The multivitamin is the supplement most people buy first and understand least. It is also the category where the gap between what a label implies and what a capsule contains is at its widest.
I sell one, so weigh that. What I can offer in return is the single most useful thing to know here — a number printed on every label in Britain that almost nobody uses, and which sorts the real products from the decorative ones in about ten seconds.
The number that matters: 15% NRV
Every vitamin and mineral on a UK label carries a %NRV figure — Nutrient Reference Value — showing how much of the daily reference amount one serving provides.
Under retained Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, a nutrient must be present at at least 15% of the NRV before the product may make any authorised claim about it. Below that threshold, the law's view is that the amount is not meaningful.
That gives you a test no marketing can get round. Take any multivitamin, read down the %NRV column, and count how many nutrients clear 15%. That number — not the one on the front of the pack — is what you are actually buying.
You will find products advertising forty or fifty nutrients where a third of them sit at 2%, 4%, 8%. It is not illegal — they simply cannot claim anything for those nutrients, and they usually do not try. They print the long list on the front instead. We have written about why a shorter list is often the better one here.
The formats compared
Capsules
Best for: most people.
Capsules hold more actives than a gummy, avoid the binders and compression aids a tablet needs, and can carry botanicals or live cultures alongside the nutrients. Vegetarian HPMC shells are standard.
The trade-off: a genuinely complete formula is a reasonably large capsule, so you need to be comfortable swallowing one.
Tablets
Best for: cost per serving.
The cheapest way to deliver a lot of nutrients. Compression requires binders, fillers and coatings, so more of what you swallow is not nutrient — but it is an efficient, well-understood format.
Gummies
Best for: people who genuinely cannot swallow a capsule or tablet.
Stated plainly: usually the weakest option. Sugar or sweeteners take up room, minerals taste unpleasant so are often reduced or omitted, and iron is frequently absent altogether. Convenience is the entire proposition — and for some people that is a fair trade, because a gummy taken daily beats a tablet in a drawer.
Sprays and liquids
Best for: people who cannot swallow anything.
Claims about superior absorption in this format are generally not authorised claims, and are worth treating as marketing unless a seller can show you something specific. The genuine advantage is that they are easy to take.
What to check before you buy
- How many nutrients are at or above 15% NRV? Not how many nutrients — how many at a level that counts.
- Is iron included, and do you want it? Men and post-menopausal women rarely need supplemental iron; menstruating women often do. It is the most common reason to choose one formula over another.
- Is vitamin K included? If you take warfarin, vitamin K interacts with it directly. Many multivitamins contain K1 or K2 without flagging it clearly.
- Does it contain iodine or seaweed? Iodine turns up in more products than people expect, and it is one of the few nutrients where more is genuinely not better.
- Is preformed vitamin A (retinyl acetate or palmitate) present? UK guidance is that pregnant women avoid supplements containing it.
- Does the seller stay within the claims rules? A multivitamin has plenty of authorised claims available. A seller reaching past them into “boosts immunity” is doing so by choice.
What to pair it with over winter
One piece of practical advice that applies whichever brand you buy. UK government advice is to take 10µg of vitamin D daily from October to March, because British sunlight in those months is not strong enough for the skin to make it.
Most multivitamins carry a fraction of that — ours provides 2.5µg at 50% NRV. So the sensible winter combination is a good daily multivitamin plus a dedicated vitamin D. We do not make a vitamin D, and I would rather tell you that than let you assume you were covered.
The same logic applies to pregnancy: a pregnancy-specific supplement is the right product for the 400µg of folic acid UK advice recommends.
How to spot a seller worth trusting
Multivitamins are one of the easier categories to sell honestly, because so many authorised claims are available. Vitamin C, vitamin D, B6, B12, folate, zinc, selenium and iron all contribute to the normal function of the immune system. Eight nutrients contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. These are real, permitted and specific.
So when a multivitamin is sold on “immune boosting” or “energy boost”, the seller has chosen looser language over accurate language they were entitled to use. It tells you something about the rest of the operation.
Our recommendation
The One contains seventeen vitamins and minerals, every one at 25% NRV or above, with nine at a full 100%. That is the whole design: nothing in the capsule is there to lengthen the label.
Eight of them contribute to the normal function of the immune system. Eight contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. Five contribute to the protection of cells from oxidative stress. Vitamin C increases iron absorption, and there is iron in the same capsule — which is a sensible pairing rather than a coincidence.
Alongside the nutrients sit alfalfa, psyllium husk, sugar beet fibre, Seagreens® and 1 billion CFU of live cultures. 120 capsules — up to four months at one a day — at £24.99. Halal certified, made in the UK. Suitable for vegetarians but not vegans, because of the live cultures.
Two things to know before you buy: it contains vitamin K2, so read the warfarin note if that applies to you; and it contains iodine and Seagreens®, so check what else you take before stacking.
Wondering whether a multivitamin is right for you at all? We have set out who benefits most here.
Always read the label. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied and balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. If you take prescription medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, speak to your doctor or pharmacist before starting a supplement.
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