One A Day Multi Vitamins for Active Women- Will They Enhance Your Performance TODAY?
Written: Oct 27 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Less Vitamin A than in other brands
Cons: More expensive than other brands.
The Bottom Line: I wouldn't go out of my way to buy these again. They were fine but expensive.
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| jo.com's Full Review: Today Enhanced Multivitamin For Active Women 50+ T... |
One A Day Today are vitamins designed for Active Women over 50. I bought these while in Florida rather than taking my regular Trader Joe brand and having to put them in a baggie.
These 55 large gray vitamins come in a childproof plastic container. In spite of being child proof, they are very easy to open. You will find a clear expiration date on the side.
Since the vitamins are gels or caplets, if you have trouble swallowing pills, you may have trouble with these. They are chalk like in consistency (You do not chew them.) but that means they don’t slide down like some others may.
The bottle has a foil safety seal so make sure that is sealed and if your are pregnant or nursing talk to your doctor about using these (The likelihood of being over 50 and pregnant or nursing is quite low I suppose since it is possible, it is a necessary statement.)
They are designed to make our bones strong, our heart healthy, skin and eyes healthy.
Although we are told that they have more calcium than Centrum or Centrum Silver- they have 24% of the recommended daily value and only 20% of the value needed for women over 50. Centrum Silver has 20% of the RDV (recommended daily value)- 4% less - in my opinion that is splitting hairs.
The soy we are told will help our bones stay strong. Soy is highly recommended but if you look you will see that the amount in One A Day Today is negligible.
Vitamins A, C, E, and Zinc help keep our eyes healthy. These vitamins rate 5 stars on that in this area. All 4 have 100% or more of the RDV. We are told that Today is the only leading multivitamin that combines Soy Isoflavones with Vitamin C, E, B6, B12, and Folic Acid to aid our cardiovascular health.
Remember that none of these statements has has been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Today, made by Bayer, tells us that this product is “not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” They really don’t claim to. These vitamins are just intended to support our health.
We are told that in addition to women over 50 needing more calcium (I don’t think anyone would dispute that.) I also learned that according to Bayer we need less Vitamin A. Today has responded to that they say. These vitamins have more calcium than any other leading multivitamin brand and a lower level of vitamin A than other multivitamins, because it is now understood that consuming more than 5000 IU of vitamin A - from any combination of food and supplements - can be harmful to your bones. Looking at my usual Trader Joe brand I see that it contains 10,000 IU of vitamin A!
Ingredients:
Calcium Carbonate, Magnesium Oixide, Potassium Chloride, Cellulose, Ascorbic Acid, Di-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate, Acacia, Croscarmellose Sodium, Zinc Oxide, Dicalcuim phosphate, Steric Acid, Dextrin, Titanium Dioxide, Niacinamide, Silicon Dioxide, Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose, Gelatin, Soy Extract, Magnesium Stearate, Calcium Silicate, D-Calcium Panothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Polyethylene Glycol, Starch, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Mannitol, Cupric Oxide, Resin, Lecithin, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate , Vitamin A Acetate , Chromium Chloride , Folic Acid , Dextrose , Beta Carotene , FD&C Red #40 Lake , FD&C Blue #2 Lake , Sodium Selenate , Biotin USP Method 2 , Phtonadione , Cyanocobalamin , Ergocalciferol
The serving size is one tablet a day to be taken with food. These contain no calories or fat.
A closer look
Vitamin A 3000 IU 129% These numbers are the DRV.
Soy Extract 10 mg (*Daily Value Not Established) however from all my other reviews I know that a guideline is 24 mg. per day.
Vitamin C 75 mg 100%
Vitamin D 400.0 IU 100%
Vitamin E 33 IU 100%
Vitamin K 20 mcg 22%
Thiamin (B1) 1.1 mg 100%
Riboflavin (B2) 1.7 mg 154%
Niacin (B3) 14 mg 100%
Vitamin B6 3 mg 200%
Folate, Folic Acid 400 mcg 100%
Vitamin B12 18 mcg 750%
Biotin 30 mcg 100%
Pantothenic Acid 5 mg 100%
Calcium 240 mg 20%
Magnesium 120 mg 38%
Zinc 15 mg 187% 0
Selenium 70 mcg 127%
Copper 2.0 mg 222%
Manganese 2.0 mg 111%
Chromium 120.0 mcg 6000%
Potassium 100 mg 3%
My thoughts:
It is very difficult to assess how a vitamin is working particularly when you have been taking vitamins for years. I do know that compared to my usual Multi Vitamin made by Trader Joe these are expensive. I buy 360 Trader Joe Multi Vitamins for $11.99. However, now that I am aware of the fact that I should be taking less Vitamin A (If I am to believe this company.) I have to rethink Trader Joe's brand.
Would I have been better off not even bothering with a vitamin? Not in my opinion. I am an advocate of taking a multi-vitamin a day. There are so many on the shelves it is hard to know what to take. I am active and during my stay in Florida I was caring for my mom so my stress level was through the roof. During times like these, vitamins are crucial because I wasn’t eating like I should and without them, it is very likely I would have gotten sick, been too tired to care for her almost round the clock at first and collapsed! That never happened. Can I attribute it to Today? I may as well since I wasn’t in a control research group with someone doing what I was doing taking a placebo.
Will I buy these again? Perhaps because it is so easy to find them. They are sold in drugstores and supermarkets. I don’t mind paying the money if I am getting my money’s worth. I most likely, though, will go to my local health food store and talk to the owner about a good multi vitamin that doesn’t have all the artificial ingredients in it. I do not like what is contained in Today.
I will look at others also to see if in fact, there may be a multi in the health food store with more calcium but less vitamin A. I ended up buying a calcium supplement for both my mom and me because there isn’t enough in Today, in my opinion, even if there is more than in others. It is great if you can get calcium from food but if you can’t as I wasn’t able to during these stressful weeks additional calcium is crucial. You can take Tums, however, and save a lot of money!
Other reviews you may find interesting:
Multivitamins
Choosing A Sports Nutrition Formula
Copper
Recommended:
Yes
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