LONGECITY

I've heard many scathing and sarcastic remarks about over-the-counter multi-vitamins like Centrum or One A Day, etc versus multi-vitamins such as Ortho-Core. Reading through the forum, I haven't seen any arguments as to *why* people dislike the over-the-counter multi-vitamins so much or why they like supplements such as Ortho-Core so much. For many years, I've taken an over-the-counter multi-vitamin, but I am seriously considering switching to something like Ortho-Core if I see a reason for it.

I'd love to hear any thoughts or input on this, besides "over-the-counters suck" or "we don't want to give our money to big corps".

Do some research towards the exact vitamin components in the OTC product and what are considered "state-of-the-art" vitamin components. You will probably find many (types of) discrepancies:
- Inferior (synthetic) vitamin components in some of the OTC products that lag behind current scientific insights.
- Current scientific insights do lag behind "reality". We only know what we know.
- The fact that the current scientific insights regarding vitamins are by no means generally accepted in the scientific community. Due to the lack of research that has sufficient credibility towards beneficial effects in humans.
- And due to the fact that "politics" is still greatly involved in the interpretation of research results, which is partly enabled by the fact that evidence has not been sufficiently proved beyond any doubt, if that would be possible at all in general.
- Studies that are "poorly" designed if you take into account the beneficial effects in "normal" humans. The goal of the research is not always the goal of the general interpretation that is given to research results. Jumping to conclusions to soon.
- The individual needs for vitamins is, yes, individual.

Just skim the threads here (and elsewhere) to try to form your own opinion on what might be good for you. Dispite the somewhat negative appraoch above, I think vitamine use is benificial if you do it in a smart way. There's no short answer if you ask me and I cannot be smart for you.

http://www.centrum.c...neralguide.aspx

Do you want to take a supplement that contains 18 mg of iron? Do you want to take something that only has alpha-tocopherol in it?

Basically, most over-the-counter multi's are more about marketing than provide good health. Therefore, they provide a check-off list of ingredients that are in-the-news, like lycopene was a few years ago, but they most often provide entirely inadequate amounts. (But, at least marketing can list it as an ingredient, and most of the public is clueless as to what amount is needed for any real benefit.)

Also, these multi's tend to use the cheap versions of minerals, the one's that have the least bio-availability. Anytime you see an oxide version of a mineral, for example, you can be certain you're getting the cheap version. Magnesium and calcium oxides are the leaders in OTC multi's.

And, OTC multi's too often include the wrong version of a vitamin, like D2 instead of D3, or they use alpha tocopherol when it's the more expensive gamma tocopherol that human bodies benefit from the most.

B vitamers are also a jumbled mess in most multi's.

Again, I've NEVER seen an OTC multi that I would personally take or recommend.

Hey DukeNukem, I'm curious what you mean that "B vitamins are also a jumbled mess in most multi's"... check out Dr Weil's multi below and I'd like to know what you think. His ingredients are good (e.g., D3 instead of D2, etc), but I'm not so sure about his really high B's...

Dr. Weil's Daily Multivitamin for Optimal Health 1x daily
Supplemental Facts
Vitamin C 125 mg 208%
Vitamin D 500 IU 125%
Thiamin (B1) 25 mg 1666.66%
Riboflavin (B2) 25 mg 1471%
Niacin (B3) 25 mg 125%
Vitamin B6 25 mg 1250%
Folate,Folic Acid,Folacin 200 mcg 50%
Vitamin B12 50 mcg 833%
Biotin 50 mcg 17%
Pantothenic acid 25 mg 250%
Calcium 30 mg 3%
Iodine 75 mcg 50%
Magnesium 15 mg 4%
Zinc 7.5 mg 50%
Copper .75 mg 37%
Manganese .5 mg 25%
Chromium 100 mcg 83%
Molybdenum 37.5 mcg 50%
Potassium .5 mg .015%
Choline 25 mg **
Inositol 25 mg **
PABA 25 mg **
Citrus Bioflavonoid Complex 20 mg **
Rutin 20 mg **
Flavones 9.8 mg **
Sulphur 2.5 mg **
Silicon 1 mg **
Flavonols .2 mg **
Vanadium 5 mcg **
*Percentage US Recommended Daily Value for Adults.
**Daily Value Not Established

Common mistakes:
1) Too much beta-carotene and without the other naturally occurring mixed cartenoids
2) Alpha-tocopherol instead of mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols.
3) Poorly absorbed form of minerals (example oxides).
4) Contains iron
5) Contains lots of extra ingredients at too small of dosage to be of benefit
6) Contains the less desirable form of vitamins (D2 versus D3, etc).

>>> I'm curious what you mean that "B vitamins are also a jumbled mess in most multi's"... check out Dr Weil's multi below and I'd like to know what you think. <<<

Well, I'm not going to give a full analysis, but in short, do you find it curious that so many of the B's are rounded nicely to 25mg? Is this just laziness, or are these biologically optimized amounts? If you look at the RDA percentages, you'll see that they vary wildly. (Not that the RDA has a clue, but still you get the point.)

The AOR brand, for example, has optimized its B's according to research and needs. In other words, they gave it some thought. Dr. Weil is one of the last people in the health industry that I'd follow the advice of.

What do you think about the multivitamins from Vitacost/NSI?

What do you think about the multivitamins from Vitacost/NSI?

1) Niacinamide inhibits SIRT2
2) inferior vitamin K1 instead of K2
3) Contains iron