It seems like today, many people are being turned away from synthetic supplements toward more “natural” versions, but are these versions necessarily better? They may have “cleaner” ingredients and supposedly better forms of the nutrients, but what about the actual nutrients that these versions contain, and what about the amounts? What about cost? Some of these versions are prohibitively expensive for many people. Even if one could afford them, why would one want to spend the extra money when a perfectly good supplement could be had for much less? While ingredients in a supplement are important, especially when one has allergies, there are other important considerations, and a “cleaner”, more “natural” version may not be the best choice. A good supplement will contain all the nutrients you need in the right amounts and no reactive ingredients, regardless of whether or not those nutrients are synthetic and regardless of whether or not the ingredients are “all-natural”.
I recently watched a video by Meghan Remedy, comparing two different multivitamin supplements. She compared a Centrum brand multivitamin to the Vitanica Women’s Symmetry multivitamin. She goes on to explain how the Centrum multivitamin is bad because of the filler-type ingredients it contains and because of its use of synthetic forms of the vitamins. The Vitanica multivitamin is cleaner because it doesn’t contain those types of ingredients and supposedly has superior forms of the nutrients. She mentions that the Centrum multivitamins contain GMOs, but that isn’t true unless Centrum is putting false information on the labels of its products. The Spectravite Women’s version that I’m currently using explicitly states on its label that it’s non-GMO.
To me, the Centrum Women’s multivitamin has been a game-changer. Since I started taking it around the beginning of November 2018, my hemoglobin and other CBC markers normalized, and most of my iron measurements improved dramatically. My ferritin is still low but improved. I’m no longer anemic thanks to this multivitamin. I felt a difference on the very first day of taking it. Unless Centrum makes unfavorable changes to their multivitamins or if they for some other reason stop working for me, I definitely plan to stick with them for the long haul. While we’re all different and have different needs, I would have a very hard time not recommending a multivitamin that’s been extremely helpful and beneficial to me.
I decided to research the Vitanica Women’s Symmetry multivitamin to see how it compares to the Centrum Women’s multivitamin. Meghan Remedy’s video didn’t really go into detail about the amounts of the nutrients in each and how they compared. I also don’t recall her mentioning cost. Amazon has the Centrum 200-count women’s multivitamin at $17.09 at the time of this writing. The serving is one tablet a day. Amazon has the Vitanica Women’s Symmetry multivitamin as well. A bottle of 180 capsules costs $33.10 at the time of this writing. Even at one capsule a day, this multivitamin is a lot more expensive than the Centrum. It becomes even more expensive if one takes three capsules a day, the listed serving size. The Centrum would last over three times as long, which makes it a much more economical choice.
As for the nutrients and the amounts included, the Centrum multivitamin is actually very reasonable. None of the nutrients listed is higher than 250% of the RDA. The Vitanica has mega-doses of several nutrients, with the highest being vitamin B1 at 3,333% of the RDA. There may be people out there who would benefit from the mega-doses in this multivitamin, but as for myself and my poor track record with high doses of supplements, I would not want to take a chance on it. Something else about the Vitanica multivitamin that is very concerning to me is the extremely high amount of vitamin E with no iron. It’s hard for me to believe that a women’s multivitamin supplement would not contain iron unless it was specifically being marketed to post-menopausal women, but perhaps it would work for a woman who is already having to take a separate iron supplement and does not need a multivitamin containing iron. Even one capsule contains over 200% of the RDA of vitamin E. I would have a very hard time figuring out how to get enough iron to balance it. I’m not sure a high-dose iron supplement would be a good idea since they’ve given me trouble in the past. At least with the Centrum multivitamin, I can take a tablespoon of cocoa powder to get some extra copper and iron, so it’s relatively easy to correct the imbalances in the Centrum. While I’m still not completely sure why the Nature Made multivitamins didn’t work for me, I’ve wondered if it could have been the high amount of manganese. Manganese can interfere with iron absorption. The Vitanica has 250% of the RDA of manganese in three capsules. That, along with the huge amount of vitamin E and the lack of iron, could very likely cause me major issues with my body’s iron utilization. Another thing I find interesting is the form of vitamin D. The Vitanica contains vitamin D2, which is inferior to the D3 form, and three capsules only contain 200 IU. A single Centrum tablet contains 1,000 IU of vitamin D3. Also, the Vitanica has a little bit more copper than zinc, but thankfully it’s not too much more.
The Vitanica multivitamin uses different forms for several, if not all, of the nutrients, and some may claim that these are better for the body and more easily absorbed. Are they really better? The Vitanica uses methylfolate and methylcobalamin instead of folic acid and cyanocobalamin, for example. While I’m sure there are people who do better on the methylated versions of folate and B12, there’s no evidence to suggest that folic acid and cyanocobalamin are generally harmful, even for those with MTHFR variants. I’m compound-heterozygous and have had no issues whatsoever with folic acid and cyanocobalamin. Folic acid seemed to work just fine for me when I was taking it as a standalone supplement. While my B12 levels were at the low end of normal when I wasn’t taking a multivitamin, my levels improved when I started taking one with cyanocobalamin. Also, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that synthetic vitamins are just as good, if not better, than their natural counterparts. These articles from Shape, Scientific American, and Dirt-to-Dinner all make good cases for synthetic supplements.
While Meghan Remedy seems to think highly of the Vitanica Women’s Symmetry multivitamin supplement, there’s no way I would try it. It has mega-doses of too many nutrients that would still exist even at one capsule a day. The fact that it has no iron but very high levels of vitamin E and manganese is also very concerning. Also, the Centrum uses the D3 form of vitamin D, which is the preferred form, and it has more vitamin D per serving. The low amount of D2 in the Vitanica would leave me wondering if it would give me enough vitamin D. Also, the Vitanica multivitamin is just way too expensive. The Centrum, in addition to being better formulated, at least for my needs, is much more economical.
While it might be good to buy multivitamins and other supplements with “clean” ingredients, what is just as important is the formulation. What nutrients does the supplement contain, and in what amounts? How do the amounts of each nutrient relate to the amounts of others? Does it include all the nutrients you need and in the right balance for you? While some people like to sneer at “cheap” supplements, many of these less expensive versions could be perfectly suitable and may even meet your needs better than something much more expensive. Some national brands of synthetic vitamins have store brands as well, and those can help save even more money.
While the best judge of what would work best for you is you, along with your health care provider, don’t fall for the “natural” hype and spend high amounts of money on supplements that could be providing you little if any benefit over more economical and mainstream brands that may actually work better and be better formulated. Remember that a truly good supplement is one that contains the nutrients you need in the right amounts and ingredients that your body can tolerate, and that supplement may very well be a cheap synthetic version.
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