Best Multivitamins for Women
Multivitamin is a dietary supplement that provides the suggested daily allowance of all of the necessary nutrients for humans in a single dose. It normally combines different vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients like dietary enzymes and even herbs to support the body throughout the day. Multivitamins and other supplements should not in any way substitute a healthy diet and should only be used to help nutrient intake for those who need more.
Besides to improve nutrient intake, taking a multivitamin may aid in preventing chronic disease. Some of the multivitamin benefits may include:
- Decreased risk of Age-Related Macular Degeneration
- Vitamin D from a multivitamin can prevent deficiency, as well as reduce the risk of breast cancer and other cancers
- Folic acid in a multivitamin aids in prevention of neural tube defects in newborns if mother takes a multivitamin before becoming pregnant
- Prevention of B12 deficiency in strict vegetarians or vegans
For women, some of the key ingredients are calcium, vitamin D, vitamin K, iron, and B-complex vitamins.
Many women take a daily multivitamin because it helps them insure they get all the micronutrients and vitamins they need for the day—especially for women on-the-go.
Women in particular have nutritional needs that are different from men. These include their B vitamin intake, their vitamin D ratios, and more.
As well, women’s multivitamin is itself somewhat different than a prenatal vitamin, which is formulated specifically for women who are currently or soon to be pregnant. Many women will switch from a standard multivitamin for women to a prenatal vitamin when they are pregnant, then switch back after giving birth.
Maintaining appropriate intake levels of nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin K is particularly important for women who are getting older.
These vitamins and minerals interact in a synergistic way to build and maintain bone density. Many cases of osteoporosis and osteopenia are associated with a diet that’s deficient in these nutrients and as your body gets older, you become more vulnerable to fractures if your bone density is decreasing.
Older women also have changing nutritional needs as they go through menopause. Research has found that the hormonal changes that occur during menopause are linked to decreases in levels of copper zinc magnesium, calcium, vitamin E, and vitamin A.
As such, women undergoing menopause may want to pay particularly close attention to their intake of trace minerals and vitamins.
Some of the best multivitamins for women:
Women’s Total Synergy Multivitamins by Smartvita
Specially formulated ingredients for women to provide a one-stop shop for all. With a combination of key elements like a beauty blend for skin, hair and nail. The tablets contain a special feature that slowly releases the ingredients in a span of up to 3 hours to allow your body to fully absorb it. In addition, they comprise of natural, organic, and non-GMO ingredients. With many brand named ingredients like Lutemax 2020 for your vision and Beta-Carotene, Lycored, it is probably the most comprehensive multivitamin products in the marketplace. It is also one of the few multivitamin products in the marketplace that is also certified drug-free from BSCG, the gold standard of dietary certification for athletes.
Every Woman Multivitamin by New Chapter
New Chapter takes a naturally-produced vitamin and mineral approach like a few of its competitors, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark. To support the lifestyle of an active woman, New Chapter has made a two-a-day multivitamin that has a unique blend designed to balance hormone levels, increase energy levels and reduce stress. A cardiovascular formula and digestive blend round out this comprehensive formula. Due to a two-step fermentation process, many women find the multivitamin is easier to digest and absorb.
Women’s Multi Vit-A-Min by Emerald Labs
Emerald Labs has made a one-a-day formula that you should feel good about. This whole-food multivitamin is a co-enzymated formula to increase absorption and enhance bioavailability. Their choice of ingredients focus on a woman’s specific needs. One of the best things about this vitamin is what it does not have. It is additive free.
Simply One Women Triple Power Multivitamins by Super Nutrition
This 100 percent natural multivitamin is USDA organic and hypoallergenic. Ingredients like ginkgo biloba, coenzyme Q10, and a strong B-complex should support higher energy while protecting the body against the effects of stress. Increased levels of folic acid, niacin and hawthorn might provide cardiovascular support against free-radicals. This one-a-day pill is designed for quick disintegration and rapid absorption to get you moving and keep you moving.
Vitamin Code for Women by Garden of Life
Garden of Life is known for its unique approach to vitamin and mineral supplements, and it shines in the multivitamin category. Its vitamin and mineral contents are bolstered by the inclusion of fruit and vegetable powders which have an untold number of nutrients that support the main alphabet vitamins and minerals.
Opti-Women by Optimum Nutrition
Optimum Nutrition shows that they’ve done their homework with their women’s multivitamin. Instead of just amping up the vitamin B content and throwing in some extra calcium like second-rate women’s multivitamins, they put in some extra nutrients that are truly useful for women, like soy isoflavones. Scientific research shows that these are particularly useful at building and preserving bone mass in women, which is a critical component of health as you get older. Fans of herbal extracts will find a few choice ingredients as well, with dong quai extract and the potentially fat-burning garcinia cambogia.
Eve Women’s Multivitamin by NOW Foods
Now Foods provides standard doses of pretty much everything except B vitamins, which come in hefty-sized mega-doses. The presence of mineral ingredients as chelates, instead of inorganic salts, is an attractive feature; these are absorbed much better by your body.
Women’s One Daily by MegaFood
MegaFood Women’s has an unusual approach to providing its multivitamin nutrients. Instead of the inorganic chemical forms that most supplements deliver their vitamins and minerals in, MegaFood’s nutrients are isolated from specially-bred strains of brewer’s yeast–because the nutrients are directly salvaged from a natural process, the hope is that they will be easier for your body to absorb.
Women’s Complete by Smarty Pants
Smarty Pants gummies claim to be more than a multivitamin and upon further inspection, the ingredients look pretty impressive. They contain at least 100% of 3 important nutrients: iodine, folate and vitamin D. Iodine is the most important nutrient for women’s thyroid health (often omitted in other women’s multivitamins). Folate is provided via methylated folate, the ideal form of folate in those with genetic mutations on the genes that code for vitamin conversion and absorption. Experts estimate that close to half of the population has this genetic mutation. These gummies also contain 1000IU of vitamin D, the most common vitamin deficiency among adults. The gummies are tasty and slightly sweet, which may be exactly what you need for you to remember to take your vitamins.
Women’s Ultra Mega by GNC
GNC is a pretty standard women’s multivitamin. It scores well on purity rankings, though one thing you’ve got to watch out for is the herbal extracts in the energy blend. It’s got caffeine as well as green tea extract, so you’ll be getting a kick of caffeine every day.
Women’s Gummy by Vitafusion
Gummy vitamins taste great, but the problem is that all that sugar and gelatin displaces vitamins and minerals that need to be in a multivitamin. Vitafusion falls short with their women’s multivitamin because it does not contain some of the key nutrients women need most. It only has 100 mg of calcium per serving and it doesn’t contain any vitamin D, which helps boost calcium absorption and is important for bone health in its own right. In general, to get a good multivitamin, you’re going to have to take a pill or swallow a capsule.
General National Brands
The biggest national brand when it comes to multivitamins is, as you might expect, a bare minimum supplement. It will meet your recommended daily intake, but it doesn’t have much in the way of added extras or cutting-edge features.
The vitamins and minerals are derived from the least-expensive and most efficient industrial processes. The presence of artificial coloring agents will also be a real turn-off for a lot of people.