Best Multivitamins

Most multivitamins you buy at your local store are not carefully formulated to give you the optimal nutrition you need. Their manufacturers use low-quality ingredients that are not potent or bioavailable enough to be beneficial. They may meet the government’s recommended daily intake guidelines (or not), but they don’t use the nutrient forms that are most easily absorbed by your body.
For these reasons, the vast majority of multivitamins available today are simply not good enough to spend your hard-earned money on. You want the benefits of the best vitamin and mineral supplement you can find, but you’re not sure how to find the best multivitamins to take. We always recommend doing your own research instead of trying to wade through the marketing noise of most vitamin companies, and this Multivitamin Guide is a good start.
We’ve done exhaustive scientific analysis of over 100 vitamin brands, including popular supplements such as Centrum, One-A-Day, GNC, Shaklee, Nutrilite/Amway, Equate, Nature Made, NOW Foods, Melaleuca, and Puritan’s Pride. We’ve also included many brands that are not so recognizable, including Xtend-Life, Douglas Labs and USANA.
Each of the reviewed vitamins was evaluated against four criteria, including synergistic effect, composition, bioavailability, and potency. Each supplement received a score ranging from 0 to 10 to help you easily compare the effectiveness of the different brands and determine the best multivitamin to take.

How effective are the vitamins you currently take?

The table below provides a summary of the Effectiveness Scores of some of the more popular vitamin supplement brands available on the market. For the best vitamins, look for a score of 8.0 or above, which is considered excellent.
Most widely available supplements scored low in our review, while eight relatively unknown brands were the best scoring products Effectiveness scores of the most popular multivitamin brands

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