Are you taking the right multi-nutrient? Check and See.

Dear Reader,

Use of multivitamins seems to be at an all time high. And many people are relying on the "once daily, all-in-one" supplements to give them the nutrients they need to stay healthy. But do these products really provide the nutrients you need for vibrant health?

I wanted to find out. So, I decided to do a little research on three popular brands of multivitamins—Centrum Silver^®, One-A-Day 50^® Plus, and Nature Made Essentials 50+^®—and even I was surprised by what I found. I'll share some of my top-line findings in a minute. For an in-depth nutrient-by-nutrient review, click to see my recently released chart, Comparing Today's Top Multivitamins.

Overall, I've found that these multivitamin supplements don't come close to providing the much-needed nutrients for healthy, vibrant aging. These multivitamins just scratch the surface, in my opinion. And they certainly don't help improve the way you feel every day, let alone give you tangible results.

The right multi-nutrient can make a world of difference in how you feel

On the flip side, when you take the right multi-nutrient, the transformation in your health can be amazing. This means feeling results like increased energy, flexible joints, elevated mood, sharper thinking, and a sense of overall well-being.

Plus, the right multi-nutrient goes one step further; it provides important "silent" benefits, which continue to build over time—for instance, stronger bones, optimum heart health, and an enhanced immune system.

Ask yourself—does your multivitamin do all this? If not, please read on.

My top-line findings on today's popular multivitamins

For starters, I will say that these "grocery store" multivitamins are pretty inexpensive. But are they worth it? Let's see.

On the whole, I found that they include only a scattering of very basic vitamins and minerals. Plus, they lack some of nature's best health-boosting nutrients—the ones that make you feel a real difference and help support your health down the road.

(Again, you can see detailed findings in Comparing Today's Top Multivitamins, a side-by-side nutrient comparison.)

You need essential fatty acids to keep your heart and brain young
Not one of the top three brands I reviewed includes an essential fatty acids (EFA) complex. As far as I'm concerned, this is a no-brainer—you need high-quality EFAs, especially omega-3s and omega-6s. They're important to maintaining a healthy heart and brain function, and to lubricate stiff joints.

You need advanced antioxidants to help fight one of the leading causes of aging—free-radical damage.
We're bombarded with free radicals every day. From our skin, to our digestive tract, to our brain—they're everywhere. The only true way to fight them is with a potent antioxidant arsenal. Sadly, this is another area in which these grocery store brands fall short.

• Not one of the three brands I reviewed has alpha lipoic acid, which is a very powerful free-radical fighter that gets into all parts of your cells and makes other antioxidants work harder.
  
• Not one of these three brands has CoQ10, a super antioxidant that decreases as we age and must be replenished for healthy aging
  
• The One-A-Day has no lutein, while the Centrum and Nature Made have only 250 mcg of this critical antioxidant—and for healthy vision, you need 6 mg, which is 24 times more than these provide.
  
• Not one has more than 60 IU of vitamin E, which I believe is really a pittance. I recommend 400IU each day to support a strong immune system and heart.
  
• And only the Centrum had lycopene, but just 300 mcg, which is about one-fifth as much as you need of this immune-boosting nutrient.

You need green "superfoods" for immunity boosting and natural energy.
Superfoods are little miracles of nature that contain many immune-boosting antioxidants and natural energizers. It amazes me that any "50 Plus" daily vitamin could call itself complete without this vital group of nutrients, yet that's exactly what they do.

While many superfoods can have a tremendous impact on how well you age, there are three in particular that I regard as the most powerful. Not one of the grocery store multivitamins I reviewed has these or any other superfoods:

• Spirulina, the "lifeblood" of green foods, helps replace the vital, life-enhancing nutrients you may not be getting from cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.
• Bee pollen, which boosts your mental focus and resistance to stress, combats free-radial damage, and strengthens your body's natural immune response.
• Royal jelly is the amazing "food" that helps queen bees live for years, instead of mere weeks, as worker bees do. It has rejuvenating benefits and provides a noticeable lift in energy and vitality.

Whether you get green superfoods in your multi-nutrient or not, just make sure you get them. The difference superfoods make can be remarkable for many people.

For overall good health, you need the right potencies of essential vitamins and minerals
I was astounded at the amounts of even the basic vitamins and minerals in these three top brands. For instance:

• The vitamin B12 in these multivitamins was as low as 25 mcg—I recommend 4 times that amount for peak energy and mental alertness. One of the most noticeable things that happens as we age is a decrease in energy, and taking vitamin B12 (as well as a full range of B vitamins) goes a long way toward restoring energy.
• Where are the trace minerals? I couldn't find even a hint of them in any of the multivitamins I reviewed. While you only need a tiny bit, you do need them for healthy bones, blood vessels, skin, metabolism, and more.
• Then there's N-acetyl cysteine—a powerhouse nutrient that actually helps increase the detoxification power of your liver. No sign of it in any of the store-bought multivitamins either.

I could fill volumes on the nutrient comparisons I found, but I hope you get the idea. Again, for more detail, go ahead and visit my side-by-side nutrient comparison chart. Check out the Daily Advantage ingredient column while you're at it. I think you'll see why this is the one I recommend, hands down. You can even use its list to put together your own supplement program. I think you'll start feeling a big difference pretty quickly.

As you go about reviewing your own multivitamin (or even consider starting one), please keep in mind an important lesson that I've learned over the years: Your health is the last place you should skimp; in fact, this is the one area where you should seek out the very best for yourself.

It comes down to this: The rewards of staying healthy and strong are greater than anything we can measure in life.

Take care,
Dr. David Williams

P.S. If you're over 50, it's critical to take the right multi-nutrient—you'll feel more energized, mentally alert, and healthier. Please look at the comparison chart of some of today's top multivitamins—I think you'll be surprised.