Adults Multivitamin

Centrum Adults is the default drugstore multivitamin and a useful benchmark for the category. One smooth-coated tablet supplies 24 vitamins and minerals, most at or near 100% of the Daily Value, for about six cents a day at a typical retail price of $12.12 for 200 tablets.

The formula is built around RDAs rather than megadoses. It includes 18 mg of iron (a full day's needs for women aged 19 to 50), 150 mcg of iodine, 400 mcg of folic acid, 1,000 IU of vitamin D3, 6 mcg of B12 and 11 mg of zinc with copper. That covers the nutrients most often short in U.S. diets without approaching any upper limit. Folic acid is the form behind the research on neural tube defect prevention, and NIH notes there is no evidence that B12 absorption from supplements differs by form, so the budget ingredient choices are not a real weakness for most people.

The trade-offs are elsewhere. Magnesium (50 mg, as oxide) and calcium (200 mg) are token amounts, vitamin K is low at 25 mcg, and the tablet is colored with Yellow 6 Lake and titanium dioxide. Centrum Adults carries no USP or NSF certification, so quality assurance rests on Haleon's own controls. The iron also makes it a poor default for most men and postmenopausal women.

Centrum can point to more clinical research than any rival, although it comes from the related Centrum Silver formula, which was tested in the Physicians' Health Study II and COSMOS trials. Buyers and video reviewers generally describe the tablets as easy to swallow with no noticeable smell, and several advise taking them with food to avoid an upset stomach.