Once Daily Multivitamin by Vital Nutrients

This is a one-capsule multivitamin for adults who want to cover common gaps without a handful of pills. It is vegan and contains no iron, calcium, magnesium or copper, which suits most men and postmenopausal women and anyone who already takes those separately. If your Ferritin runs low, or you count on a multivitamin for calcium or magnesium, you will need to add them. A multivitamin fills gaps in a reasonable diet; it does not make up for a poor one.

Each capsule supplies 13 vitamins and 6 minerals, several in active forms: folate as L-methyltetrahydrofolic acid (667 mcg DFE), vitamin B12 as methylcobalamin (500 mcg), vitamin B6 as pyridoxal 5-phosphate (4 mg) and riboflavin 5-phosphate (3 mg). Vitamin D is 50 mcg as cholecalciferol, alongside 90 mcg of vitamin K2. Zinc is 25 mg, selenium 70 mcg and iodine 150 mcg. The formula also adds 50 mg of coenzyme Q10, 50 mg of green tea extract and small amounts of lutein, zeaxanthin and lycopene.

The label directs 1 capsule daily. Take it with a meal: food improves absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) and the carotenoids, and it lowers the chance of the nausea that zinc and B vitamins can cause on an empty stomach. Morning or midday is the usual choice, since B vitamins feel stimulating to some people. Bright yellow urine afterward is riboflavin and is harmless.

The interaction to know is warfarin: vitamin K2 works against it and CoQ10 may also reduce its effect, so do not start this without your prescriber if you take a blood thinner. Keep it at least 2 hours from tetracycline or quinolone antibiotics, which zinc binds, and 4 hours from levothyroxine. Ask your clinician about the 150 mcg of iodine if you have a thyroid condition. Zinc at 25 mg a day with no copper in the formula can lower copper over months of use. If you are pregnant or nursing, use a prenatal instead.

Do not expect to feel a multivitamin working unless you were short of something. Where there was a gap, markers such as Vitamin D (25-hydroxy), Vitamin B12 and Homocysteine usually move within 2 to 3 months, which is a sensible time to retest. A single capsule cannot hold meaningful calcium or magnesium, which is the trade-off against multi-capsule formulas. The vitamin D and zinc here are above basic daily needs, so check what else you take before adding either one separately.