In Search of the Perfect Multi-Vitamin: How Does Yours Measure Up? 
by Maia Appleby

One of the most confusing things about fitness is the whole vitamin issue. I know people who pop thirty horse pills a day, drink interesting-looking potions and recommend that everyone take mega-doses of this and that. They seem to operate under the assumption, "If a little is good for me, then more must be better."

This is painfully wrong. Most vitamins (even vitamin C) are harmful if taken excessively. These products are made synthetically, which means that they can call themselves "natural" until their faces turn blue, but they will never be natural, and anything synthetic, even if it's a vitamin, herb or supplement, is technically a drug. The last thing I recommend to anyone is to get caught up in the nutrition web that often leaves consumers feeling like these bottles of pills control their bodies.

With that said, I don't shun taking vitamins. The ideal way to get your nutrients is from your food, of course, but very few of us follow entriely balanced diets, and even if we do, we may not be getting what we need. Additionally, many people, including vegetarians and women at risk for osteoporosis, have additional things to keep in mind.

A hundred years ago, the soil was rich, farming was done in a natural, chemical-free manner and food was much more nutrient-dense than it is today. Taking a good multi-vitamin is a great way to ensure that your body gets everything it needs to function as well as it can.

Here's where the debate comes in. What IS a good multi-vitamin?

First of all, iron and calcium shouldn't be taken together. Many vitamins targeted at women contain iron, and most of them don't need it. Iron taken in excess can cause serious health problems, so unless you KNOW that you need it, don't take it.

Your vitamin should absorb easily. Many of the cheap brands don't! This means that your body isn't getting much benefit from them at all -- you might as well be swallowing a jelly bean. Test your vitamin by placing it in a half-cup of white vinegar. If it's still solid after a couple hours (it should dissolve much more quickly than that), then it's not worth taking.

In his book What's Best, health journalist Bill Sardi rated the top 40 brands of multi-vitamins based on their potency, completeness and proper balance of nutrients. He concluded that most Americans are taking multi-vitamins that just don't deliver on their promises. He ranked Purity's Perfect Multi Purity's Perfect Multi number one, calling it the "perfect multi-vitamin" and saying that it was the ONLY brand that passed every test.

How does your multi compare to Purity's? See the chart below: