Although most health-conscious Americans pop a multivitamin each day, there's little hard evidence that this habit has benefits. And new research released last year in the Archives of Internal Medicine added to the murkiness surrounding these pills' merits when it revealed that a daily multivitamin did nothing to prevent cancer or cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women. "If you're eating a balanced diet the way your mom told you to, then the bacteria in your stomach will create all the vitamins and nutrients you need," according to Dr. Michael Schmidt, Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical University of South Carolina. Schmidt (who told me that he doesn't take multivitamins himself). Of course there are days when that perfectly balanced diet just doesn't happen, so on those occasions it's probably a good idea to pop a multi to fill in the gaps. One thing nearly all doctors agree on is that pricey designer vitamins generally aren't any better than their plain-wrap counterparts.
When shopping for a good-value vitamin, use these tips from natural medicine expert Dr. Michael Finkelstein, of Bedford, NY's Sunraven, to assess if one is high quality: Look at what type of Vitamins A, D and E it contains. The Vitamin A should be in the form of food-derived carotenoids, such as beta-carotene, not a synthetic version such as retinol. The Vitamin D should be D3 (also known as Cholecalciferol), which is the most active form of Vitamin D. As for Vitamin E, you want the label to read "mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols." If a multi contains A, D and E in these forms, "it means that the manufacturer knows what they're doing, and that the other vitamins and minerals in the vitamin are probably of high quality as well," says Dr. Finkelstein. So look for those markers of quality and if you're looking to save money these days (and who isn't?) try cutting back on your daily multivitamin—maybe take one every other day, or only on days when you know that your diet has been less than ideal.
Do you take a multivitamin? If so, how often, and what brand?