Multiple Choice: How To Pick A Multivitamin

Nutrition Action Healthletter, April, 2000 by Bonnie Liebman

If a section is shaded, the multi has at least:

25 mcg of vitamin K

120 mcg of chromium

100 mg of magnesium

2 mg of copper and 15 mg of zinc

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In addition, Best Bites for women under 50 (W) have 8 to 18 mg of iron, for men under 50 (M) have no more than 10 mg of iron, and for men and women 50 or older (S) have at least 24 mcg of vitamin B-12 but no more than 10 mg of iron.

The number of pills or capsules the label says to take every day is in parentheses following each multi's name. The last column gives a rough estimate of price, based on the cost direct from the manufacturer (if that's the only way it's sold, like AARP or GNC) or at drugstore.com: $ (less than $5 for a month's supply), $$ ($5 to $10 a month), $$$ ($1 I to $15 a month), or $$$$ (more than $15 a month).