Are all Vitamin Supplements pretty much the same?

[EllenFrasier]

Okay, I'll admit it. I don't eat right. I don't eat enough vegetables, so I'm probably not getting enough vitamins. The last time I took vitamin supplements is when I was pregnant 12 years ago. Before that, I bought but did not take, Centrum 21 or something like that. They were the size of horse pills and I could not swallow them.
I'm approaching menopause (mid-40's) and want to make sure I don't wind up taking Sally Fields pills she's peddling. I just want a vitamin that is small and covers the basics.
Any suggestions?

 

[worm761]

I just read an article on Yahoo news the other day about vitamin supplements that said that most of them are basically the same so going with the store brands was just as good as the name brands. There is not much of a difference. We use the Sam's Club brand in our house because they are cheaper. DS has to have a vitamin because he has a very limited diet due to Asperger's/Autism. I know some of the brands they talked about were Centrum, Nature's Made, and Costco. Costco was their best for dissolving the way they were supposed to. Hope this helps. I looked for the article but could not find it.

 

[Wishing on a star]

Yep, the cheap over-the-counter ones are probably all the same...

And, I wouldn't put them in my body....
They can even make me physically ill.

Try these!

Life Essence - you may not find them at WalMart, but they are widely available, and widely recommended. We order them online.
I seem to be sensitive to a lot of bad ingredients, and I KNOW that I can take these.

www.pureessencelabs.com/LifeEssence-high_potency_multi_vitamins.html

 

[cm8]

Okay, I'll admit it. I don't eat right. I don't eat enough vegetables, so I'm probably not getting enough vitamins. The last time I took vitamin supplements is when I was pregnant 12 years ago. Before that, I bought but did not take, Centrum 21 or something like that. They were the size of horse pills and I could not swallow them.
I'm approaching menopause (mid-40's) and want to make sure I don't wind up taking Sally Fields pills she's peddling. I just want a vitamin that is small and covers the basics.
Any suggestions?

All vitamins are not the same. There are synthetic vitamins and there are whole food vitamins. Whole food vitamins are better for you since they come from real food where as synthetic vitamins are made from chemicals. There was a debate about this a couple of months back in RD. The poster who recommended Life essence by pure essence made a great recommendation. I use that one too and it is made from real whole foods. It is very expensive but well worth it!

 

[LuvSulley]

I'm taking a nutrition class right now and my professor said that based on an experiment she did in class, generic brands are better. The experiment was putting a generic and brand name vitamin in vinegar to see if either dissolved to test if they were being broken down by the body. Since the generic dissolved quicker, the conclusion was that the generic was "better."

She also said she personally takes rather a generic women's multivitamin or generic prenatal vitamin (even when she's not pregnant). She said that taking prenatal vitamins when your not pregnant won't hurt you and in her experience.. her hair is shinier, fingernails grow longer, and skin looks better on it.

 

[Christine]

Consumer Labs (consumerlabs.com) does annual review/test of vitamins and found that not all are the same. Some do not carry the stated amounts of vitamins, some do not break down properly. There's a whole list of things they test for. I don't know if you can access all the information there or if you have to be a member. I think you can get an overall rating for free.