Women’s multivitamins provide a combination of micronutrients that help support a woman’s specific hormonal profile and plug any dietary holes. Adding a multivitamin to your daily supplement regimen can do wonders for your health, aging, and overall well being.
With women’s multivitamins, it’s important to know:
- Iron is arguably the most important vitamin for women to consume. Iron deficiency is common in females, and low levels will cause fatigue. It is responsible for a healthy pregnancy, increased energy, and helps with activity levels in women.
- As we age, our bones deteriorate, which is why taking a vitamin D3 supplement is important to combat this. This vitamin is crucial for regulating the absorption of calcium and phosphorus.
- Many women are vegetarian or don’t consume enough meat, which is why they are at risk for vitamin B12 deficiency. This vitamin is critical for energy and keeps the body’s nerve and blood cells healthy.
Besthealth’s expert health and fitness panel has put together a list of the top 10 best multivitamins for women.
Our Winners
Best overall: Ritual
Best multivitamin for women over 40: MegaFood Once Daily 40
Best multivitamin for women over 50: Ritual 50+
Best multivitamin for women over 60: New Chapter
Best multivitamin for women (gummies or chewable): Garden Of Life mykind
Best Overall
1. Ritual
Ritual contains 9 of the essential nutrients a woman’s body needs to function optimally, including vitamin B12, magnesium, and boron. The magic comes from its beadlet-in-oil encapsulation, which delivers nutrients efficiently throughout your body.
Every serving is free of GMO’s, gluten, fillers, and coloring agents to ensure purity. Its simplicity and quality is why it ranked #1 on our list.
2. Performance Labs Women Multi
Performance Labs multi for women is equipped with whole-food cofactors for optimal absorption, and contains 17+ essential daily vitamins and minerals to ensure that every micronutrient need is met. The capsules are also prebiotic-infused and vegan-friendly for easy digestion and absorption.
3. Legion Athletic Triumph
Triumph, by Legion Athletics packs a punch with 22+ vitamins and minerals, all backed by peer-reviewed scientific research. There are no fillers, additives or preservatives worry about, making this one of the most robust options on the market.
4. Optimum Nutrition Opti-Women
Opti-women provides the body with key immune boosting nutrients like Vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc along with 14 other ingredients specifically designed to support active women.
5. One-A-Day Women’s VitaCraves Multi Gummies
One-A-Day Women’s VitaCraves provides nutritional support for women and helps maintain bone health, immune health, and skin health. It’s free of high fructose corn syrup and contains vitamin A, B12, B6, C, D, and E, folic acid, biotin, iodine, zinc, and calcium.
6. Garden of Life Vitamin Code
Being made from nutritious food and raw whole foods, this multivitamin is precisely for women who want a clean and pure product. It includes live probiotics, enzymes, and antioxidants for optimal support and is free of additives, gluten and dairy.
7. Nature Made Women’s Multivitamin
Nature Made has 23 key nutrients including folic acid and iron, making it great for women who are pregnant or who are looking to conceive.
8. Centrum Silver
This supplement is the #1 doctor and pharmacist recommended brand of multivitamins. It contains the highest level of Centrum vitamin D3 for bone strength and is age-adjusted for women 50 and over to help support the heart, brain, and eyes.
9. Vimerson Health Women’s Multivitamin
Vimerson Health offers one of the cleanest multivitamins for women on the market, containing no hormones, preservatives, soy, yeast, sugar, GMOs, gluten, or dairy. It’s designed to help women boost their energy and manage a healthy weight.
10. Vitafusion Women’s Gummy Vitamins
Vitafusion offers a complete multivitamin with antioxidants vitamin C and E. This is a convenient alternative to hard-to-swallow pills with its chewy and delicious taste mimicking natural fruit.
Best Multivitamin for Women Over 40 (Winner)
1. MegaFood
MegaFood One Daily is made without GMOs and tested for 125+ herbicides and pesticides to ensure purity. It takes top spot as the best multivitamin for women over 40 for providing healthy doses of various minerals to ensure healthy aging.
Best Multivitamin for Women Over 50 (Winner)
1. Ritual 50+
Ritual contains everything a woman needs, at clinically effective dosages to ensure every serving packs a healthy punch. It comes encapsulated in oil to improve the bioavailability of fat soluble multivitamins, ensuring they go where they need too.
It takes the top spot as the best multivitamin for women over 50 for delivering more bone building micronutrients to combat osteoporosis.
Best Multivitamin for Women Over 60 (Winner)
1. New Chapter
New Vitamin increases longevity with botanical superfoods, providing immune, heart, energy, eye, bone, brain, hormone, and digestion support. It takes top spot as the best multivitamin for women over 60 because it provides a ton of anti-inflammatory agents and immune system support with astaxanthin.
Best Chewable Multivitamin for Women (Winner)
1. Garden of Life mykind Organics
These organic gummy vitamins contain 9 organic whole fruits without the use of candy ingredients, pig gelatin, or cornstarch.
It takes top spot as the best chewable multivitamin for women because it’s made of pectin which tastes amazing and is healthy for you.
Who Should Use a Multivitamin for Women?
Multivitamins are excellent for women of all ages and are meant to provide your body with nutrients you may be deficient in – since it can be hard to get all of the proper vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your body needs through whole foods alone.
Multivitamins for women should not be used by men or children. The nutrients a women’s multivitamin carries has higher doses of ingredients like iron which is specifically beneficial for post-menopausal women – but possibly dangerous for men and children. Pregnant women should use a pregnancy specific multivitamin as this will have the appropriate doses for your situation.
Multivitamins for women are generally safe, however, side effects such as constipation, diarrhea, or an upset stomach may occur. If you are on any medication, it’s important to consult your doctor before taking any multivitamin as there may be some adverse side effects or interactions.
Methodology
Women specific ingredients: Women’s multivitamins contain nutrients different from men’s multivitamins, which is why we looked for supplements that contained specific ingredients beneficial to women. For instance, iron is important for women which is why multivitamins that contain high amounts of iron made our list. Folic acid is another vital vitamin for childbearing or pregnant women that women don’t usually get enough from whole foods alone.
Adaptogens: When ranking the vitamins, we were in search of supplements that contained adaptogens, substances used frequently in eastern medicine to help the body adapt to stress. By combatting cortisol, these adaptogens help to improve the overall hormonal profile of the body and lower systemic inflammation.
Clinically effective dosages: Many multivitamins contain additives, fillers and preservatives that are unnecessary. That’s why the amount of each vitamin and mineral was an important factor in ranking the multivitamins we recommend. Our number one ranked multivitamin, Ritual, has only 9 of the most essential nutrients every woman needs to function adequately – limited the opportunity for fillers and unnecessary ingredients to be present. It also helps ensure every dose provides the exact amount need to function optimally.
Age specific benefits: Some micronutrients are better for different ages than others. For example, women who are over 50 will benefit from more bone density and skin elasticity micronutrients like vitamin D3, calcium and vitamin E. This is why you’ll find different winners in different categories – even from companies of the same brand.
Benefits
Multivitamins for women can help boost your metabolism and support weight loss. One of the key ingredients found in many multivitamins is iodine. Iodine, at the correct doses, can help to support thyroid production, which is essentially the master regulator for your metabolism. It’s one of the main reasons for salt iodization around the world (1).
One 2010 study published in the International Journal of Obesity showed that multivitamins could help reduce weight and waist circumference without any exercise or nutrition interventions. In this study, 8 pounds were lost over 26 weeks in the test subjects (2).
Multivitamins for women can help reduce anxiety. Many micronutrient imbalances can cause brain hormone imbalances, which can lead to anxiety issues. One study in 2016 found multivitamins helps lead to a reduction of perceived stress (3).
Multivitamins for women can help fight off seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder often occurs in the winter months when vitamin D levels are low due to the lack of sun. Multivitamins containing vitamin D can help combat this.
One European study showed that multivitamins with omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D could help prevent ultra-low levels of vitamin D and combat many seasonal affective disorder issues (4).
Multivitamins for women can help reduce aging. Multivitamins for women provide the necessary ingredients to help combat signs of aging. Furthermore, a lot of them contain vitamin C, which can help with antioxidants and long term brain health. One study showed that a lack of vitamin C is associated with accelerated brain aging and the diseases that come with it (5).
Multivitamins for women may increase energy levels. Multivitamins contain essential vitamins and minerals that are imperative for higher energy levels – like B2, which helps reduce oxidative stress. Also, many vitamins and minerals decrease your depression and increase your mood, which can boost energy levels.
In one study, patients suffering from chronic fatigue had a notable improvement in energy levels after being treated with a multivitamin (6).
Multivitamins for women can make you overall healthier by giving you the nutrients your body lacks from modern-day food. Many people are aware of the effects macronutrients (protein, fats, and carbohydrates) have on your body composition but forget how micronutrients (vitamin and minerals) have on making your body function optimally. Micronutrients are what give your body the energy and nutrients it needs for an anabolic functioning body.
Multivitamins for women contain many of vitamins and minerals that are responsible for reducing the risk of diseases and improving your overall health and wellbeing. An article published in 2019 by Harvard Health Publishing claims that evidence suggests that multivitamins lower your risk for cancer, vision impairments, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive abilities (7).
Multivitamins for women could boost immunity. Your immune system is important for fighting off bacteria and diseases to keep your body healthy. Multivitamins contain several micronutrients like vitamin C, vitamin B6, and vitamin E that all work synergistically to strengthen your immune system. An article published in 2017 suggests that vitamin C, a vitamin found in almost every women’s multivitamin, can prevent and treat both respiratory and systemic infections (8).
Vitamin C also increases your blood flow, which supplies oxygen to the brain and other bodies to make them work.
Multivitamins help maintain muscle strength by increasing your bone density and protein synthesis. Muscular strength is responsible for an array of conditions such as proper movement, good posture, strong bones, and a decrease of injuries. Certain vitamins and minerals, like calcium support muscle growth and building strong bones. Vitamin A supports protein synthesis, and vitamin C supports tissue growth and repair.
Multivitamins can prevent heart disease. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States (9). Common causes of heart problems are eating unhealthy and depriving your body of essential nutrients. If your body isn’t getting the vitamins and minerals it needs, it clogs your arteries and harms your circulatory system.
Adding a multivitamin to your daily supplements has the power to be lifesaving and ward off the most dangerous disease in America. Vitamin C, for example, is imperative for blood flow and drastically reduces your risk of developing cardiovascular disease. One study published in 2003 reported that taking a multivitamin reduces your risk of a heart attack (10).
Furthermore, a study of 31,671 women with no history of cardiovascular disease and 2,262 women with a history of cardiovascular disease underwent an examination to determine the effect multivitamins had on heart health. The study concluded that multivitamins reduced the women’s chances of having a heart attack (11).
Multivitamins may prevent cancer. Cancer is another disease phenomenon attacking away at our bodies from the abnormal division of cells. A common cause of cancer is not eating a healthy diet and getting the proper nutrients that your bodies need to function properly. In a 1998 publication, multivitamins were shown to substantially reduce the risk of developing colon cancer (12).
Another 2012 study indicated that multivitamin supplementation significantly reduces the risk of total cancer in men. 14,641 US male physicians aged 50 years or older, including 1,312 randomized men with a history of cancer, were studied from 1997 to 2011 to form this conclusion (13).
Multivitamins for women may improve memory. Vitamin B12 along a couple of other vitamins have been determined to prevent or hinder memory loss. Studies are now stipulating that some vitamins and minerals can improve your cognitive function. Women participants between the ages of 64 and 79 years of age with subjective memory complaints were examined. In one study, it was concluded that the usage of multivitamins might enhance neural efficiency during memory retrieval (14).
Another 8-week study of 51 male individuals between the ages of 50 and 74 years that lived a sedentary lifestyle concluded that multivitamin supplementation might improve older men’s memory (15).
In 2010, 54 placebo subjects and 59 active treatment subjects were examined to determine the effect multivitamins had on memory in community-dwelling seniors. 48 active subjects and 38 placebo subjects completed the study and showed an improvement in memory (16).
Although multivitamins could improve cognitive ability in all ages, it is apparent that they have a strong effect on the geriatric.
Multivitamins for women may improve mood. The micronutrients your body absorbs has a strong effect on the neurotransmitters and hormones that affect your mood. Low levels of certain vitamins and minerals have been associated with cognitive decline and mood disturbances. Zinc is a powerful micronutrient responsible for helping the body fight off bacteria and helps the body grow during pregnancy.
One study even linked low levels of zinc to higher levels of depression (17). Another study, which involved en cross-sectional case studies and three cohort studies with a total of 31,424 participants, found that vitamin D deficiency is correlated with depression in adults (18).
Furthermore, 50 men aged 50-69 years were randomly assigned supplement groups or a placebo group for 8 weeks. The participants completed a series of mood and stress questionnaires before and after taking the supplements. The results showed that there was a significant reduction in depression anxiety and stress scale levels. However, there was an improvement in the alertness and generally daily functioning in men that were taking a multivitamin (19).
Not only does supplementing a multivitamin improve your mood, but it also makes you more alert and gives you the energy needed for daily activities. A double-blind placebo-controlled trial has evidence that Berocca (a vitamin containing vitamin D and C) significantly reduces anxiety and perceived stress. 80 healthy male volunteers were assigned to either Berocca or a placebo group, and they completed a questionnaire and had their blood taken on day 1 and day 28 of the trial to demonstrate this (20).
Multivitamins for women may improve your eye health. Eye health gives you a glimpse of your overall health, since it is well known that the healthier your eyes are, the healthier your body is as a whole.There is significant evidence supporting the claim of multivitamins decreasing the risk of age-related cataracts. In 2013, multiple databases were searched to support this (21).
Of course, as we age, eye health only gets worse, which is why it’s important to receive the vitamins your body needs to maintain quality eye health throughout your life.
Multivitamins for women can increase your vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is crucial for the functioning of the brain and nervous system and being too low in this potent vitamin will cause stress and fatigue. Although many multivitamins contain B12 to fix this deficiency, it’s only found in animals through food, which puts you at the harm of a deficiency if you’re a vegan (22).
As well, this meta-analysis recruited people aged 50 and older over 29 randomized trials to investigate the use of calcium or the use of calcium with vitamin D supplementation to prevent fractures and bone loss. Evidence demonstrated that the use of these supplements did prevent bone loss (23).
As a further matter, this publication indicated that vegetarians omit powerful nutrients such as vitamin B12, vitamin D, fatty acids, calcium, iron, and zinc (24).
Multivitamins for women can reduce stress. Stress and anxiety is a common problem our society is facing as a whole nowadays and processed foods containing low levels of vitamins and minerals are a big culprit. Low levels of iron, magnesium, and vitamin B12 have been associated with higher stress and anxiety levels. Particularly vitamin B12 has been proven to reduce your stress and increase your energy.
A 2018 study found that people who ate higher levels of vitamin B12 had better anxiety and stress scores than people who consumed fewer vitamin B12 (25). Moreover, a lower blood level of vitamin B12 in people demonstrated to give them higher anxiety (26).
Other nutrients found in multivitamins for women can also help. One 2017 study showed that people taking vitamin D supplements had a reduction in their anxiety levels (27).
There is also countless research showing a positive correlation between magnesium and decreased stress and anxiety. Another 2017 research study indicated that magnesium might improve anxiety in people receptive to the condition (28). On top of that, the White Rose Research Online proposed a study reporting that women with premenstrual syndrome benefited from taking a magnesium supplement (29).
Multivitamins for women may be able to protect DNA. Folate is an essential vitamin that is found in many multivitamins as methylated folate (30). Folate plays an integral role in fetal development and DNA synthesis, making a vital micronutrient for human consumption.
Recap
Multivitamins for women are specifically designed to help support premenopausal, postmenopausal, childbearing, and pre-pregnant women. Women’s multivitamins may also improve your mood, increase your energy levels, and reduce your risk for chronic diseases.
Due to the soil erosion and lack of nutrient-dense food, women’s multivitamins can also help fix micronutrient imbalances in women.
For Besthealth’s #1 women’s multivitamin, click here.