What's the best multivitamin for women?

Most multivitamins have the same basic ingredients. Unless you're planning on being preggers soon it doesn't really matter. Just make sure they are water soluble - that's the key with vitamins.

I take a women's once daily vitamin (like One-a-Day, but the CVS brand) and it has a lot of good nutrients in it

I've read that prenatals are better than a standard multivitamin - so I took those when I was taking vitamins - even though I didn't want to get pregnant at all.

Trader Joe's has low cost vitamins in my experience.

As a Registered Dietitian I get asked this question all the time and here is what I tell my patients...

If you consume well balanced meals you will get all the vitamins/minerals from your diet....however most people do not always eat balanced meals and somedays we may skips whole food groups! So taking a MVI would not hurt!

I wouldn't purchase a "mega" vitamin....these tend to have larger amounts of water soluble vitamins (B complex & Vit C)...your body will only take what it needs ( which is the RDI or 100% of needs) and the extra will be excreted through urine. Basically you are paying for expensive urine.

I would stick with a standard MVI unless you are trying to conceive...then you would want a PreNatal Vitamin. You can get chewable, liquid, soft gel or regular. A liquid does get absorbed faster b/c your body doesn't need to break down the filler that is used to make it a pill. A chewable is good as well....a "gummie" chew however is just like a regular vitamin....your body needs time to break down the "gummie" part. You could do a kids chewable like Flinstones....any 2 kids vitamins are comparable to an adult vitamin. A good way to test to see how long it takes for your vitamin to break down is to place it in a cup of regular vinegar....the vinegar is similar to that of your stomach acid.

Some ppl have trouble taking them b/c they upset your stomach....just take the MVI with a meal, small snack or even a glass of milk. This helps aid in the GI discomfort that can be associated with taking a MVI.

It's always important as a woman to make sure you are getting adequate amounts of calcium in your diet as well. If you are unable to get between 1000mg-1200mg of calcium via your diet I would suggest taking a Calcium with Vitamin D supplement. Calcium Carbonate or Calcium Citrate are the have the most amount of elemental calcium per dosage...so I would suggest one such as Citracal, Caltrate and even TUMS. Calcium is absorbed in your small intestines and not all of it is absorbed at once....so it is recommended that you take no more than 500mg at one time for best absorption. Also vitamin D plays a key role in calcium absorption....so make sure the calcium supplement has vitamin D as well. Lastly don't take Calcium with Vitamin C or Iron--both decrease calcium absorption. Again you can do the vinegar test with a calcium supplement---it is suggested that the calcium supplement dissolve in 45mins or less.

Also most ppl do not get enough Vitamin D from their diet or from the sun. You can always take an extra Vitamin D supplement as well. Just be careful...although rare....vitamin D toxicity can occur b/c Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and is stored in your fat tissue. You cannot get vitamin D toxicity from your diet or the sun but only from supplements---just to be aware.

That was probably waaaay too much info....but I hope it helps!