STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

Honestly, I take the generic store version of Women's Once A Day multi vitamin. When I compared it to the more expensive versions, they had the exact same % of vitamins and minerals. I try to get the rest of my vitamins through food, so I'm not much help with the supplements.

These don't include all of the brands out there, but it gives you a place to start.  These are some third party certifying bodies that work with supplement makers to test them for good manufacturing processes and labeling practices.

The first one requires a paid membership, but the other two have free info.  I got these sites from either the FDA or NIH website (can't remember).

 

• ConsumerLab.com approved quality product seal:http://www.consumerlab.com/seal.asp
   
• NSF International dietary supplement certification: http://www.nsf.org/certified/consumer/listings_main.asp 
  List all dietary supplements and order results by company name for easy sorting
   
• U.S. Pharmacopeia dietary supplement verification program:http://www.usp.org/USPVerified/dietarySupplements/

 

In general, I have seen that Solgar, NatureMade, and Jarrow brands usually produce quality products and truthful labeling. Both are easily accessible brands.

A good multi should give you your antioxidants and folic acid.

For Fish Oil, Nordic Naturals is probably the best, but it's super expensive. There are others out there.  Just watch the dosage. What seems like a good deal might be just a lower dosage -- resulting in you having to take more pills to get the target amount. Make sure you're getting Omega-3-DHA.

Brand quality varies wildly. Some national brands aren't worth bothering with...just comparing numbers on labels won't tell you anything about the source of the ingredients.

Where to buy: I go back and forth between Vitacost.com, Luckyvitamin.com, and iHerb.com. Usually iHerb has the best prices/shipping if it's a big order, but Vitacost is super fast. iHerb is a hard site to browse, so I find I need to type in what I'm looking for.

Women's Multivitamin - I like New Chapter or Rainbow Light. Look for something without iron unless you've been advised to take it because you're deficient.

Calcium + vitamin D - Jarrow (a brand PJ suggested) "Bone Up" is my choice for calcium. Vitamin D is tough. There's D3 and D2. D3 usually comes from lanolin (sheep "sweat," really their skin oils) or fish waste, which is kind of gross. D2 is derived from yeast or musrooms, but it doesn't stay in the body long, so you have to take it more frequently. The best of all possible worlds is to get your D from the sun shining on your skin. I don't take it at all so I have no rec's.

Antioxidant - Jarrow has a good one that's not expensive called Antioxidant Optimizer.

Folic Acid - I would look into this further before deciding to take it. Folate from food (green leafies) is great. Synthetic folate in a tablet is processed differently by the body, can be toxic, can promote tumor growth, and now it's being linked to various cancers. If you still decide to take it, check your multi to see if it's included. If so you shouldn't need any extra.

Fish Oil - no idea, I'm vegan, so I get these nutrients from nuts and seeds. Walnuts, flax seed and hemp seed are good sources of EFAs without the dioxins, PCBs, mercury, etc. In this day and age I wouldn't touch anything from fish.

Evening Primrose Oil - Source Naturals is a trustworthy brand. Unless this is something you're taking in an attempt to relieve a specific symptom, like arthritis, it is probably not necessary.

One thing I would add to your list is some big (500 mg) buffered vitamin C tablets - Jarrow, Country Life are both fine. Even if you don't want to take it daily, it's good to have around if you feel a cold coming on or even if you're tired or have a hangover. If my husband gets sick, or someone in my office, I pound 4-6 tablets a day for a few days, and usually don't catch whatever's going around, knock wood.