Best Multivitamin UK – Men & Women [Complete Expert Guide]
This article will talk you through what you need to know about vitamins and minerals. We’ll start by explaining what exactly they are, what they mean for the body and what can happen if you don’t get enough of them. Then we’ll look at why you might be deficient in vitamins and minerals and what you can do about it. Finally, we’ll look at how to go about choosing the right multivitamin for you and suggest some of our favourite products.
If you know you need a multivitamin and just want some help picking the right one, then feel free to head straight down to our buying guide and product picks.
What exactly are vitamins and minerals?
Vitamins are chemical compounds which provide essential nutrition for our body. Vitamins A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble. Vitamins B and C are water-soluble. Vitamin B is actually known as a complex vitamin as it can be further divided into eight separate vitamins. These are thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, B6, B12, and folate.
Minerals are inorganic solids, which may be elements or compounds. They are also needed by the body to support vital functions. From a health perspective, the key minerals are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, chloride, magnesium, iron, zinc, iodine, chromium, copper, fluoride, molybdenum, manganese, and selenium.
What can happen to the body if you don’t get enough vitamins and minerals?
Vitamins and minerals support essential bodily functions. This means that if you don’t get enough of them, your body’s ability to perform these functions will be impaired. What specific symptoms you will notice will depend on the specific deficiency. Here is a quick run-down of the most common vitamin and mineral deficiencies and their symptoms.
Iron - Iron is crucial to the formation of healthy red blood cells which transport oxygen around the body. If you are deficient in iron, you feel like you are lacking oxygen (which effectively you are). This means that you are likely to be tired and sick or dizzy and will look pale. Severe iron deficiency can lead to anaemia.
Iodine - Iodine is essential for a healthy thyroid. If you are deficient in iodine, you may have an enlarged thyroid (goitre) and put on weight easily. You may feel short of breath and find that your heart beats quickly. Iodine deficiency is bad for adults and can cause severe developmental issues in children (both physical and mental).
Vitamin D - Vitamin D plays a key role in managing the body’s functions. Basically, it tells the body whether to activate a gene or to shut it off. Symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency can be very subtle and build up over the years. They include muscle weakness and bone loss.
Vitamin B12 - Vitamin B12 is needed for blood formation, as well as brain and nerve function. Symptoms of Vitamin B12 deficiency can be mistaken for the symptoms of iron deficiency as they include megaloblastic anaemia. This is a disorder which enlarges your red blood cells.
Calcium - Many people will already know that calcium is essential for healthy bones and teeth. Calcium deficiency is often indicated by brittle bones and problems with teeth.
Vitamin A - Vitamin A has many functions, but it’s most obvious function is maintaining eye health. This means that the most obvious sign of Vitamin A deficiency is poor vision. It can also cause low immunity.
Magnesium - Magnesium is also needed for healthy bones and teeth. It also plays a vital role in enzyme reactions. Often the symptoms of magnesium deficiency are similar to the symptoms of calcium deficiency, e.g. brittle bones, but they can also include type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and heart disease.
Out of all the vitamin and mineral deficiency mentioned above, the one which is likely to be of least concern to people in the UK. Vitamin A deficiency is a major issue globally, but not in Europe. All other deficiencies are common in Europe.
Why you might be deficient in vitamins and minerals
In an ideal world, we’d get all the vitamins and minerals we needed from our diet. In the modern world, however, that’s not always possible, let alone practical. First of all, people need to understand the details of what they need to eat to get the right amount of each vitamin or mineral.
For example, you may know that there’s iodine in fish (that’s part of what causes the smell they have). You may, however, not have realized that most iodine is found in saltwater. Seafish, therefore, have a much higher iodine content than freshwater fish. Iodine is also found in soil but its level is variable and therefore so is the amount of iodine you get from fruit and vegetables.
Likewise, you might not have known that the iron found in animal-based foods is much more easily absorbed by the body than the iron from plant-based foods.
In some cases, the only feasible way to get the vitamins and minerals you need through your diet is to eat animal-based foods. For example, Vitamin B12 is only found in significant quantities in animal-based foods.
Vegetarians can get the Vitamin B12 they need from dairy products and eggs. That said, even they will have to eat fairly significant quantities of both as Vitamin B12 is notoriously hard to absorb. They may, therefore, benefit from a supplement.
Vegans will need a supplement. This will be based on seaweed (spirulina) but it will be in a very concentrated form. The average person simply could not eat enough seaweed to get the necessary B12 in this way.
Even if you do eat a “perfect” diet, you may still not get all the vitamins and minerals you need. The reason for this is that commercial food production prioritizes yield and conformity, not taste and certainly not nutritional value. This can actually hold true for a lot of “premium” products as well.
As a result, unless you shop carefully and pay premium prices and eat an excellent diet, you are at risk of becoming deficient in vitamins and minerals. If you add dietary limitations to this, then you increase your risk of becoming deficient in vitamins and minerals.
In short, if you are experiencing the symptoms of vitamin or mineral deficiency, then it makes sense to start by taking a good look at your diet. If you know you’re eating unhealthily, then there are all kinds of reasons for making improvements. Hopefully, these improvements will also resolve your need for vitamins and minerals.
If they don’t then it could be a sign that it’s just not practical for you to get your whole vitamin and mineral intake through diet and that you need a multivitamin supplement. Please note, however, that the very term “supplement” highlights the fact that these products are intended to top up the nutrients you get from a healthy diet, not to be an alternative to a healthy diet.
As always, if you experience severe and/or prolonged symptoms, consult your doctor. Likewise, if you are on medication, consult your doctor before starting to use supplements as there can be contraindications. For example, if you are on blood thinners it may not be safe for you to take supplements which include Vitamin K.
Multivitamin supplements versus multivitamin smoothies/juices
Smoothies are often marketed as a tasty and convenient way to increase your intake of vitamins and minerals. Essentially, the brands behind them imply that you get all the benefits of fruit and vegetables in an easy-to-swallow package you can down on the go. This is not entirely wrong, but it is misleading.
When you eat whole fruits and vegetables, you get vitamins, minerals, sugar and fibre. When you drink fruit juice, you get vitamins, minerals and sugar, but you lose the fibre. This means that fruit juices are not necessarily the healthy options their marketing tends to suggest. A lot depends on how you consume them. For example, if you drink a glass of orange juice with your breakfast toast, then you’ll get fibre from the toast.
This means that you need to be a bit cautious about using juices as a way to increase your intake of vitamins and minerals. It’s also worth noting that they tend to be a lot more expensive than taking a multivitamin supplement and they often use lots of plastic packaging.
Choosing the best multivitamin on the UK market
Usually, when we write buying guides, we go into extensive detail about what to look for in a product. We cover all the different options, in appropriate detail and we talk about what options are best for what situation.
The problem with doing this with multivitamins is that there are so many different options and possibilities that we’d probably cause more confusion than clarity if we tried. We’ll, therefore, make it this.
At present, the multivitamin market is huge but very poorly regulated. This means that there are a lot of low-quality supplements out there. The easiest way to avoid these is to look at the brand behind them.
Some multivitamin companies are household names and they are well-known for a reason. Some multivitamin companies are respected in their niche. You might never have heard of them before but if you do some research on the company, you’ll find that they are well respected. Stick to products from these companies, even if they cost a little more.
The practicalities of taking multivitamins
Most multivitamins come as capsules or tablets rather than liquids. Capsules tend to have gelatine in them, some tablets do as well. Effervescent tablets can be high in salt.
Check the instructions on the packet regarding how to take your tablet and be sure to follow them. Usually, you’ll be told to take your supplement with a meal. This is so your digestive system is active. If you take multivitamins on an empty stomach, you can end up making yourself feel ill.
If you are taking a multivitamin with iron, you want to avoid taking it with large quantities of calcium or zinc. These are both linked with reduced iron absorption. If you need extra calcium or zinc, take another supplement at another time. Vitamin C, by contrast, will help with iron absorption.
Best multivitamin for women UK
Here is our pick of the best multivitamins for women on the UK market.
Quick Jump To List
Centrum Pfizer, Multivitamin Tablets for Women
- Contains gelatine
- For women pre-menopause
These tablets are shaped like capsules. We’re guessing this is to make them easier to swallow. They're a bit on the large side but go down fine with water. The taste is passable. We’re not thrilled about the fact that this product has iron, calcium and zinc together, but we’re willing to overlook this because it also covers all 13 essential vitamins plus a wide range of minerals.
Centrum Pfizer, Multivitamin Tablets for Women, 60 Tablets
- Multivitamin tablets for women under 50 with micronutrients such as vitamins C, D and zinc to support the normal function of immune system.
- Daily multivitamin with vitamins and minerals, including all 13 essential vitamins including vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, D, E and K.
- Multivitamin tablets for women under 50 with micronutrients such as vitamins C, D and zinc to support the normal function of immune system.
- Daily multivitamin with vitamins and minerals, including all 13 essential vitamins including vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, D, E and K.
- Centrum is the world's no. 1 multivitamin*
- Centrum women's multivitamins are wheat, lactose, nuts, and gluten-free.
- These vitamins for women contain iron that contributes to reduction of tiredness and fatigue.
- Centrum Women contains biotin which contributes to the normal maintenance of hair and nails of women.
Seven Seas Perfect7 Prime
- Contains gelatine and fish oil
- For women post-menopause
We find the dosage of these slightly odd as you take a tablet and a capsule. We also think the capsules have a slightly “fishy” taste, although that could be our imagination. Both the tablet and the capsule are on the larger side but go down easily enough with water. Again, we’re not thrilled by the fact that these supplements have iron, zinc and calcium together. As before, however, we’re prepared to overlook this for all the other content, including collagen, which is particularly important for skin health as we age.
Seven Seas Perfect7 Prime Woman 50+,Multivitamin and Mineral Tablet plus Omega-3 &...
- OMEGA-3 AND MULTIVITAMINS - Seven Seas Perfect7 Man Plus brings together the benefits of a complete daily multivitamin AND Omega-3 to help support the demands of modern life and your busy lifestyle. It supports your body in 7 key ways
- OMEGA-3 AND MULTIVITAMINS - Seven Seas Perfect7 Man Plus brings together the benefits of a complete daily multivitamin AND Omega-3 to help support the demands of modern life and your busy lifestyle. It supports your body in 7 key ways
- MULTIPLE BENEFITS - Perfect7 Woman 50+ Max has been specifically designed to support: 1. ENERGY: Iron and Vitamin B6 contribute to normal energy-yielding metabolism, for normal energy release. 2. BONES: Calcium and Vitamin D contribute to the maintenance of normal bones. 3. VISION: Vitamin B2 contributes to maintenance of normal vision. 4. COLLAGEN FORMATION: Vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation for the normal function of bones and cartilage. 5. HAIR, SKIN and NAILS: Zinc contributes to the maintenance of normal hair, skin and nails. 6. BRAIN: DHA contributes to normal brain function2. 7. HEART: EPA and DHA contribute to the normal function of the heart1
- A TRUSTED BRAND SINCE 1935 - Our Ocean Gold promise to you: Responsibly-sourced fish oils, 85 years of Omega-3 expertise and using only high-quality ingredients; Recyclable box packaging, blister non-recyclable
- 1 MONTH SUPPLY - Contents: 1 capsule contains 615 mg Fish oil, providing 312mg EPA and DHA; 1 tablet contains 21 essential vitamins and minerals. Take 1 tablet (purple blister) and 1 capsule (silver blister) a day with a cold drink. Suitable for ages 12+
Vitabiotics Wellwoman Plus Omega 3∙6∙9
- Contains gelatine and fish oil
- For women of all ages
These are dosed the same way as the Seven Seas option. You get a multivitamin tablet and a capsule for the Omega. We’d say there was a hint of fish to the capsules but we can live with it. They’re easy enough to swallow. Oddly, these multivitamins don’t seem to have any calcium content, although they do have iron and zinc. As before, however, taken as an all-round package, there’s a lot to like about these multivitamins.
Vitabiotics Wellwoman Plus Omega 3∙6∙9 - 56 Tablets/Capsules
- Contains 28 Wellwoman multivitamin tablets plus 28 Omega-3, 6 and 9 capsules
- Provides 22 micronutrients to help maintain vitality and wellness
- With B-complex vitamins such as B1 and B12 to help maintain energy release
- Contains 28 Wellwoman multivitamin tablets plus 28 Omega-3, 6 and 9 capsules
- Provides 22 micronutrients to help maintain vitality and wellness
- With B-complex vitamins such as B1 and B12 to help maintain energy release
- Range of antioxidants plus vitamin D to help maintain a healthy immune system
- Containing iron to help support physical and cognitive performance
Best multivitamin for men UK
Here is our pick of the best multivitamins for men on the UK market.
Optimum Nutrition Opti-Men
Optimum Nutrition is best known for its supplements for athletes and bodybuilders and this product appears to be a variation of these. That would explain why it’s targeted at active men. That being so, we find it a bit odd that this product has gone for zinc rather than iron. Perhaps the assumption is that people involved with sport will be very aware of their high need for iron and make sure to get it through diet or another supplement. That aside, if you lead an active lifestyle and want a multivitamin supplement which supports you in that, this could be a great choice.
Optimum Nutrition Opti-Men Multivitamin Supplements for Men with Vitamin D, Vitamin C,...
- This food supplement for men includes essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbal extracts for a much-needed nutritional boost
- Each tablet of these vitamin supplements includes 36 active ingredients, including Vitamin C and magnesium that contribute to energy-yielding metabolism*
- This food supplement for men includes essential vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbal extracts for a much-needed nutritional boost
- Each tablet of these vitamin supplements includes 36 active ingredients, including Vitamin C and magnesium that contribute to energy-yielding metabolism*
- Includes zinc, copper, selenium and Vitamin D that all support the normal functioning of the immune system* for men leading a fast-paced lifestyle
- These multivitamins tablets for men contain 1,000 mg of four amino acids – L-leucine, L-isoleucine, L-valine, and L-glutamine
- Easy consumption; take three tablets daily with food
- * Source: COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 432/2012
Seven Seas Perfect7 Prime Man
- Contains gelatine and fish oil
- For men over 50
Our thoughts on the dosage and taste are much the same as for the women’s version of the product. We’re also not thrilled to see iron and zinc together albeit with no calcium, which seems slightly odd. Overall, however, there is a solid range of vitamins and minerals.
Seven Seas Perfect7 Prime Man 50+, Multivitamin And Minerals Tablet Plus Omega-3...
- The special formula provides effective absorption of nutrients in ythe body's cells to support one from the inside as one get older
- Perfect7 prime man 50+ has been specifically designed to support: Muscles and bones: Vitamin D contributes to the maintenance of normal muscle function and bones
- The special formula provides effective absorption of nutrients in ythe body's cells to support one from the inside as one get older
- Perfect7 prime man 50+ has been specifically designed to support: Muscles and bones: Vitamin D contributes to the maintenance of normal muscle function and bones
- Energy: vitamin B6 and iron contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue
- Heart: EPA and DHA contribute to the normal function of the heart
- Brain support: DHA contributes to normal brain function
Wellman Vitabiotics Original
This multivitamin is just a tablet, i.e. no capsule. We’d have preferred it a bit smaller but it’s OK to swallow. Frankly, we think the smell is pretty dire, but since it takes literally a few seconds from packet to stomach, we can live with it. This multivitamin has iron and zinc but no calcium. There is, however, a very decent range of vitamins and minerals.
Wellman Vitabiotics Original
- Advanced one-a-day tablet specifically formulated for men.
- Includes vitamins A, C, D, B6 and B12 with folic acid and copper to contribute to the normal function of the immune system.
- Provides pantothenic acid and magnesium which contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.
- Advanced one-a-day tablet specifically formulated for men.
- Includes vitamins A, C, D, B6 and B12 with folic acid and copper to contribute to the normal function of the immune system.
- Provides pantothenic acid and magnesium which contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.
- Provides zinc which contributes to normal reproduction and the maintenance of normal testosterone levels in the blood.
- From the UK's No.1 men's supplement brand.
- Siberian Ginseng Extract eq. to 20 mg, Coenzyme Q10 2 mg, L-Carnitine 30 mg, Citrus Bioflavonoids 10 mg, L-Arginine 20 mg, L-Methionine 20 mg, Silicon 10 mg, Betacarotene 2 mg, P.A.B.A. 20 mg,
- Vitamin A (2500 IU) 750 μg RE 94%NRV, Vitamin D (as D3 400 IU) 10 μg 200%NRV, Vitamin E 20 mg a-TE 167%NRV Vitamin C 60 mg 75%NRV, Thiamin (Vitamin B1) 12 mg 1091%NRV, Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) 5 mg 357%NRV, Niacin (Vitamin B3) 20 mg NE 125%NRV, Vitamin B6 9 mg 643%NRV, Folic Acid 400 μα 200%NRV, Vitamin B12 9 μg 360%NRV, Biotin 50 μg 100%NRV, Pantothenic Acid 10 mg 167%NRV, Magnesium 60 mg 16%NRV, Iron 6 mg 43%NRV, Zinc 15 mg 150%NRV, Copper 1000 μα 100%NRV,Manganese 3 mg 150%NRV, Selenium150 μα 273%NRV, Chromium 50 μg 125%NRV, lodine 150 μg 100%NRV
Bonus pick
Anyone on a plant-based diet might want to look at Nutravita Multivitamins & Minerals.
In short
Multivitamins aren’t the answer to everything but they can be a pragmatic solution to getting the nutrients you need, even if your diet isn’t perfect. We’d love to hear your experience of using them and if you have any suggestions for getting the most out of them. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Fitness, health, blogging and Psychology are my main interests. I’ve worked in many roles from product designer to engineer working with many products from fitness equipment and spa products to this role as a hands-on webmaster. Avid gym-go’er and captain of the good ship Fitness Authority
![Best Multivitamin UK – Men & Women [Complete Expert Guide]](https://fitnessauthority.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/thumbs_dir/Cross-trainers-versus-treadmills1-p5n6mln2mvgdmgu2e3q3ifjq3yk46ca41focr3pjy4.png)
![Best Multivitamin UK – Men & Women [Complete Expert Guide]](https://fitnessauthority.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/thumbs_dir/Cross-Trainer-Benefits1-p5n6iy1o22g8h257qiubtcr6y0kq8provccdkd4o58.png)
