Vitamin Tablets - Do brand names matter?

I was looking at different makes of these tablets the other day and of course all of them said they contained 100 percent of each vitamin they listed. I want to know Is it worth going with a big brand name for vitamins or do they all do the same job? Do the lesser known brands water their tablets down? Has there ever been any evidence of this?

I know there'll be some people here who don't believe they work at all and I remember once reading about vitamin tablets not absorbing into the body in the natural way that natural vitamins do, therfore rendering them useless. Seriously though, who do we believe?

Anyhow, I choose to believe they have some benefit and since I don't eat too healthily (although I am slim and fairly toned) I use them. I know I should just start eating more healthy foods but to hell with that, a man's got to have a vice, I enjoy food with a passion and unfortunately it's all the 'bad for you' stuff I like.

So, better with big brands or not?

You can get all your nutrients from corn and beans according to my biology professor. As for the brands thing, some have more or less of one nutrient than other or sometimes completely exclude one than the other. The corn and bean thing source, besides my professor, is biology concepts & connections 5th edition by Campbell, reece, Taylor, and Simon.
It's always best to get it from an actual food source, than a pill.

I know two people who are fanatical "health nuts".

Both of them swear by Natrol brand My Favorite Multiple vitamins. (I think you have to order online.)

The reason they like this brand is that apparently it breaks down slower and more fully then most of the hard pill brands. I remember some Health Food guru saying once that we have the "healthiest" whizzes because so many of the benefits of vitamin pills pass right through your system and end up literally going down the toilet.

Check out this thread while you're at it:

ATS: I make my own liposomal vit C. This stuff is frickin AMAZING!!!!!

The thread got 186 flags. For a thread about vitamins that should tell you something about how members felt.

Cheers!

Yes and no.

What you are looking for is a vitamin that will mostly dissolve in H20. From what I remember, a lot of vitamins are coated in a chemical that was first developed for film--which is disgusting.

So, a gummy: (child's vitamin) actually breaks down so it has a better chance of entering your bloodstream. Liquid vitamins (as long as the gellcap breaks down) are more likely to enter the bloodstream. But if you want to use a hard vitamin, then do a water test, if it doesn't mostly break down within 30 minutes of being put in water, it's useless to you.

the next step is to get it to not be merely filtered out, unused, by your kidneys. Rule of thumb: if your pee is bright yellow (nearly neon) for only a week, then goes back to normal, then you flushed out some toxins like lead. If your pee stays that vibrant color while on your vitamins, you're flushing your vitamins down the toilet.

Yes it does matter, for the most part.

A lot of companies will often add more fillers than the active ingredient on the label. They often add less of the active ingredient than what is listed on the label. GNC got busted years back for doing this with their brand of supplements. Some of their products were taken to a lab to get tested. Lo and Behold, GNC ripped a lot of people off and not just with their prices.

Sheldon: Well, there's some value to taking a multi-vitamin but the human body can only absorb so much. What you're buying here are the ingredients for very expensive urine.

Penny: Well, maybe that's what I was going for.

Sheldon: Well then you'll want some manganese.

Gonna tiptoe in this post a little.
I work for a company that sells vitamins and such and will tell you this much. The parent company actually owns many vitamin outlets and marks prices different on each one. Quite a few are very very well known and popular. That being said there's a branch that sells much cheaper (plus you get free bottles)
Send me a message and I'll tell ya the link if you're interested. As I know advertising is frowned upon.

Now that I've said that. My personal 2 cents. I take some vitamins (mostly for my workouts) but don't really see the need for the amount that I see people buy on a daily basis. Seriously, I see people buying 40+ different vitamins per order and wonder if they have time to do any thing else. LOL

So, I'd suggest finding what you're lacking and see if there's another way to supplement it first before dropping the cash on vitamins. (man, my bosses would freak if they saw that lol)

(and for full disclosure: if it weren't for the the employee discount, I'm not sure I could guarantee I take what I do now. BCAA and Whey Protein are my standards)

99% of them will say what they have, and most of the time, they all have the same. There are exceptions, some brands change something due to allergy. If you are allergy free just look for the with most vitamins and a decent brand names, even tho really cheap brand goes thru check, they might not be suitable for everyone.

A star for each of those replies, they've given me things to think about. Thanks.