Products and Components
Many multivitamins are formulated or labeled to differentiate consumer sectors, such as prenatal, children, mature or 50+, men's, women's, diabetic, or stress. Consumer multivitamin formulas are available as tablets, capsules, bulk powder, or liquid. Most multivitamins are intended to be taken once or twice per day, although some formulations are designed for consumption 3–7 or more times per day.
Compositional variation amongst brands and lines allows substantial consumer choices. Modern multivitamin products roughly classify into RDA (recommended dietary allowance) centric multivitamins with or without iron, RDA centric multivitamin/multimineral formulas with or without iron, higher potency formulas with mostly above RDA components with or without iron, and more specialized formulas by condition, such as for diabetics or by less common components, such as diversified antioxidants, herbal extracts, or premium vitamin and mineral forms. Legally, the United States Food and Drug Administration allows a multivitamin to be called "high potency" if at least two-thirds of its nutrients have at least 100 percent of the DV. In practice, "high potency" usually means substantially increased vitamins C and B, with some other enhanced vitamin and mineral levels, though some minerals may still be much less than DV.
Some components are typically much lower than RDA amounts, often for cost reasons. For example, biotin, usually the most expensive vitamin component, at over $4000 per active pound, is typically added in at only 5%-30% of RDA in many one per day formulations. Biotin is required to be present at 100% of the value of the B-vitamins for them to be absorbed by the body. Any B-vitamins that cannot be absorbed due to a lack of biotin are eliminated by the body. Likewise, boron and magnesium are considered essential for the bioavailability and absorption of Vitamin D and calcium. Sometimes low content composition is for population subgroups, where the RDA would be inappropriate. Iron is needed in larger amounts by menstruating women, but some percentage of HFE variant gene bearing males are at risk for hemochromatosis. Normal dietary intakes also vary by population, indicating different levels of supplementation.
Basic commercial multivitamin supplement products often contain the following ingredients: vitamin C, B1, B2, B3, B6, folic acid (B9), B12, B5 (pantothenate), H (biotin), A, E, D3, K1, potassium iodide, cupric (sulfate anhydrous, picolinate, sulfate monohydrate, trioxide), selenomethionine, borate(s), zinc, calcium, magnesium, chromium, manganese, molybdenum, betacarotene, and iron. Other formulas may include additional ingredients such as other carotenes (e.g. lutein, lycopene), higher than RDA amounts of B, C or E vitamins including gamma-tocopherol, "near" B vitamins (inositol, choline, PABA), trimethylglycine (anhydrous betaine), betaine hydrochloride, vitamin K2 as menaquinone-7, lecithin, citrus bioflavinoids or nutrient forms variously described as more easily absorbed.
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