The Best Multivitamins for Men and Women

A high-quality multivitamin is the first supplement I recommend out of my Foundational Five. In the time it takes to swallow the capsules, you significantly increase your total nutrition intake for the day.

As important as they are, I’m often surprised by how few people understand the importance of taking multivitamins each day.

If you still don’t understand why you need a high-quality multivitamin, start here. If you know why but don’t know which multivitamin is best, this post is for you.

If you didn’t read my blog post on how to identify a high-quality multivitamin, here are a handful of criteria to consider. In the best multivitamins, you’ll find:

  1. The natural form of folate, not folic acid
  2. Methylcobalamin, not cyanocobalamin
  3. Mineral chelates (i.e. bisglycinate)
  4. Vitamin K2, not just K1
  5. Well-above the Daily Value (DV) for most vitamins
  6. Other health-promoting ingredients, such as herbs, adaptogens, amino acids, etc., at efficacious dosages

It’s not enough for the label to boast 100% of the Daily Value (DV) of essential vitamins and minerals. You need the forms your body absorbs.

Low-quality, low-priced multivitamins use forms of essential nutrients you can’t absorb. The label might look impressive, but if you can’t use the nutrients, you just create premium-priced urine.

Other than the gummy multivitamin I recommend for kids, each of the products that made this “best” list makes an excellent multivitamin for women. Men would benefit from all of them other than the gummy and the prenatal multivitamin.

These multivitamins are professional-quality supplements. As such:

  • The packaging isn’t designed for retail with flashy graphics and half-naked models. These professional brands usually invest more in their medical teams and quality manufacturing than in marketing experts. I’d prefer to use the best product with mediocre packaging than use a product with the coolest packaging that does nothing for me.
  • None of these supplements contains artificial flavors, color, or sweeteners.
  • All are gluten-free but not necessarily vegan.
  • If you take medication or are being treated for a medical condition, always check with your doctor before introducing a new supplement to your nutrition plan.
  • Most of these supplements contain ingredients in addition to their vitamins and minerals. As each person is unique, if you have a subtle reaction to a multivitamin, it’s often one of the botanicals or additional ingredients. Consider a different product if that occurs for you.

You’ll find each of these multivitamins through my Wellevate dispensary. As always, my members and customers get 15% off all products from the more than 300 brands available through it.

Multi-Vitamin Elite by Thorne (Work & Athletic Performance)

Best for Peak Work and Athletic Performance

Thorne Multi-Vitamin Elite AM PM Tom Nikkola

This is the multivitamin I’ve used for most of the past six years, which I recommend most often. I’m biased towards the Thorne Multi-Vitamin Elite AM PM as I helped develop this formula years ago when I worked with Thorne. I’m not an employee anymore, so I’m recommending this because I genuinely believe it’s an awesome multivitamin, not because I have any ties to Thorne.

Multi-Vitamin Elite comes in a morning dose and evening dose. When you eat, just take the AM dose with your first meal and the PM dose with your last meal. Each dose is three capsules.

It contains high levels of vitamins in the most bioavailable forms, including folate as L-5-Methyltetrahydrofolate, Vitamin K split between K1 and K2, and Vitamin A coming from both Beta Carotene and Palmitate, as well as an optimal dose of Zinc to support testosterone production and immune function.*

Most of the minerals are Albion’s Bisglycinate Chelates. Due to their extreme size, you’ll need to take extra magnesium and possibly calcium. It wouldn’t be possible to provide optimal doses of these minerals without adding 3-6 more capsules to the formula.

The following adds to this unique and potent formula:

  • Meriva phytosome: relieves occasional joint and muscle soreness,* supports healthy inflammation levels,* and supports healthy blood sugar*
  • Green tea phytosome: adds antioxidant horsepower,* promotes fat metabolism,* and promotes cellular energy production*
  • Relora®: supports normal cortisol levels, especially while facing increased levels of stress,* helps curb late-night cravings,* and may support restful sleep*

In a research trial, athletes fell asleep faster and achieved better quality sleep after taking the PM formula.*

For athletes who need proof their products are free of banned substances, Thorne offers a version of this multivitamin with an NSF For Sport certification.

Though this sounds like a multivitamin for athletes, I frequently recommend it for men, and for women before menopause. It’s a special formula.

Suggested Use

Suggested Use: Take 3 capsules of the A.M. formula in the morning and 3 capsules of the P.M. formula in the evening daily with a meal or as recommended by your health-care practitioner.

Supplement Facts – A.M. Formula

Supplement Facts – P.M. Formula

Interactions / Contraindications

NeuroVite Plus Multivitamin by brainMD (Brain Support)

Potent Brain-Supporting Formula with added antioxidants, and eye and heart health ingredients.*

NeuroVite Plus Multivitamin by BrainMD

Dr. Daniel Amen’s company, brainMD created a suite of brain-supporting supplements to complement his books and other education. These are potent cognitive health products.

If you’d like to take your brain health to another level, consider the whole cognitive kit called Brain & Body Power Max. It includes fish oil and a specific brain-support formula. You can also find the full kit in my Wellevate store.

In addition to high doses of bioavailable vitamins and minerals, it includes:

  • phytonutrients to support brain cells*
  • lutein and zeaxanthin for your eyes*
  • hesperidin for circulation*
  • resveratrol for your heart*

It even includes a small dose of digestive enzymes.

Suggested Use

Suggested Use: Take 4 twice daily with meals or as recommended by your health-care practitioner.

Supplement Facts

Interactions / Contraindications

Basic Nutrients 2/Day by Thorne (Basic Nutrients)

Best basic vitamin and mineral supplement.*

Thorne Basic Nutrients 2:Day

Like all Thorne products, Basic Nutrients 2/Day uses the most bioavailable micronutrients.

This multivitamin contains optimal doses of almost everything you’ll need to build a solid base of nutrition, except for a couple of minerals like magnesium or calcium. To include efficacious amounts of those two minerals, you’d need to take three to six more capsules. That would defeat the purpose of this minimalistic multivitamin.

If you’re on a budget, looking to minimize the number of pills you take each day, or if you’d like to simplify your supplements for your family, Thorne’s Basic Nutrients 2/Day is the best basic multivitamin you’ll find.

Suggested Use

Suggested Use: Take 2 capsules per day with meals or as recommended by your health-care practitioner.

Supplement Facts

Interactions / Contraindications

Kids Formula and Fiber by Smarty Pants (Children’s Multivitamin)

Best formula for kids who aren’t ready for capsules.*

Kids Formula and Fiber by Smarty Pants

You can present these gummy vitamins to your kids and grandkids one of two ways; as the healthiest gumdrops or as the best-tasting gummy vitamins on the planet.

Smarty Pants has a few different gummy vitamin options, but the fiber version has less sugar, and the fiber adds a source of prebiotics to feed the good bacteria in their guts.

It also includes a reasonable dose of omega-3s. The formula doesn’t contain vitamins and minerals at the levels you see in capsule-based formulas. Still, until they’re ready to swallow pills, this is an excellent multivitamin for kids to take.

As a chewable vitamin, you should also be glad to know it is free of synthetic colors, artificial flavors and preservatives, yeast, wheat, milk, eggs, soy, gluten, peanuts, tree nut allergens, fish allergens, shellfish, and salicylates.

Suggested Use

Suggested Use: For children 4 years of age and older, take two (2) gummies daily for the first week, four (4) gummies daily thereafter. May be taken with or without food. Chew each gummy thoroughly.

Supplement Facts

Interactions / Contraindications

Basic Prenatal by Thorne (Prenatal)

For women trying to conceive or who are pregnant or nursing.*

Basic Prenatal by Thorne

There’s never a more critical time to exercise caution with what you put in and on your body than when you’re pregnant. Pregnant women don’t just need to eat enough calories, protein, and healthy fats; they need to consume enough essential micronutrients to support a baby’s developing nervous system, skeletal system, organs, and so much more.

Unfortunately, most prenatal vitamins fall woefully short of essential micronutrients.

The experts at Thorne made sure you get enough well-absorbed:

  • Folate to help prevent neural tube defects without the risk of excessive, poorly-absorbed folic acid*
  • Iron to help avoid anemia*
  • Methylcobalamin to support the developing brain and nervous system

Of course, it isn’t essential just to provide the micronutrients a baby needs. You need to get enough to support the mother as she provides the baby’s environment to grow.

With Thorne’s unwavering reputation for purity, you not only get the best prenatal multivitamin formula, but you can also feel confident the product won’t contain anything that could harm a developing human being.

Suggested Use

Suggested Use: Take 3 capsules daily or as recommended by your health-care provider.

Supplement Facts

Interactions / Contraindications

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