elzora's Full Review: Prime Years Multivitamin 100 SoftGels by Schiff Vi...
I generally take a multivitamin for women, but I purchased these Schiff Prime Years Multivitamin and Mineral softgels for my husband. He likes to take a multivitamin every day, and isn't real fussy about the brand. When I saw that these were "especially formulated for people 55 years and older", I thought I was buying a good product, since my husband is 56 years old.
Description
Like all of the Schiff supplements we have, these also come in a very dark brown plastic bottle, and it's hard to see what the softgels look like, or how large they are.
The cap is childproof, meaning you have to push down and turn at the same time to open the bottle. More on that later.
The label says these are a "once daily" softgel, made with the Schiff "sure dissolve" technology, which assures that they will disintegrate within one hour.
They contain no added sugar, salt, wheat, gluten, or milk. They have no preservatives or artificial flavors. Their potency, purity and freshness is guaranteed by Schiff.
Supplement Facts
Calories: 10 Fat grams: 1 Vitamin A (100% beta carotene): 5000 IU Vitamin C (ascorbic acid & niacinamide ascorbate): 100 mg Vitamin D (cholecalciferol): 400 IU Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol): 60 IU Vitamin K (phytonadione): 10 mcg Vitamin B1 (thiamin mononitrate): 5 mg Vitamin B2 (riboflavin): 5 mg Vitamin B3 (niacinamide ascorbate): 20 mg Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride): 5 mg Folate (folic acid): 400 mcg Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin): 25 mcg Biotin: 30 mcg Pantothenic acid (d-calcium pantothenate): 20 mg Calcium (tricalcium phosphate): 100 mg Iron (ferrous chelate): 4 mg Phosphorus (from tricalcium phosphate): 51 mg Iodine (kelp): 150 mcg Magnesium (magnesium oxide): 100 mg Zinc (zinc oxide): 15 mg Selenium (from yeast): 20 mcg Copper (copper gluconate): 2 mg Manganese (manganese gluconate): 3.5 mg Chromium (from yeast): 130 mcg Molybdenum (sodium molybdate): 75 mcg Potassium (potassium citrate): 10 mg DL-Methionine: 15 mg Boron: 1 mg
My Thoughts
First, these softgels are very large, and could present a problem for people who have a hard time swallowing pills. Granted, a softgel goes down easier than a hard pill would, but they are almost an inch long and almost a half inch wide. They are a dark burgundy color, and are smooth and soft.
I don't care for the child proof cap at all. The cap on my bottle of magnesium and calcium actually has a portion that flips up easily, but this bottle of Prime Years Miltivitamin and Mineral softgels is not quite so easy. I have a hard time getting the cap off on the first try. And since this is a product geared toward people 55 and older, the likelihood that they might have arthritis is increased. Also the likelihood that they most like would not have small children in the home came to mind, so I really don't see the need for the child proof cap. That is my personal observation, maybe the company has a better reason for this that I am not aware of.
Looking at the amounts of calcium, boron, magnesium and phosphorus, I am disappointed. Again, this is for older people, and women especially need more of these vitamins than what is listed on this bottle. The calcium amounts only equal 10% of the USDA daily value. Magnesium is at 25%, and phosphorous only 5%. Boron amounts for bone building should be 3 mg, not 1 mg.
Likewise, the vitamin K amounts are at 13%, bioton 10%, iron 22%, selenium 29%, and potassium is less than 1%! On the positive side, these do tend to contain help for the immune system as well as the cardiovascular system.
My husband takes these vitamins and never complains he doesn't like the quality, but he is tired all the time. With vitamin levels in our fruits and vegetables said to be declining, we can't always rely on our foods to give us all of the nutrition our bodies need.
I would feel better about this product if it had better support for women's bone health, and if it had higher amounts of the supplements highlighted. I won't be buying this one again. I have found better, more rounded multivitamin and mineral supplements on the market. They might cost more, but our health is worth it.
Schiff has been making supplements for over 70 years, and this 100 count bottle of Prime Years softgels retails for $16.29.
Prime Years Multivitamin is a multivitamin and mineral supplement especially formulated for people 55 years and older with nutrients necessary to main...More at All Vitamins Plus
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