Description
An iron free multivitamin with methylated folate and methylcobalamin, chelated minerals throughout, two capsules to a serving and 60 servings to the bottle at about 70 cents a day. The two capsule format is not padding. Chelated mineral forms are physically bulkier than the oxides and sulfates that fill a one a day iron free multivitamin, so the same amounts need more room, and that is the trade this bottle makes deliberately.
What is on the panel
| Serving | two capsules, 120 capsules per bottle, 60 servings |
|---|---|
| Folate | L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate, in micrograms DFE |
| B12 | methylcobalamin, not cyanocobalamin |
| Minerals | chelated forms, with elemental amounts stated |
| Iron | none, which is what an iron free multivitamin means |
| Cost | about 70 cents a serving |
| Testing | every active assayed on every lot |
Why an iron free multivitamin is the default for men
Adult men lose very little iron and absorb what they need from an ordinary diet, so a daily supplemental dose accumulates rather than being used. The recommended intake for men is 8 mg a day against 18 mg for premenopausal women, and the upper limit for adults is 45 mg.
That arithmetic, not marketing, is the whole reason men’s formulas leave it out. We print iron free on the front rather than making you read the entire panel to establish the absence of something. The NIH iron fact sheet sets out the intakes, the upper limit and who the exceptions are.
Methylated folate, and what micrograms DFE means
Folate is measured in micrograms of dietary folate equivalents, a unit that converts between forms at different rates, so the raw milligram weight and the DFE figure are both printed. Folic acid is the synthetic form. L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate is the methylated one, sometimes written 5-MTHF.
Which form a label names matters more than the number beside it, and plenty of products print a letter and a figure and leave the chemistry out. Every item on the vitamins page names the compound in full for that reason, including this iron free multivitamin.
Chelated minerals against oxides
Magnesium oxide is around 60 percent elemental magnesium and costs very little. Magnesium glycinate is nearer 14 percent and takes four times the space for the same mineral. Zinc gluconate runs about 13 percent elemental, picolinate nearer 20.
So a one a day capsule promising a long list of minerals is usually built on the dense cheap salts, because nothing else fits. The elemental figure sits in the main amount column on this panel with the compound weight underneath, the same convention the minerals page applies to every single mineral bottle.
Percent daily value, and why several figures exceed it
Percent daily value on an iron free multivitamin is a regulatory reference built on a 2,000 calorie diet. It is a scale, not a target, and several B vitamins here sit well above 100 percent of it because that is where the single nutrient research sat. The figure is printed because the FDA requires it.
What a multivitamin trial can and cannot measure
The published literature on multivitamin and mineral supplements has largely measured nutrient status markers, blood concentrations of individual vitamins, and in the larger cohorts long term outcome statistics. Trials of a multi ingredient product cannot attribute a result to any one of its components. That is a description of a methodological limit in the literature rather than a claim about this bottle.
What is not in it
No herbal blend, no proprietary complex, no saw palmetto hidden in this iron free multivitamin at an unstated weight. If you want botanicals they are stocked individually on the men’s page with their extract ratios and marker percentages printed, which is more useful than finding them inside a multivitamin at a few milligrams each.
Taking two capsules
With food, and splitting an iron free multivitamin serving across two meals is reasonable since several of the minerals compete for the same absorption pathways. Calcium and zinc in particular, which is also the reason this formula does not attempt to supply a full day of calcium.
Testing
Every active in every lot of this iron free multivitamin is assayed by a laboratory with no ownership tie to this company, with heavy metals and microbials screened alongside, which matters in a product carrying a dozen mined mineral salts. Any lot assaying below a printed amount is withdrawn and the failing certificate stays public, as described in why we publish the batch that failed. Your report is linked above.
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