Written By : Dr Ruby Shah (Last Updated on November 1, 2022)
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Multivitamins aren’t all made equal and, if you’re not getting the best multivitamin for women, you could be wasting your time.
Fortunately, we’re going to break down what you need from a multivitamin, what to look for when you’re in the market for a multivitamin and reveal our top three picks.
Stick with us and read on if you want to get the most from your diet and nutrition.
We’re going to take you on a tour of some of the best products around and explain why we rate them.
Why Should I Care About The Best Multivitamins For Women?
If you hadn’t noticed, men and women live different lives and have different physiologies; they also have different dietary needs.
The idea that you should take the exact same vitamins and minerals as someone of the opposite sex doesn’t make sense – your needs are unique, and a supplement has to account for that.
There are a few key compounds that women need in greater levels than men, which means your multivitamin needs to provide them as a top priority.
These include:
- Iron: especially important for menstruating women to prevent anemia and keep reproductive health high
- B vitamins (especially folate and B12): to support energy balance and metabolic regularity throughout the body. Folate is extremely important for pregnant women or women trying to get pregnant, as it helps prevent conditions like spina bifida. Older women too can be particularly deficient in B vitamins.
- Calcium: a key player in female bone and breast-tissue health, reducing osteoporosis and breast cancer risks, though this is usually easy to obtain via diet so may not be included in generous amounts in many multivitamins.
- Magnesium and iodine are also important for women.
These are essential for supporting female-related health needs, rather than taking a broad, non-specific approach.
The best nutritional support is the kind that acknowledges your unique needs and focuses on them.
With that in mind, we’ve chosen a list of high-quality multivitamins for women that have various strengths that might make them beneficial to you.
Best Multivitamins For Women
Performance Lab Multivitamin for Women | One a Day Women’s Multivitamin | Garden of Life Vitamin Code Women | |
Photo |  |  |  |
Ingredients Quality | 4.9/5 | 4.8/5 | 4.6/5 |
Product Effectiveness | 4.8/5 | 4.6/5 | 4.4/5 |
Brand Reputation | 4.9/5 | 4.8/5 | 4.9/5 |
1. Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multivitamin for Women
Performance Lab’s entire philosophy on supplements is about producing the best quality, most natural products, and its multivitamin for women is no exception.
The idea is to provide an effective nature-identical multivitamin without any of the fluff or unnecessary compounds you might see in low-quality supplements.
This provides a product that does the basics well – providing effective doses of vitamins and minerals in a form your body can use – with peace of mind that there’s nothing dodgy in your supplements.
How It Works?
One of the first things to look at in a multivitamin is the actual dosages included.
With at least 100% Daily Value of 18 essential nutrients – both vitamins and minerals – and a further 10 nutrients included, you’re getting plenty of what you need here.
Performance Lab Whole-Food Multi makes a point of providing decent dosages but avoiding mega-doses that could cause problems.
A good multivitamin should provide plenty of the key compounds without going to excess.
Dosage is not the whole story, however.
You need to look at the source of those nutrients, and the quality behind them.
On top of the quantity of these compounds, we love the quality of the Performance Lab Whole-Food Multi for women because of the quality of the ingredients.
With a whole-food process and nature-identical compounds courtesy of its highly innovative NutriGenesis™ production process, this mimics the benefits of vitamins and minerals from food.
This means that they are highly bioavailable and readily used by the body, so you’re getting the most benefit from every capsule and every gram.
This is key when so many products on the market use synthetic, poorly-absorbing compounds and end up being a waste of your money.
Quality matters, and Performance Lab pulls that off beautifully.
There is also a ‘clean label’ approach to this product.
This means that the Whole-Food Multi for Women is free from:
- Gluten
- Soy
- GMO compounds
- Synthetic additives
- Common allergens, such as shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, fish and dairy
- Caffeine
- Banned substances
- Artificial colors and preservatives
It is also vegan-friendly, non-irradiated, and GMP certified.
Finally, the female-specific nutrients here make a big difference.
The focus on increased B vitamins and iron make for ideal female nutritional support.
This shows a clear concern for your wellbeing and a scientific approach to getting you the very best performance, health, and support for your goals.
Benefits
- Nature-identical multivitamin with a natural, whole-food process to produce better results with every gram.
- Clean label approach to supplements means no nonsense, nothing harmful, and peace of mind that you’re getting quality.
- Effective dose and variety are essential. This is a key part of a good multivitamin and Performance Lab strike a good balance between necessary and excessive.
- Brand Synergy for best results. Performance Lab designed their range of products to work safely in combination with each other for best results. As such, the Whole-Food Multi is considered a foundational support, which can then be added to if desired by other specific products in the Performance Lab range – such as Vision, Energy, Sleep, Mind or any of the SPORT supplements available.
2. One a Day Women’s Multivitamin
This is a product that makes for simple, no-nonsense nutrition for women.
It comes with a great price point and 12 key nutrients at 100% recommended Daily Value or more (and an additional nine nutrients as well) to support wellbeing and dietary balance.
It foregoes some of the luxuries of Performance Lab’s approach for a cheaper price and an easier entry.
It’s a decent option if you’re on a budget or you’re not able to commit to the top-quality products.
We think this is a good supplement to fall back on when you’re not sure what your goals are.
It’s a good starter supplement but it’s not going to provide the same comprehensive benefits – which is why it’s a strong 2nd place, but still not at the top spot.
How It Works?
As a budget alternative to Performance Lab, there’s a clear focus on providing an effective and simple product.
Levels of essential nutrients are lower, but still cover many essential micronutrients, specifically B7 and B9.
These are both great for energy levels and combatting fatigue, while B9 (folic acid) is key for female reproductive health.
It also contains vitamins A, C, E and copper for healthy skin support at dosages of 50% or above of Daily Values.
The manufacturer Bayer pledges that One A Day Women’s Multivitamin also supports bone health, immune system, heart health, and physical energy.
A multivitamin needs to make up the key compounds that your diet is missing or benefit you in additional doses.
One A Day provides a simple and effective booster to your existing diet, offering a chance to easily improve your nutrient intake at a great price.
It is also free of dairy, artificial sweeteners, gluten/ wheat and artificial flavors.
Benefits
- A great price and fulfils some of the basics you might be looking for in a multivitamin
- Effective doses that live up to the necessary minimums for effective supplementation
- Large container count at 250 capsules
3. Garden of Life Vitamin Code Women
Garden of Life Vitamin Code Women is a raw whole-food multivitamin made with live probiotics and enzymes, designed for active women ‘during their reproductive years.’
Garden of Life stresses that its supplements are raw, meaning they are produced below 115F and therefore come with their natural cofactors, just like raw foods.
As a result of the above, it is free of artificial flavors, synthetic binders and fillers, sweeteners, colors or additives.
It’s almost as clean a formula as Performance Lab Whole-Food Multi, but not quite – which is why the former is in our top spot.
Unlike Performance Lab Whole-Food Multi for Women, this product is only suitable for vegetarians, and not vegans.
How It Works?
Garden of Life Vitamin Code Women features 17 nutrients at 100% RDA or greater, though there are 69 nutrients included overall.
These additional nutrients come in the form of ‘blends’, where we know the ingredients but not the individual dosages.
For instance, it includes the:
- RAW Organic Fruit and Vegetable Blend, 400mg. (23 fruits and vegetables).
- RAW Probiotic and Enzyme Blend, 100mg. (10+ ingredients).
- RAW Antioxidant and Immune Support Complex, 20mg.
It is uncertain whether so many ingredients in such doses will add much to the product, though it’s a nice touch.
Garden of Life Vitamin Code Women is strongest in its B vitamins.
Supplementation of B vitamins in large quantities may be a great way of supporting your energy transfer and metabolism. Garden of Life have nailed this down with large – but not excessive – quantities of B vitamins.
With high doses of B6, B9 and B12, it provides a great energy-support supplement.
This may have specific applications – such as in pregnancy (always consult your doctor first), supporting energy levels, and regulating metabolism.
These are key for other areas of life like mood, reproductive health, and combatting chronic fatigue/stress.
Benefits
- Great concentrations of some ingredients, making it a specialist in key areas.
- Good price, though not quite competitive with One A Day’s budget multivitamin.
- Effective B vitamins, providing support to women struggling with fatigue (a common, high-risk problem for quality of life).
- 17 nutrients at 100% RDA or higher.
- Whole-food supplement which the manufacturer claims contains the same natural cofactors as raw food.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
1. What are multivitamins for women?
These are dietary supplements that are a combination of vitamins, minerals, probiotics, herbs, and enzymes that specifically address various health needs for women such as breast and bone health, fertility, energy, and cognitive function.
2. What are some of the benefits of multivitamins for women?
Some of the benefits you can expect from multivitamins are:
- Improved hormonal balance.
- Better bone density.
- Increased energy.
- An improvement in cognitive function.
- Better nutrient balance in the body.
- Improved nervous and immune system health.
3. Who should use multivitamins for women?
These multivitamins are ideal for all women, including those in the productive years, as well as those undergoing menopause.
4. Which ingredients should I expect to see in multivitamins for women?
Some of the common ingredients include:
- Vitamins such as A, C, D
- B Vitamins
- Probiotics
- Enzymes
- Minerals like iron, choline, selenium, zinc, magnesium, calcium
- Herbs like green tea extract
- Amino acids
5. How can I decide which multivitamin to use?
When buying a multivitamin, you should opt for one whose ingredients meet your specific health needs. For instance, if you want to replenish blood and boost energy levels, you should select one with iron, folate, and B vitamins. If you will be taking the multivitamin for an extended period, it is best to choose one that is within an affordable price range. You should also consider the reputation of the manufacturer- find out if they use clean ingredients and where they are manufactured.
6. What are the side effects of multivitamins for women?
Most multivitamins will not have any adverse side effects. However, if it has too many ingredients, these might cause digestive problems or nausea. You should check the label to ensure that you are not allergic to any of the ingredients, especially in products that include allergens like soy, dairy, gluten, or shellfish.
Conclusion
In this review, we have seen that women have unique physiological and nutritional needs for optimal health and wellbeing.
A dietary supplement that includes vitamins, minerals, probiotics, herbs, and fruits with different nutrients can go a long way in meeting these needs.
This review has looked at the five best multivitamins for women, including what they are and how they work.
We also discussed their ingredients as well as their pros and cons.
If you are in the market for a potent multivitamin, we believe that this review will help you pick one that works for you.
