GNC coach in-store or online for more information about health and wellness products.
^In a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study of 112 healthy volunteers, subjects taking the GNC vitamin and mineral blends for six weeks experienced significant improvements in serum levels of certain key ingredients compared to a placebo and a leading multivitamin formula based upon multivariate statistical analysis of a group of B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, biotic, folic acid and vitamins B-6 and B-12) and key antioxidants and carotenoids (a group of beta-carotene, alpha tocopherol, selenium, lutein and lycopene).
