What Are The Best Multivitamins
A few years ago, a private client of mine gave me the opportunity to look more closely at the best multivitamins.
She wanted to know if she should be taking a multivitamin, and if she should be giving one to her children. Of course, she also wanted to know which brands make the best multivitamins.
I shared my opinion with the Gimme readership back then, and now am pleased to be able to update you guys. What follows is even more research on multivitamins, plus a few supplements I recommend for basically everyone. Most importantly, I give you the three brands that make the very best multivitamins for kids and grownups, if you decide to take one.
Megafood Baby & Me Prenatal Vitamins
MegaFood offers two versions of its prenatal blend: Baby & Me and Baby & Me 2 .
This company has high quality standardstheir prenatal vitamins are non-GMO, contain no pesticides/herbicides, and are made from farm-fresh food.
They contain a great cross-spectrum of nutrients, are higher in vitamin D, contain vitamin K, and have lots of good B vitamins. Plus, theyre strong in iodine, iron and zinc, three important minerals in pregnancy. It is lower in vitamin A, but that shouldnt be a problem if you take cod liver oil. Its also low in calcium and magnesiumtry supplementing with organic, grass-fed dairy and magnesium.
The Science Behind Garden Of Life
When Garden of Life creates its products, it pays attention to food the human body was made to eat, process, and get its nutrition from food. The company aims to empower consumers with the tools needed to have extraordinary health.
This drives the company to examine the highest quality of food missing from our daily diet and how it can empower our health. These nutritious whole food ingredients are used to create the company supplement to help boost healthy living. The mykind Organics line, co-founded with Alicia Silverstone, is made with organic fruit and herbs. Plus, all formulations are Certified USDA Organic and Non-GMO Verified by the Non-GMO Project.
Garden of Life is also very conscious of what should not go into the supplement during production. Fillers, binders, artificial sweeteners, colors, or harsh chemicals to grow produce are things the company avoids.
The company uses a third-party certification to further prove that its product is clinically studied, clean, and traceable. Traceability means that the company knows the farmers that grow their ingredients, everything from how they are grown to how the farm treats its workers.
It is also carbon neutral, having achieved that status in June of 2021. It notes that it is the first vitamin and supplement brand to accomplish this.
Recommended Reading: Benefits Of Vitamin C On Face
Garden Of Life Womens Probiotic Review
Garden of Life Womens Probiotic Review
A well-known and complete womens probiotic, theGarden of Life Womens Probiotic is a supplement for optimizing womens immune, digestive and vaginal health.
Garden of Life Womens Probiotic is made of 16 probiotic strains and prebiotic fiber, which serves as food for the probiotic strains.
This gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and non-GMO probiotic comes in bright pink packaging. Whats even better is that it doesnt require refrigeration.
This clean and raw probioticcomes in a white plastic bottle and is currently on sale for $34, down from $43.
Ingredients Label
This womens probiotic contains 11 Lactobacilli strains and five Bifidobacterium strains, totaling 50 Billion CFUs which denotes the number of bacteria present in each capsule.
Along with probiotics, each capsule also contains prebiotic fiber from organic potatoes and organic acacia fiber. Theres only one inactive ingredient which is non-GMO vegetable cellulose.
Garden Of Life Review
Ritika Nigam
Ritika is a Holistic Nutritionist based in Toronto, Canada. A retired dentist, Ritika found her passion for health and wellness after the birth of her two sons. Considering herself as a lifelong student, Ritika then pursued further trainings in Holistic nutrition as well as Yoga.
Recommended Reading: Why Should I Take Vitamin C
Ranking Of All Evaluated Multivitamins
The table below provides a summary of the Effectiveness Scores of some of the more popular vitamin supplement brands available on the market, including the Garden of Life Vitamin Code Multivitamins.
Any vitamin supplement with a score that exceeds 8.0 is considered to be “excellent”. For that reason, using a multivitamin product with a score of 8.0 or above is strongly advised.
| Rank |
|---|
Prefer Not To Be Too Hyped About Vitamin Code Womens Nutrients
This Garden Of Life supplement brings plenty of vitamin and mineral diversity. The amounts it provides are sufficient most of the time. But its highly unconventional in all the other aspects. But first, let us start with the simpler things.
So, per serving , we get vitamin A, C, D, E, K1, K2, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12, Iron, Iodine, Zinc, Selenium, Manganese, Chromium, Molybdenum, Boron, and Vanadium. So, basically, the only nutrients missing are Copper, Calcium, and Magnesium. But thats not the only drawback to find.
Being considered vegetarian-friendly the Garden of Life Women multivitamin does not offer any amounts of preformed vitamin A, it only offers Beta-Carotene. To which end, although we tend to be taught in school that Beta-Carotene is the precursor of vitamin A and thus, it gets converted into preformed vitamin A by the body, not everyone knows the following.
Our bodies generally struggle with converting Beta-Carotene to usable vitamin A form. This is not to say that this is the case for everyone, however, it is estimated that far too many people do suffer from this. Furthermore, to say that the rate at which Beta-Carotene is converted to vitamin A is miserable, would be an understatement .
I mean, with this, there is a good chance well probably be missing out on a very crucial ingredient for long-term health. On that note, it is, however, a rather easily fixable issue through a decent standalone preformed vitamin A supplement .
You May Like: Most Important Vitamins For Men
Garden Of Life Doctor Formulated Cbd Review
Garden of Life Doctor Formulated CBD Review
Cannabidiol is gradually gaining popularity as a natural and effective way to relieve pain, anxiety and improve sleep. In collaboration with Dr.Perlmutter, Garden of Life manufactures a whole line of CBD products. This Garden of Life review will discuss the Doctor Formulated CBD oil.
Made from Hemp extract using a CO2 extraction method without any harmful solvents, this Garden of Life CBD supplement is clean and made without THC.
This third-party tested supplement obtains its hemp using sustainable farms from Oregon, USA. The extract is mixed with MCT oil from coconut and has added essential oils for the entourage effect.
Although this product is also offered in softgels and sprays, we discuss the liquid supplement here. This certified THC-free supplement is gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and non-GMO.
Coming in peppermint or chocolate mint flavor, this 30 ml bottle has a dropper attached and retails for $74, down from $93. It can last you a month or less, depending on the frequency of intake.
How Does Garden Of Life Vitamin Code Compare With Other Multivitamin Brands
MultivitaminGuide.org offers comparison between the Garden of Life Vitamin Code Multivitamins and of all major vitamin supplements available on the market.
Some of the unique aspects of this guide include comparison of the Garden of Life Vitamin Code Multivitamins with 100 other vitamin supplement products, including popular brands such as One-A-Day, GNC, Equate, Kirkland, Shaklee, Nature Made, NOW Foods, Melaleuca, Puritans Pride, Herbalife, TwinLab, and Walgreens.
The information on this site is the culmination of over 6 years of scientific research and analysis. Each of the reviewed products is evaluated against 4 key parameters, such as composition, bioavailability, potency and safety. Then each supplement is assigned a score from 0 to 10, which enables you to easily compare the effectiveness of different brands.
Don’t Miss: Best Multi Vitamin For Women Over 60
Garden Of Life Protein Raw Organic Fit Vanilla Powder Review
Garden of Life Protein Raw Organic Fit Vanilla Powder Review
Garden of Life Protein Raw Organic Fit Vanilla Powders uniqueness is plant-based, organic, raw, non-GMO, and certified vegan and gluten-free.
People often wonder what protein vegans eat, and this blend is a testament to that question as its protein blend is made from 17 different plant-based ingredients.
Apart from being a protein powder, this product is infused with three other proprietary blends: a weight loss and stress management blend, a probiotic and enzyme blend, and a superfood blend.
Who knew a protein powder could also help with digestion, stress management, and immunity?
This low-sugar and blood-sugar balancing protein powder comes in several other flavors, but we will focus on the vanilla flavor in this Garden of Life review. Each canister of 10 servings is currently on sale for $39. from $49.
Ingredients Label
According to the ingredient chart, the protein blend made from certified organic and raw ingredients contains pea protein and brown rice protein amongst other seeds such as organic flax, chia seeds, and amaranth sprout. Its protein content includes 8 out of the nine essential amino acids.
Apart from the protein blend, it also contains a weight loss and stress management blend with raw organic svetol, a decaffeinated green coffee bean extract to speed up metabolism, and Ashwagandha to help with stress.
How Popular Are Probiotics
The 2012 National Health Interview Survey showed that about 4 million U.S. adults had used probiotics or prebiotics in the past 30 days. Among adults, probiotics or prebiotics were the third most commonly used dietary supplement other than vitamins and minerals. The use of probiotics by adults quadrupled between 2007 and 2012. The 2012 NHIS also showed that 300,000 children age 4 to 17 had used probiotics or prebiotics in the 30 days before the survey.
Recommended Reading: How Many Vitamins Should I Take Daily
Where To Buy Pure Encapsulations Supplements
Besides being sold at doctors offices across the USA, a few online health stores are authorized to distribute Pure Encapsulations products, and one of the most convenient of these is PureFormulas. They have one of the largest selections of PE products you can find online.
PureFormulas ships domestically and internationally to several countries. Check out their listing page for Pure Encapsulations products, most of which have plenty of mixed customer reviews that can be helpful for first-time buyers. Unlike Amazon, there are no third-party or fraudulent sellers on this site and they source the products directly from the manufacturer, so you can be sure youll get the real deal. They also carry many other professional supplement brands you can check out.
Should You Or Your Kids Take A Multivitamin
Let me start with the part that you likely already know: The best way to hit all nutritional checkpoints is by eating a diverse range of vibrantly-colored fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.
This is hard to accomplish for a picky child, of course. Moreover, many nutrients are lost during the processing of the food most Americans eat.
For adults, there is no harm in taking a multivitamin, even if the benefits arent totally clear.
In general, I recommend against giving a multivitamin to very young children, for reasons Ill explain below. My opinion is that high-quality multivitamins for kids six and older are without risk and may be beneficial.
If you opt out of taking a multivitamin, I recommend that both you and your children take a vitamin D supplement. You should also consider a fish oil supplement or a multi that contains fish oil if you or your children dont eat fish.
Also Check: What Fruit Has Vitamin B12
Whole Food Supplements Exposed
Based on your current knowledge, which are better whole food supplements or supplements that use synthetic ingredients? The issue of synthetic vs. whole food supplements is one of the most controversial, misunderstood debates in nutrition. On the surface it seems like the answer should be completely obvious. One would think that whole food supplements are superior to synthetic supplements. This is because the words whole food or natural conjure up images of fresh fruits, colorful vegetables and healthy grains. And the marketing teams behind these whole food supplements are well aware of this. So much so, that these supplements are almost always delivered in packages adorned with beautiful photos of these foods. The goal is to keep that image of whole food in your head while their marketing copy demonizes synthesized man-made Franken supplements.
What Has Science Shown About The Effectiveness Of Probiotics For Health Conditions
A great deal of research has been done on probiotics, but much remains to be learned about whether theyâre helpful and safe for various health conditions.
Probiotics have shown promise for a variety of health purposes, including prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhea , prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis and in premature infants, treatment of infant colic, treatment of periodontal disease, and induction or maintenance of remission in ulcerative colitis.
However, in most instances, we still donât know which probiotics are helpful and which are not. We also donât know how much of the probiotic people would have to take or who would be most likely to benefit. Even for the conditions that have been studied the most, researchers are still working toward finding the answers to these questions.
The following sections summarize the research on probiotics for some of the conditions for which theyâve been studied.
Read Also: Nourishmax Vitamin C Serum Reviews
Drawbacks Of Pure Encapsulations
Some may consider being part of a multinational megacorp a disadvantage, but thats a debatable point. The following are a few of the more objective cons of this brand:
- Expensive: PE is one of the most expensive supplement brands on the market. The high price point is a common drawback of all practitioner brands and this one is no exception. Some of their products are more reasonably priced than others though.
- Not Tested For Corn: Although the brand is big on being hypoallergenic and they do test for most allergens, there is one potential allergen they do not test for, namely corn. While they dont use corn in their formulas, some ingredients are made using dextrose as a fermentation sugar. Dextrose is a sugar isolated from corn, and although it should not normally contain any significant amounts of corn proteins, it is possible that it still has traces of corn protein.
- Not For Everyone: This brand is intended for professional use and it is advised that you talk to your doctor before you take any of their products. Some formulas contain megadoses of certain nutrients that are designed for specific therapeutic uses and may not be suitable or safe for general regular supplementation.
Garden Of Life Nestle Acquisition
In December 2017, GOLs parent company Atrium was acquired by Big Food giant Nestle for $2.3 billion.
Despite Garden of Lifes CEO Brain May assuring customers there would be no plans to change anything, many consumers were concerned based on Nestles track record of selling junk food and fighting to thwart GMO labeling efforts.
When small companies get bought by big companies, they generally do everything possible to decrease costs, and the first thing they look at is, How can we reduce the costs of our ingredients. This often leads to more ingredient sourcing from questionable sources overseas. Not saying Garden of Life is guilty of this, but its worth asking them where they source their ingredients from and seeing if you get a straight answer.
You May Like: How Much Vitamin D Should An Adult Take Daily
All Garden Of Life Products Are Have Always Been And Continue To Remain Safe
At Garden of Life, we adhere to the same set of high standards that have made our company No.1 and the most-trusted name in the Natural Products Industry. We start with clinically studied ingredients and utilize cutting-edge technology. Our Quality Assurance and Control department is always testing our products for potency, safety and contaminants. Each product is researched and developed to be the safest and most effective.
What is Prop 65? The term, Prop 65 makes reference to a law specific to the State of California, known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, or Proposition 65. This California law contains a list of over 900 chemicals known to pose various risks to human health, including lead. If anything sold in California has been exposed to any chemical on this list, that product must include a warning label. In the case of lead, Prop 65 limits are 0.5 mcg per serving, unless higher amounts are established as naturally occurring.
If you reside in the State of California, or if you are simply concerned with California Prop 65, we want you to know that we take Prop 65 reporting very seriously as we only exist to Empower Extraordinary Health®. All of our products are tested regularly to ensure compliance with Prop 65.
Garden Of Life Vitamin Code Multivitamin Review
Garden of Life Vitamin Code Multi is formulated and distributed by Garden of Life LLC, a division of Atrium Innovations Inc. The company is based in West Palm Beach, Florida, and uses a proprietary process to convert synthetic vitamins into “natural” nutrients. Essentially they feed conventional vitamins to yeast, then market the resulting by-product as a raw, whole-food multivitamin. Below is our summary of the strong and weak aspects of this product:
Also Check: When To Use Vitamin C And Retinol
Are Vitamin Supplements Really Worth It
Well, for most people, no they arent! Even if you arent meeting the recommended daily intake of some vitamins, you are unlikely to suffer from symptomatic deficiency.
Supplementation may only be effective in certain cases, such as absorption issues, restrictive diets , as well as certain health conditions or medications that can cause depletion in the levels of certain vitamins/minerals.
Healthy people dont need to waste their money on vitamins since they arent likely to provide any significant health benefits. On the contrary, taking high dosages of certain vitamins may cause adverse effects and even some serious health risks in the long run. For example, taking too much pyridoxine in synthetic supplement form can cause nerve damage .
Add to that the fact that isolated vitamins taken in supplement form arent as efficiently absorbed by the body as those found in real food. The presence of many other phytonutrients in whole foods helps the body better absorb and utilize different vitamins, and thats not something you can find in a pill. Even whole food vitamins arent nearly as good as real food.
Unless your doctor has advised you to take certain vitamins, youre probably better off saving your money for something more useful. Unlike what some companies claim and promote, supplements arent for everyone whos looking for a better and healthier life! The best way to achieve that is by consuming a balanced diet rich in healthy, whole fruits and vegetables
