Multiple vitamin complexes (a.k.a. multivitamins) are seemingly the main staple of supplements that even most doctors recommend for the general population, but there is such a wide variety available. There are your everyday multivitamins that are good for anyone over 18, there are children’s and teen’s multivitamins for those under 18, there are gender-specific multivitamins for men and women, and even multiples for older adults... but what’s really the big deal with each one?
Going from the bottom up:
- The children multivitamins and teen formulas are obviously lower doses as minors need less of the daily multivitamin than adults do partially due to their smaller size.
- The men’s multivitamins typically are the standard multivitamins with some added nutrients for common “men’s concerns” such as prostate support, sexual health, and things of that nature.
- The women’s multivitamins are along the same lines that they are the standard multiple plus some added nutrients for hormonal support and a little added boost of some nutrients like Iron that women need more of than men.
Multivitamins for seniors are where it gets changed a bit, though... Seniors tend to need more help with absorption and require a different variety of those basic vitamins and minerals, but many also need extra nutrients for vision, brain, energy, and immune system support among other things. Because of that, most multivitamins for older adults will have a few different tweaks for the basic nutrients plus the added nutrients, although the variety of nutrients added will vary with each brand.
*Originally published 1/5/2012 | Updated 8/17/2021
