gossymer

Since I had my surgery and require a multi-vitamin, my Dr told me I could take Centrium or Flinstones. I take Flinstones. They're tasty and Flinstone-shaped. How could one go wrong with that? XD

Ooooh, Flintstones *_* What flavor do you have? Do you chew them or mainly just swallow?

I recall my sis having chewable chocolate vit C thingies and while they were yummy, the fact I had to chew them instead of just swallowing kinda made me use tem less often. It all depends on personal habit I guess

They have a few different flavors in the bottle - I think (without running upstairs to look) that it's strawberry, raspberry, and peach-apricot. You can chew them!

Viactiv Multi-Vitamin chews?

I've tried the mint calcium ones and they taste pretty good. You can probably find it cheaper in a drugstore if you watch for sales or look for coupons.

Another thing to consider is that a lot of multi-vitamins have iron in them and if you're at all prone to constipation, the iron in them can make that a lot worse.

Iron: true, but nothing that an extra helping of salad or fresh fruit won't cure...

I tend to note what's in them, and then go buy a huge bottle of the store brand at Costco or Rite-Aid...

I assume you're a woman; I'd look at the ones with extra iron & calcium if the rest is comparable; there are lots of kinds out there targeted at women with that formula.

The key thing is to check what's actually in them, I think. If you know that your diet tends to have a lot of a certain vitamin or mineral every day ... well, most of them don't hurt to "overdose" on, but it can be an issue with iron and a few minerals.

Calcium's always good, but you want to try to get calcium citrate, if you can (rather than calcium carbonate, which isn't absorbed as well by the body).

And really, talking with your doctor (during your regular check-up, even) or with a nutritionist is never a bad idea, you know? I mean, you can't really go *wrong* with a multivitamin, but if you're trying to get the absolute best for your specific needs, you might want to talk to your doctor. :)

I took Centrum for years and it seemed alright. I never went too long without it to be able to tell if there's a difference. Now I take Windmill Hi-Potency Multi-vitamin & Mineral tablets since the pharmacies near my house never seem to have Centrum at a reasonable price.

A multivitamin is always a good baseline supplement----food today (thanks to crappy soil, pesticides, etc.) is about 30% less nutritious than it used to be. But I'd seriously skip the drugstore brands. There are whole-food based vitamins available in WholeFoods and other health food stores in a wide range of prices, and your body will make much better use of them than Centrum or One-A-Day. Your body knows it's supposed to use food----vitamins that aren't in a food base will not be as readily absorbed, and who needs to pay for nutrients that wind up in the toilet? Look for PureEssence Labs, Irwin's Living Green, some of Rainbow Light's, New Chapter, or Megafood (just a few of the good ones out there.) For the record, I work full-time in the Nutrition department of a WholeFoods-type chain, I've used several different multi's, and there IS a difference in how they can make you feel.

I use Nature's Way, which doesn't taste very pleasant (no flavouring) but might be good if you have any allergies or sensitive to chemicals.