The Real Scoop on
High Potency
Multi Vitamins

High potency multi vitamins---supplement marketers love this phrase. Actually, I think they just love the words “high potency”.

They love it because the average consumer searching for a multivitamin oftentimes assumes high potency means better. Who would want a regular potency supplement, right?

But...here’s the thing.

This sort of wording is
nothing but hype.

The supplement companies that produce multivitamins and label them high potency are often shady.

A lot of fly-by-night companies in the industry engage in this kind of hypey, exaggerated marketing.

Beware.

Why the Concept of
High Potency is Bogus

Yes, potency is critical. Every multivitamin label should list the potency of its ingredients. And, as a supplement consumer, you should always get confirmation of potency by requesting a Certificate of Analysis (COA).

But to place so much importance on potency, to emphasize it above all other criteria, is misleading. To judge the quality of a multivitamin, you have to consider many things.

• Comprehensiveness:
  How many nutrients are in it?
  Which ones?

• Balance: Are the nutrients complementary? Are they in their proper amounts?

• Potency: Is it too high? Too low? Can the company confirm the potency independently?

• Absorption: Is the multivitamin formulated to
  maximize absorption of each nutrient?

• Safety: Is the dosage of any nutrient harmful?

When you look at the entire scope, potency is just one piece.

Example: High Potency Vitamin C

Vitamin C is one of the most well-known nutrients. Even school kids know about vitamin C, that they need it, and that it’s in orange juice and fruit. And adults generally know that it’s an excellent antioxidant.

You think, vitamin C is great for me; I want the most super-charged vitamin C supplement available.

It seems like logical thinking. But it's wrong. This basic misunderstanding of nutrients is what draws consumers into the high potency trap.

People end up with a bottle like this in their cabinet.

Here's three reasons to avoid high potency vitamin C:

1. There are much more powerful antioxidants available on the market...like grape seed extract. It’s 20 times stronger. You would have to take a potentially harmful dose of vitamin C to equal it.

   
   

2. Taking advantage of nutrient synergy is more beneficial than getting a high dose of any one nutrient. You don't want just vitamin C. Or just the B-complex vitamins. You want everything blended together---vitamins, minerals, amino acids, ezymes, and herbal extracts. This maximizes effectiveness and absorption.

   
   

3. On ingredient lists on labels, vitamins and minerals are always the cheapest. That's why companies make high potency multi vitamins that are sometimes 50 % one ingredient, like vitamin C.

   Huge profits.

   It's cheap to manufacture. And, unfortunately, marketing products as "high potency" is very effective in getting consumers to buy.

If Not High Potency, What Then?

To better understand what makes a supplement a quality supplement, I encourage you to review my page on Consumer Safety.