<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Hi All~~

Please read this first summary as it has hints to how the
multivitamin/mineral (written as: mv/m from here on) were tested and what
to be aware of when buying a mv/m. Summary (Part 2) gives the list of mv/m
ConsumerLab tested and whether or not the individual products were approved
or not approved. I recall hearing about this study and the results on
television last year, so ConsumerLab holds credibility.

What they focused on were several things: whether or not the mv/m tested
contained the amount of mv/m declared as meeting the FDA labeling
requirements, and whether or not the mv/m broke down in liquid to find out
if there was enough of the mv/m available for the body to absorb. Because
of copyright restrictions, I can't give all of the result information. What
I can give is a list of the mv/m tested and whether they passed or failed.
Please keep in mind that if your mv/m failed, it might not have been due to
a glaring, health altering issue - please call the manufacturer and ask for
additional information for your peace of mind.

In 2011, ConsumerLab tested 38 leading mv/m products sold in the U.S. and
Canada - including three for pets (not included here). This study became an
issue for me as a result of advice  from my PCP that I find a mv/m in this
study to take. Believe it or not, finding the publication and study results
has been a stroll through the park compared to the difficulties I'm having
verifying the gluten status of what is available in my area. Also, I ran
the whole question of whether or not a good mv/m was a waste of money or
was it helpful, past my GI doc. According to him, that question continues
to be hotly debated in the medical community. However, if any of you paid
attention to national news stations over the past month, they reported that
a major study of men 50 years of age or older found an 8% lower incidence
of cancers among those taking a relatively modest dose daily mv compared to
those taking a placebo. (See Gaziano, JAMA 2012). This new study may spur
more studies on multivitamins and their efficacy in the near future.

There is a danger with some vitamins if a consumer takes too much. Some of
the mv/m exceeded ULs (Upper Intake Levels) for one or more nutrients.
Please be informed when supplementing your diet with vitamins/minerals as
they are not regulated.

The results of this study also gave a price per day. In other words, if the
recommended dose was two tablets per day, the total cost for those two
tablets was noted. Of those mv/m approved, the cost ranged from $.03 per
day to as much as $2.83. In addition to the daily cost, the review listed
"notable other ingredients" such as soy protein, phytochemicals, etc.

The difficulty I've had verifying the gluten status of a vitamin was with
Walmart's Equate brand. I called a local store to ask if they had the mv/m
listed. They didn't, but the pharmacy tech said they had one similar. She
gave me the name, bar code number and expiration date. I called the 800
number for questions about the product. The gentleman who helped me told me
that there were several other numbers he needed from the bottle. I gave him
the name of the mv/m the pharmacy tech had given me, but he could only look
the product up by some number on the bottle that I didn't have. I asked
him, if I wanted to know if a mv/m was gluten free, but had never bought
the product, how would I find out it was GF or not? The bottom line was
that Walmart does not keep a database of mv/m by name, only by numbers they
need from the bottle or box. So, if you want to buy Equate's Mature
Multivitamin 50+, take your cell phone with you and call for the gluten
status while at the store. If you don't have a mobile phone, I guess you
could ask someone in the pharmacy to call for you. Or, you could write down
every number you see and hope you haven't missed something when you get
home to call for the gluten status. That was very frustrating!!

Cheers~~
Ayn in Kansas

Note: I thank the person who provided me with a copy of the article ~~ I'm
very appreciative of the time, effort, and resources spent to print and
mail the article. If I'm not mistaken, this one article can be bought from
ConsumerLab. Or, it might be worth it to ask if your library could get it
for you through Interlibrary Loan. The exact title is: *Multivitamin and
Multimineral Supplements Review*. Posted 6/15/11 Updated 10/18/12




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We never touch people so lightly that we do not leave a trace...* Millen

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