During an episode of the mindbodygreen podcastAshley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDN, director of scientific affairs for mbg, advises caution when reading “complete” on supplement labels: , E, D, and K? See the eight B vitamins? You see macro minerals there in relevant amounts?” If not, consider the word “complete” as marketing semantics used to convince customers that they are receiving a complete and comprehensive range of nutrients.
The key here is to check the amount of micronutrients Y dosage, that is, how potent each ingredient is. A truly complete multivitamin should include 100% of the Daily Value (DV), or more in some cases, of most essential vitamins and minerals (meaning we should consume them daily).
Some exceptions to that rule: Bulkier minerals like calcium, magnesium, and potassium (FYI, it’s rare to find the latter mineral in typical multi-formulas) will probably be closer to the 10% DV simply because of their size, which is still a useful amount for a reasonable daily serving (ie one or two capsules daily) of a multi.
With so many multivitamins on the shelves, it’s shocking to see how many are missing from the “multi” part. Thankfully, Ferira has some guidelines to find out what to look for in a full range of essential vitamins and minerals:
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