A Quest To Discover The Greatest Multivitamin On The Face Of The Planet.

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Articles, Supplements

2 years ago, I decided I was fed up with supplements.

Just freakin' tired of all the tablets, capsules, pills, powders and oils. And bottles. Lots and lots of plastic bottles scattered everywhere.

I distinctly remember the day I finally decided something needed to change. It was when I swung open the door of my refrigerator to dive into my daily regimen of vitamins, antioxidants, nutrients, micronutrients, fish oils…

…and I realized it was getting overwhelming. Sure, it was better living through science, but it was anything but simple.

I'm sure you've experienced the same thing.

You open what seems like nearly a dozen different bottles to launch into your morning supplement regimen…

…or you pack your suitcase to travel and struggle to prioritize which bottles to shove into your limited suitcase space…

…or you spend an inordinate amount of your precious time tracking, ordering and restocking your vitamin D or your fish oil, or your greens, or your multi-vitamin or your minerals or your antioxidants or your amino acids…

You get the idea. Supplement clutter, supplement confusion and utter lack of supplement simplicity.


what is the best multivitamin

9 Reasons You May Not Want To Throw Out All Your Supplements

Now don't get me wrong. I don't think supplements are an inconvenient and unnecessary curse that should simply all be tossed out.

There is certainly evidence that consuming nutrients from a healthy diet can be more beneficial than relying strictly upon supplements, but even if you're eating a “healthy” diet, studies have shown that it is nearly impossible in our modern era to get all our nutrients, vitamins and minerals only from food.

For example, a recent paper by scientists from the Council for Responsible Nutrition in Washington reports:

“Large portions of the population had total usual intakes below the estimated average requirement for vitamins A (35%), C (31%), D (74%), and E (67%) as well as calcium (39%) and magnesium (46%). Only 0%, 8%, and 33% of the population had total usual intakes of potassium, choline, and vitamin K above the adequate intake when food and multivitamin use was considered. The percentage of the population with total intakes greater than the tolerable upper intake level (UL) was very low for all nutrients…”

“…Conclusions: In large proportions of the population, micronutrient sufficiency is currently not being achieved through food solutions for several essential vitamins and minerals. Use of age- and gender-specific multivitamin supplements may serve as a practical means to increase the micronutrient status in subpopulations of Americans while not increasing intakes above the upper intake level.”

So how on earth could this be? Is the planet broken or something?

There are actually nine reasons for the failure of modern diets to supply our bodies with all the nutrients we need.

1. Modern commercial farming practices strip our precious soil of nutrients.

When plants are repeatedly grown on the same land for year-after-year (a relatively new phenomenon in agriculture that beats up our land but gives us lots and lots of calories), the overused soil loses it's nutrients faster than they can be replaced.  Over time, the plants have fewer nutrients to grow, so the farmers are forced to fertilize.

Fertilizer does indeed contain enough nutrition for a plant to survive until harvesting, but not enough nutrients to support your body's nutrient needs. As discussed in the excellent book “Not On The Label: What Really Goes Into The Food On Your Plate“, this results in plants that up to 75% fewer micronutrients. This problem is compounded by the fact that most plants are not harvested fresh, and the nutrients degrade as they often sit on airplanes, trucks, shelves, and counters for weeks before they arrive on your plate.

2. Most modern fruits and vegetables are grown for maximum sugar calories, and not maximum nutrients.

Because of this, much of your fresh produce that us humans would have historically relied upon for nutrients are instead artificially high in calories, fructose and other sugars while being low in nutrients.  And of course, this is all passed on to the animals (including you!) that are eating the plants. For example, one study in the Journal of Nutrition and Health found copper levels have dropped by 90% in dairy, 55% in meat, and 76% in vegetables!

3. Pesticides are making this problem even worse.

Because polyphenols—a plant's most potent antioxidants—are produced as a defense against bugs and pathogens, plants exposed to pesticides will be lower in precious polyphenols compared to organic ones. To make matters even more frustrating, even if you buy organic plants, this is no guarantee that they haven't been exposed to pesticides! So unless you're going out of your way to grow your own fresh fruits and vegetables in a pristine backyard garden which contains soil that you've treated with added minerals, you are at a huge risk for malnourishment and nutrient deficiency that adversely affects your performance, fat loss, recovery, digestion, brain, sleep, and hormone balance.

4. It's not just nutrient-poor plants that are affecting the nutrient status of the actual animals we rely upon for food.

It's also what many of those animals are being fed—especially grains. Compared to grass-fed meat, grain-fed meat is lower in antioxidants, micronutrients, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins, but unfortunately, eating high-quality, organic grass-fed (and grass-finished) meat, pastured pork and naturally raised poultry is simply not a reality for many people living in urban environments or frequently traveling.

5. The nutrients in your food aren't the only things that are disappearing.

Your liquids are being affected too. Unless you're drinking from your own well or relying upon fancy mineralized water such as Pellegrino, Perrier and Gerolsteiner, your bottled water, filter water, and tap water is also often stripped of precious minerals. If does indeed contain adequate minerals, these are typically accompanied by enormous levels of fluoride and chlorine. So this means that unless you want to spend lots and lots of money on fancy water, you are stuck in a situation where you must filter your water to get rid of the dangerous stuff, then figure out other methods, such as supplementation, to get the minerals you'd normally be getting from the water.

Unfortunately, milk is not much better than water. The majority of nutrients in milk are found in the fat, so while organic raw, unpasteurized, full-fat dairy is high in nutrients, most of us simply don't have ready access to it, especially at the typical grocery store.  In addition, pasteurization can destroy many of the nutrients in both skim and full-fat milk.  Modern, conventional milk and other dairy products from grain-fed cattle can also be higher in aflatoxin and other mycotoxins, which increases your nutrient needs even more, creating a vicious cycle.

So whether it's due to nutrient-poor plants, nutrient-poor animals, nutrient-poor milk, or nutrient-poor water, most diets are now so micronutrient deficient that they require on average 27,575 calories to supply all the essential nutrients that you need.

In other words, in our modern era, you would need to be stuffing your face all day long to actually get what your body needs, and this does not into account the fact that if you are trying to lose weight by restricting calories or if you are a physically active person like a triathlete, marathoner, Crossfitter, weightlifter, or other exercise enthusiast, then your risk of nutrient deficiency is going to be even higher!

So if you are A) trying to lose weight by not stuffing your body full of excessive calories, or B) an athlete or physically active person, then you're pretty much guaranteed to be at a constantly malnourished nutrient deficit (unless you figure out a way to somehow squeeze in all those added nutrients). The older you get, the fewer nutrients you absorb, so as you age, the worse things become. And that's reasons six (weight loss), seven (exercise) and eight (age) that you may need a little help over and above what you'd get from food.

So let's say you dig a well, grow your own produce, milk your own goats, eat strictly grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish, you're relatively young and you avoid excessive physical activity or calorie restriction for weight loss. Then you're safe, right? No added nutrients necessary, right?

The unfortunate ninth fact is that unless you live on a pristine mountaintop in the Himalayas, you're exposed every day to airborne pollutants, xenoestrogens from plastics and BPA, environmental toxins, mold, industrial solvents, electromagnetic fields, heavy metals, fluorescent lighting, constant stress, sleep disruption and a host of other modern-day assailants upon your biology. Your body simply wasn't mean to deal with these physiological stressors – all of which vastly increase your need for nutrients to help you fight the daily battle.

So for the nine reasons above – depleted soil, nutrient-poor produce, pesticides, conventional meat, subpar water and milk, weight loss, physical activity, age, and our modern post-industrial living environment, you definitely shouldn't throw out all your supplements.


Is It Possible For Supplements To Be Simpler?

So this was the conundrum I found myself in two years ago as I stood in front of my refrigerator door and sighed in frustration at the dizzying array of supplements and bottles.

I knew that because of my extremely active lifestyle and the other reasons I just listed that I couldn't and shouldn't just throw out all my supplements.

I knew that I needed to keep my precious nutrients topped off for better performance, faster recovery, optimized fat burning, clean digestion, superior mental focus, better sleep, and hormone balance…

…but I also knew that I was sick and tired of having to lug around a bunch of bottles, painstakingly use a weekly pillbox to keep track of my supplements like an old man tracks his medication, and constantly be headed over to Amazon or some other website to re-order something I was running low in. 

And then there was that gnawing worry at the back of my mind that any of these supplements I was ingesting could be laced with something like chemicals, toxins, metals or illegal-performance enhancing drugs that could potentially damage my body, put pie in my face and get me banned from competing in a sanctioned sport like triathlon.

I wanted better living through science.

But I also desperately needed more simplicity.

And I knew that somewhere, somehow, there must be a way to have both: the ultimate combination of science and simplicity.


Seven Criteria a Multivitamin Must Have

At that point, I embarked upon my quest to discover the greatest multivitamin on the face of the planet – something that could cover all my bases from a nutrient standpoint without requiring a dizzying, inconvenient and exhausting array of pills, bottles, and packets. After all, that's kind of the definition of a multivitamin, right? It supposed to cover multiple needs.

As a nutritionist, personal trainer, exercise physiologist and strength and conditioning coach with strict standards about what I find acceptable for myself or my clients to ingest, I also had a very distinct set of criteria that I knew a multivitamin must have – seven criteria to be precise…

1. Capsules, Not Tablets

Before completely shoving tablets under the bus, I'll acknowledge the two benefits tablets possess.

First, because tablets are pressed together so hard, more nutrients can fill the same amount of space than you can put into a capsule. Second, it’s cheaper to make tablets than capsules. There are several drawbacks, however, to using tablets.

First, tablets are much harder to digest. Because tablets are packed together so tightly and need far more binders and diluents to keep them together, it takes much longer for them to break down in the digestive system.

A capsule, on the other hand, breaks down within just minutes of hitting your digestive tract. This is important because of the little known fact that most of the nutrients in a multivitamin actually need to be absorbed in your stomach. When a tablet takes too long to break down in the stomach, and passes on to your intestinal tract, its content will be far less broken down and absorbed.

And that means expensive pee.

Tablets also need lots of extra nasty ingredients, such as binders, lubricants, coatings, disintegrants, and other excipients. These ingredients must be added to make the tablet stay together, to make the tablet shiny, and to make the tablet break apart.

Tablet press machines compact the powdered nutrients together (that have already been mixed with binders and lubricants) with a tremendous amount of force. Then, to make the tablets shiny and easier to swallow, the tablets are often sprayed with coatings such as shellac (just like the shellac found on furniture but instead labeled “pharmaceutical glaze”) or coated with “vegetable protein,” (most often a protein derived from GMO corn).

Yuk. I'll take a capsule, please.

2. One Morning Dose & One Evening Dose

Your body needs nutrients throughout the course of the day, not just one huge shotgun dose when you get out of bed in the morning or before you go to bed at night. So I needed to find a multivitamin designed in such a way that it delivered important nutrients for daily metabolism and activity in the morning dose, and important nutrients for recovery, rest, and sleep in the evening dose, but without a dizzying array of capsules.

I'll admit that it does take slightly more discipline to take a multivitamin twice a day – once in the morning and once in the evening – but it’s a much better way to deliver the optimal nutrients at the optimal times throughout the day.

After all, you'd rarely eat only breakfast or only dinner, right? I figure if I can handle at least two meals, I can handle two supplement doses – as long it's not a dozen different bottles of stuff.

3. Low Number of Capsules

One extremely inconvenient factor in most multivitamin formulas out there is the number of capsules necessary for daily use if you truly are going to be able to get all the nutrients that you need from a single formula.

I think that taking three capsules in the morning and three capsules in the evening is practical and doable for me. Anything less than the six capsules per day can significantly reduce the efficacy of a multivitamin formula, but once you get over six capsules, it becomes a pain to manage, difficult to swallow, and a hassle to travel with.

4. Vegan & Vegetarian Friendly Capsules

Most capsule-based multivitamins use capsules made from bovine gelatin – that's cow. And although I do not personally eat a plant-based diet, I have many clients who are either vegan or vegetarian. So I wanted the actual capsule material to be made from the best alternative to cattle-based bovine gelatin. The ideal answer would be a capsule made of cellulose, which is a natural, vegetable-based material, and is pure plant fiber (usually from pine trees).

In other words, I know it's important to many of my clients and friends that no animals be harmed in the formulation of a good multivitamin.

5. No Magnesium Stearate or Other Nasty Fillers

Magnesium stearate is probably the most common flowing agent that you will find in the “Other Ingredients” section on the Supplement Facts box on any multivitamin label. Magnesium stearate is a lubricant that is used to manufacture nutritional supplements to help powders flow through manufacturing equipment faster. It allows more tablets to be manufactured per hour and is therefore a cost-saving choice for a manufacturer.

However, studies have shown that magnesium stearate can reduce the absorption rate of some nutrients. It literally wraps around nutrients and keeps them from being absorbed in the digestive tract.

So although magnesium stearate is not necessarily harmful, it can vastly reduce the effectiveness of the nutritional supplements that you are taking.

Instead, I'd rather see a multivitamin use something like calcium laurate, which helps powders flow through the manufacturing equipment, but is a completely naturally-occurring material that does not inhibit absorption. Calcium laurate is not as effective of a flowing agent as magnesium stearate is, so products can’t be manufactured as fast, but it can certainly get the job done without the need to use magnesium stearate.

When it is necessary to fill the capsule with something in addition to a nutrient or botanical, I'd rather see a multivitamin manufacturer use magnesium citrate, a pure element reacted with pure citric acid; cellulose, a pure plant fiber, magnesium citrate-laurate, a pure element reacted with citric acid and lauric acid (a small fat molecule that does not inhibit absorption), silica, a pure element found in sand, and the amino acid leucine.

My “no nasty” filler criteria also means no wheat, corn, gluten, yeast, egg, dairy products, artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, lactose, palmitic acid or stearic acid.

Any of these fillers are completely natural and allow you to take a multivitamin without worrying about unnatural or harmful ingredients you might be ingesting.

6. No GMOs

For personal health and longevity reasons, and for consideration of the earth's environment, I avoid like the plague any product that contains Genetically Modified Organisms (known as GMOs). Unfortunately, most multivitamins contain GMO-laden ingredients – as well as corn, gluten, and some of the other nasty fillers mentioned earlier.

This requires that any multivitamin I would ever use would need to closely analyzed by the manufacturer and guaranteed to be absolutely certain that none of the ingredients are derived from GMO sources nor that they utilize GMOs in their production.

7. Certified to Have No Banned Ingredients

As I mentioned, it's very important to me that any supplement I take is not only CGMP certified (manufactured in a certified good manufacturing practices facility to ensure purity), but is also free of any ingredients that would get me banned from competing in triathlons, or taint my body with unnatural steroids or hormones.

For years, I've been under the impression that something called an “NSF For Sport” certification was the strictest, third-party verification standard by which to judge whether a supplement contains these potentially illegal or banned ingredients.

Turns out, I was wrong.  

There's something even more strict than NSF. And that is Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the pharmaceutical regulatory agency of Australia. Considered the toughest regulatory agency in the world, the TGA inspection and certification is conducted at a pharmaceutical level standard. Yes, that means the supplements certified by the TGA are verified to be as pure as an actual pharmaceutical drug.

For me to hold a multivitamin to as strict a standard as a TGA certification would be tough. Only a handful of U.S. companies are able to achieve the status of holding a TGA certification and there is really only one dietary supplement company in the U.S. that ever has completed all three strict levels of a TGA certification, since the certification requires not only a review of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) every two years, but also on-site inspection of every aspect of a multivitamin's quality control, laboratory procedures, pharmaceutical good manufacturing practices, and standard operating procedures.

But that's not all.

I'd also prefer for a multivitamin to be certified by Informed Choice. Informed Choice requires five samples from three different production runs of product to be tested, which would further guarantee, because of extremely rigid raw material and finished product testing and production procedures, absolutely no ingredient banned by any amateur or professional organization.

In other words, I want rock-solid, bulletproof confidence that I can hand any multivitamin that I endorse or personally use to the best athlete on the face of the planet with zero reservations about whether or not the multivitamin is pure or might get them banned.


Notoriously Neglected Ingredients That A Multivitamin Must Have

I also know that there are notoriously neglected ingredients in most multivitamin complexes that make them barely scratch the surface of your true nutrient needs, especially if you're a hard-charging athlete, exercise enthusiast, an aging person, a busy professional living a CEO-esque lifestyle, or anyone else with advanced nutrient needs.

Take Vitamin D, for example. The 200-400IU of Vitamin D found in most popular multivitamins is basically enough to keep a child from getting rickets. This is not even close enough to support optimal hormonal balance and physical or mental performance. Problem is, the multivitamins that actually do indeed have the 2000+IU per day of Vitamin D that I like to see do not include optimal amounts of Vitamin A or Vitamin K to allow for ideal absorption and utilization of Vitamin D, or reduced risk of Vitamin D toxicity.

Or take Vitamin K, a crucial fat-soluble vitamin usually found in complete zero amounts in a multivitamin. The body actually needs nearly 400mcg per day of Vitamin K to support bone health, calcium and magnesium balance, and vitamin D absorption, among a host of other metabolic and immune-boosting functions. Yet strangely enough, it's not included at all in most multivitamins.

So what else is neglected in most multivitamins that I searched for on my quest to find the greatest multivitamin on the face of the planet?

1. Vitamin B6, B12 and B2 In The Correct Form

The bioactive form of Vitamin B6 is Pyridoxal 5’-Phosphate. But the most common form found in most multivitamins is Pyridoxine HCl, which is not the active form of Vitamin B6. So the Pyridoxal 5’-Phosphate is a must-have in my opinion. The most common form of Vitamin B12 used in nutritional supplements and processed foods is cyanocobalamin. Cyanocobalamin, however, is absorbed at a much lower rate than methylcobalamin, which is the form of vitamin B12 that a multivitamin should actually have. Riboflavin 5’-Phosphate is the bioactive form of vitamin B2, but unfortunately Riboflavin HCl is the form commonly used in multivitamins, and that form needs to be converted in an extra step in the liver to the active form. Why do most multivitamins cut corners on these forms of Vitamin B? They're either uninformed, or going for the cheap alternative.

2. Folate In The Correct Form 

Folic acid is the most common form of folate used in nutritional supplements and fortified foods. However, a significant percentage of the population has trouble converting folic acid to folate, which is the natural form found in foods and in the body. A good multivitamin should use a form of folate called  l-5-methyltetrahydrofolate to ensure folate is absorbed. It does cost considerably more than folic acid, but again, I only want a multivitamin with ingredients that work – not that just look pretty on a label and then give me expensive pee.

3. Minerals That Are Actually Absorbable

Minerals by themselves are poorly absorbed, but when bound to an amino acid (also called a “mineral chelate”) they are absorbed much better. Technically the most absorbable form of a mineral is the bisglycinate chelate form, and to avoid the minerals in a multivitamin simply creating expensive pee, I would specifically like to see calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, and molybdenum minerals in a chelated form.

4. Curcumin That Is Actually Absorbable

Curcumin is one of my favorite supplements, and has received a lot of attention recently as a potent natural anti-inflammatory nutrient that can control brain and muscle inflammation, positively affect muscle health, joint structure and function, and antioxidant activity in the gut, liver, and heart. But the trouble with most curcumin ingredients is that they are extremely poorly absorbed. However, there is one form of curcumin called the phytosome form which was developed by the researchers in Milan, Italy, and has been shown to be absorbed 29 times better than a standard curcumin extract. This is the only form of curcumin that I'd like to see in a multivitamin.

5. Green Tea Extract That Is Actually Absorbable

Green tea is another powerful antioxidant that has been shown to have a mild effect on raising metabolic rate and improving fat oxidation. But like standard curcumin extracts, standard green tea extracts are not well absorbed either. But the same researchers who discovered the curcumin phyotosome have also developed green tea phytosome, which provides a much better absorbed form of green tea extract, and would also ideally be in a multivitamin.

6. Adaptogens

Stress-fighting adaptogens are another notoriously missing component of most multivitamins, but in our hectic era are a must-have for sleep, de-stressing, and hormone balance. One of the most potent adaptogenic compounds that I discovered in my multivitamin research to both lower cortisol levels and raise testosterone levels is called “Relora”, and is a blend of magnolia Officinalis and Phellodendron amurense. If added to a multivitamin, it could also help curb cravings and stress-related eating, and help calm the mind and support rest and relaxation prior to bedtime. As a high-intensity guy, this addition would be very important to me as a necessary multivitamin ingredient.

Remember – this all comes down to simplicity. This means that if you or I can't get our hands on a capsule-based, pure and safe, minimalist and simple multivitamin that provides everything I just described above…

…then it means we are instead forced to buy 6, 8, 10 or 12 different supplements to supply our daily nutrient needs and fill in all the “holes” the multivitamin isn't giving.


Where A Tiny Town In North Idaho Fits In

So that's what I've been doing over the past two years.

I have been taking a deep, deep dive into educating myself on the wide world of nutrients, supplements, ingredients, fillers, formulations, encapsulation technology and every aspect that goes into creating a multivitamin.

And I have literally been pulling my hair out and hitting dead-end after dead-end as I have been trying to hunt down something that meets my strict quality criteria for a multivitamin.

Of course, I have also found it incredibly frustrating when my clients, or readers, or podcast listeners or me have to simply keep on taking a crazy number of supplements or buying an unbelievable number of bottles and spending inordinate amounts of money when it's so straightforward to see what a multivitamin that meets all our daily nutrients needs should really have (and not have!) in it.

I've even gone so far as to consider simply hunting down the raw ingredients and formulating my own multivitamin.

But frankly, I'm an author, an athlete and a teacher – and don't fancy myself as a supplement manufacturer. I just don't have a desire to get into that business.  I simply want a multivitamin that I can, with a clear conscience, recommend to you and also take myself. Is that asking too much?

And then it happened.

During one of the dozens and dozens of phone calls I made and countless hours attempting to hunt down the perfect multivitamin formulation, a raw ingredient manufacturer informed me of the existence of a new multivitamin formulation created by a company called “Thorne Research”, in Dover, Idaho.

That's right – just 60 miles from the front door of my house, in the tiny town of Dover, Idaho, are the Thorne Research facilities (pictured below). After months and months of searching, it turns out the solution could possibly be right in my own backyard.

Thorne-Research

For over 30 years, Thorne Research has set the standard for exceptional formulations, quality and purity in the dietary supplement industry – and is considered the most respected nutritional supplements brand in the healthcare practitioner space.

That's right – this is is the stuff physicians use with their patients. I'd actually heard of Thorne before, but always knew it was just for the fancy doctors and clinicians so I couldn't really access it or use it.

So until recently, none of the coveted Thorne Research products were available for me or any other personal trainer to actually recommend to our clients, readers or listeners. Instead, these high-quality, private formulations were only available for physicians or dietitians to use with their patients, and only for certified health care providers to use with their clients.

But then, in January 2014, Thorne Research created a new branch called the Thorne Sports line.

The Thorne Sports Line was specifically designed to address the growing demand of fitness experts like me who are seeking a solution for our clients, but don't have the privileged access to the fancy formulations that normally only a doctor or clinician would be able to prescribe or order.


The Greatest Multivitamin On The Face Of The Planet

So I thought it was pretty interesting (and exciting) that I now had access to some of the highest quality formulations on the face of the planet, produced in a facility just an hour's drive from my house.

But it turned out there was even more good news.

I also discovered that when Thorne Research created the Thorne Sports branch, they had not just created a multivitamin formulation but they had specifically left no stone unturned to launch the most powerful, absorbable multivitamin on the face of the planet. This was a multivitamin that possibly met all of my strict criteria, but that previously had never been available to the general population unless their doctor or dietitian knew about it.

It's called the Multi AM/PM Complex, and I immediately got my hands on it. Upon closer inspection and using it for 30 days, I instantly knew that this is not your typical multivitamin.

Formulated with superior forms of vitamins and minerals, Multi AM/PM Complex is actually two unique formulations – an AM formula is designed to support daytime energy, and a PM formula designed to support better rest and recovery in the evening. Some of the key differentiators in Multi AM/PM Complex include:

  • Vitamins K1 and K2 (most use only K1 or no K2 at all). 
  • Natural folate (5-MTHF) instead of folic acid. 
  • Methylcobalamin instead of cyanocobalamin. 
  • Chelated minerals to ensure optimal absorption.
  • Higher dose of magnesium and calcium than typically found in a multivitamin.
  • Curcumin Phytosome (curcumin complexed with phosphatidylcholine for superior bioavailability)
  • Green Tea Phytosome (green tea complexed with phosphatidylcholine for superior bioavailability)
  • Relora, a blend of adaptogenic plant extracts to aid in relaxation, curb late-night cravings, and balance cortisol, testosterone and DHEA levels. 
  • No wheat, corn, gluten, yeast, egg, dairy products, artificial colors, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, lactose, magnesium stearate, palmitic acid or stearic acid. 

The Multi AM/PM Complex (pictured below) literally satisfies every criteria I require in a multivitamin: all the notoriously neglected ingredients, a TGA and Informed Choice certification, no GMO's, no nasty fillers and ingredients, a capsule instead of a tablet…everything.

I couldn't believe when I first found out about the new formulation.

Three easy capsules in the morning, three in the evening.

Boom.

Simple science.

My quest was over.

Mission accomplished.

See for yourself – below are the full ingredients.

Morning dose – three capsules contain:

Vitamin A (3,000 IU as Beta Carotene and 2,000 IU as Palmitate) 5,000 IU
Vitamin C (as Ascorbic Acid) 250 mg
Vitamin D3 (as Cholecalciferol) 2,000 IU
Vitamin E (as d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acid Succinate) 20 IU
Vitamin K (100 mcg as Vitamin K1 (Phytonadione) and 100 mcg as Vitamin K2 (Menaquinone-4) 200 mcg
Thiamin (as Thiamin HCl) 50 mg
Riboflavin (as Riboflavin 5’-Phosphate Sodium)  12 mg
Niacin (as Niacinamide)  60 mg
Vitamin B6 (as Pyridoxal 5’-Phosphate)  20 mg
Folate (as L-5-Methyltetrahydrofolate from L-5-Methyltetrahydrofolic Acid, Glucosamine Salt)*  600 mcg
Vitamin B12 (as Methylcobalamin)  600 mcg
Biotin  500 mcg
Pantothenic Acid (as Calcium Pantothenate)  45 mg
Calcium (as Calcium Bisglycinate Chelate)  38 mg
Iodine (as Potassium Iodide)  75 mcg
Magnesium (as Magnesium Bisglycinate Chelate)  63 mg
Zinc (as Zinc Bisglycinate Chelate)  10 mg
Selenium (as L-Selenomethionine)  100 mcg
Copper (as Copper (II) Bisglycinate Chelate)  750 mcg
Manganese  (as Manganese (II) Bisglycinate Chelate)  1.5 mg
Chromium  (as Chromium Nicotinate Glycinate Chelate) 200 mcg
Molybdenum  (as Molybdenum (II) Glycinate Chelate)  50 mcg
Curcumin Phytosome** (Curcuma longa extract  (root) / Phosphatidylcholine complex)  200 mg
Green Tea Phytosome** (Camellia sinensis  extract (leaf) decaffeinated / Phosphatidylcholine complex)  75 mg
Choline Citrate  50 mg
d-Gamma Tocopherol (from Mixed Tocopherols)  24 mg
Boron (as Bororganic™ Glycine)  1 mg
Lutein (from Aztec Marigold extract (flower) (Tagetes erecta))  300 mcg

Evening dose, three capsules contain:

Vitamin A (600 IU as Beta Carotene and 400 IU as Palmitate)  1,000 IU
Vitamin C (as Ascorbic Acid)  150 mg
Vitamin D3 (as Cholecalciferol)  500 IU
Vitamin E (as d-Alpha Tocopheryl Acid Succinate)  20 IU
Vitamin K (100 mcg as Vitamin K1 and 100 mcg as Vitamin K2)  200 mcg
Folate (as L-5-Methyltetrahydrofolate from L-5-Methyltetrahydrofolic Acid, Glucosamine Salt)*  400 mcg
Biotin  500 mcg
Calcium (as Calcium Bisglycinate Chelate)  50 mg
Iodine (as Potassium Iodide)  75 mcg
Magnesium (as Magnesium Bisglycinate Chelate)  107 mg
Zinc (as Zinc Bisglycinate Chelate)  20 mg
Selenium (as L-Selenomethionine)  100 mcg
Copper (as Copper (II) Bisglycinate Chelate)  750 mcg
Manganese  (as Manganese (II) Bisglycinate Chelate)  1.5 mg
Chromium  (as Chromium Nicotinate Glycinate Chelate) 200 mcg
Molybdenum (as Molybdenum (II) Glycinate Chelate)  50 mcg
Proprietary Blend**  200 mg
Magnolia officinalis (bark) extract
Phellodendron amurense (bark) extract
Choline Citrate  100 mg
d-Gamma Tocopherol (from Mixed Tocopherols)  24 mg
Boron (as Bororganic™ Glycine)  2 mg
Lutein (from Aztec Marigold extract (flower) (Tagetes erecta)) 600 mcg

The science is obviously there – every nutrient your body needs.

But the simplicity is so amazingly refreshing – especially when I pack to travel and literally have one morning bottle and one evening bottle to toss into my suitcase – and of course, a heck of a lot of extra space in my refrigerator.

Better yet, if you need some icing on the cake – such as anything extra added in like some extra fish oil, pre-workout amino acids, an added shot of Vitamin D, a vegan protein powder, a whey protein powder, a highly absorbable form of iron, a tasty drinkable fish oil complex for the kiddos – this multi has all that too, with the same huge, unparalleled quality that I've never been able to find before.

It's like a one-stop shop for everything I have ever looked for or wanted in a nutrition supplements line.


Summary

So that's it: pure and simple.

I have never before been able to recommend a complete multivitamin that satisfies all my criteria. And I have always had a refrigerator full of a bunch of bottles.

But now the problem is solved.

And yes, this means that the Multi AM/PM Complex is now my recommended, go-to source for the ultimate combination of science and simplicity. Furthermore, the entire Thorne line is now something I back, endorse, vouch for and am now using in my own personal daily routine with great success.

And the best thing yet? 

An entire month of the Multi AM/PM Complex is just 62 bucks.

You heard me right: 62 dollars.

So rather than forking over hundreds of dollars for bottle after bottle of fancy supplements, powders, tablets, pills, and oils, you get one multivitamin that hits all your needs for a mere fraction of the price. Go ahead – spend that extra money you were blowing on 10 different supplements on a fancy steak dinner or chock it away for your kid's college or your next car.

Of course, if you're familiar with me, my podcast, or articles I've written in the past, then you may be wondering…

…what about the other supplements I've previously recommended?

What about TianChi?

What about Supergreens?

What about my Gut Fixing Pack, Endurance Pack or Fat Burning Pack?

The good news is that all of these are still available and still consist of specific ingredients that I may use with certain clients or recommend in certain situations when the need arises. After all, everything I have recommended in the past is all excellent, extremely high-quality stuff, and if you're happy with what you're currently using…then that's fine!

But for science, simplicity, peace of mind, and some extra room in my refrigerator and my suitcase, I am moving in the direction of shifting nearly my entire personal supplement protocol to Thorne and specifically what I have discovered to be the greatest multivitamin on the face of the planet: the Multi AM/PM Complex.

Leave your questions in the comments section below about multivitamins, feel free to ask me about how to use or implement any of the Thorne supplements into your current protocol, and leave any questions about any substitutions or replacements for other supplements you're currently taking. I promise to personally respond and walk you through everything.

Enjoy the new simplicity in your life!

Ask Ben a Podcast Question

490 thoughts on “A Quest To Discover The Greatest Multivitamin On The Face Of The Planet.

  1. dailyvita says:

    Thanks for sharing this informative article about the best multivitamin supplements, which provides useful insights for maintaining optimal health. It’s interesting to note the benefits of American ginseng, which can support immune function and cognitive performance. Keep up the great work!

  2. Noah says:

    Hi Ben,
    I have been following your work for a couple years, and I have recently altered my diet to include more high-quality animal foods such as meat, organs, eggs, and fish. I have also been taking a good cod liver oil daily, I am concerned about potential overload of various fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, K, and E. Do you still take/recommend a high quality multivitamin if I am eating a diet high in animal foods? Thank you in advance, and I really appreciate all you do!

  3. Thomas Thibault says:

    Hello what you think about the life extension mix?

  4. Nathan Burgess says:

    Hi Ben.
    I read on Thorne’s site that some of their products are synthetic based.
    Does this make a difference to health as compared to organic.

    Also have you any opinion on Perque’s Vitamin C? (Organic)

    Thanks
    Nate

  5. Alex says:

    Hi Ben, could you please recommend a good quality multi-vitamin product that does not contain Vitamin D (or has no more than 500IU)? For some reason Vitamin D gives me headaches and insomnia when it is in powder form, and I already have my own Vitamin D oil supplement.

    1. Steve says:

      Hi Alex, what type of vitamin D and how much do you take without it causing headaches & insomnia? I believe vitamin D causes insomnia with me as well but when researching that side effect, I can’t seem to find much related. I really want to get enough D because I tested at low levels but I also can’t handle all of the sleepless nights, etc.

  6. Bronson Lane says:

    Hey Ben,

    The directions for the multi-vitamin recommend taking 3 in the morning, with a meal. I usually don’t break my fast until after my lunchtime workout. What are your thoughts on taking the multi-vitamin without food? Would you push the dosage time to when I break the fast?

    1. Joao Figueiredo says:

      This is exactly what I wanted to know, too. Does Ben usually respond to questions?

      1. Yes, for optimal absorption, this should be taken with food.

  7. Mason says:

    Looks solid. I like Thorne and currently take their Magnesium. Have been taking Pure Encapsulations ONE Multi (recommended by Rhonda Patrick) for past two years. Appears to have a majority of what’s listed here but is around $18 a month.

    1. COLIN says:

      Hey Ben, Thorne multi is great,and as you are perpetually researching, you may want to look at these two amazing products https://www.davincilabs.com/spectra-153-infinite-nutrition-36.html
      https://longevitypower.com/products/longevity-in-a-bottle

  8. Tom says:

    Thorne seems to have discontinued the Elite am and pm? Any recommendations?

    1. Hmm, where did you hear that? It's still available on their site and Kion's: https://getkion.com/shop/essential-products/thorn…

      1. Tom says:

        Sorry, seems like they discontinued it in Canada. Thorne emailed me a response saying they have discontinued it in Canada due to lack of sales. Online vitamin/ supplement stores all seemed to say “discontinued” or have it as “out of stock”. Good to know it is still available!

  9. Jane Chu says:

    We are 70+ seniors in good health and very active, I’m wondering if we should order the Thorne Research – Multi-Vitamin Elite – A.M. and P.M. Formula or
    Thorne Research – Al’s Formula – Basic Nutrients for Men over 40 for my husband and
    Thorne Research – Meta-Fem – Complete Dietary Supplement for Women of Either Peri- or Postmenopausal Age for me?

    We are active individual, but athlets.

    Thank you so much and looking forward hearing from you.

    Jane

  10. Patric says:

    How do you compare these to Onnit Total Human multi packs? Better? Same?

  11. A. Arya says:

    Hi Ben,

    what are your thoughts on Morning / Evening packs by Konstantin Monastyrsky available on his website? i know he’s been your guest. ticks some of the check-boxes that you have outlined in this article.

  12. KELLEY KREINBRINK says:

    Why do you have CELLULOSE in your Multi-Vitamins? Cellulose is a type of insoluble fiber, which means the body can’t digest it.

  13. David Drayton says:

    If I only take one in the morning and one at night, is it worth taking at all? The article mentions that anything less than three in the morning and three at night will significantly reduce efficacy, but I really don’t want to take three pills every morning/night.

    1. Obviously there would still be some benefit, but the recommendations exist for a reason

  14. Azna Vishwa Dharini says:

    I am confused by this article. I am a strict vegan and would love to order the Multi AM/PM complex but I am not sure if all the ingredients are sourced from plant-based materials. The capsules are vegan but are all the other ingredients 100% vegan also?

  15. Mark says:

    I was so excited to read about this vitamin for my wife, who doesn’t like to take too many pills a day. However, I just noticed that there is Chromium in it, and she is allergic to that. Does anyone have another recommendation that comes close to what this vitamin supplement offers, without Chromium in it?

  16. Common Sense says:

    This is simply an ad. These may or may not be better than others. There are definitely better out there, do your own research and do not rely on this article. Also, most consumers will not take 3 in the AM and 3 in the PM, that is ridiculous vitamin dosing. Some of the vitamins in here are not recommended to take such as copper and magnesium. Even vitamin A is suspect in certain health articles. Eat a good diet and drop the pills. If you have trouble with absorption and other medical issues, see a specialist, not this website. My 2 cents, use your common sense and stay away form these ads. Even Kirkland multi’s may be better for you if you insist on taking them. Much cheaper, 1 pill a day, very highly rated and spec’ed out.

    1. Cherie Buijk says:

      As someone who has done her own research, I found this article well informed. Not saying I’m sold on switching away from Seeking Health, but at a quick read of the ingredients, the EXOS supplements are worth further consideration.

    2. Arete says:

      Wait…So I need to spend $62 every 10 days for this? If my math is correct, that is over $2,000/year!!

      1. It's a 1 month supply for $62… 90 caps/bottle (Both AM/PM) at 3 caps/serving

    3. Jack says:

      Don’t listen to that dipshit above. Supplementing with the correct nutrients in the right forms and ratios is paramount in today’s world of depleted nutrients in the soil. I think USANA is a great brand, but also wanted to try Thorne. they look like they make great supplements. Don’t be lazy, just take the recommended dose. No “specialist” on the planet will help withe real health, and getting the proper nutrition.

  17. barbara ingram says:

    Looking at your new multi as compared to what we take now. It has alot but think missing NAC, ans Astazanthan and Zeanthan. Trying to keep healthy as seniors. But a multi helps with cost. Comments please?

    1. Obviously everyone has their own unique factors and needs to consider. This is, in my opinion, the best value multi that meets all of the criteria I was looking for in a multivitamin.

    2. Joe says:

      I’ve read that elevated levels of B6 can cause nerve damage. 20mg seems a lot higher then the 1.5 mg recommended dose for someone my age (42).

      Love to get your thoughts on what you think regarding this high amount of vitamin B6 in these vitamins.

      Thanks,
      Joe

      1. Bill Zangeneh-Lester says:

        I have the same question! I’m concerned about the levels of B6 and B12 in this product. Also 40 years old. Any thoughts?

  18. karin gan says:

    I think the Multi AM/PM Complex from Thorne Research has a new look now. Does it still have TGA certification? Do you still feel that this multi vitamin is the best? Thanks.

    1. Yes, still my go to. You can read more here: https://www.thorne.com/mobile/faq

  19. Karl André says:

    Hey Ben! In “Perfect Health Diet” by Paul and Shou-Ching Jaminet, they strongly argue that you should not supplement manganese. The reasons being that manganese deficiency very rarely occurs, and that maybe as little as 5mg per day of manganese can be neurotoxic. I think this multivitamin looks awesome, except for the manganese. It contains 3mg per day. What is your opinion on manganese? And why do they put it in every multivitamin out there?

    1. Yes, I actually filter my well water for manganese as it is indeed not that great in high amounts. But it is NOT that high in multi.

  20. Dan says:

    Hi Ben. Any thoughts on a multi-vitamin for a 40+ man, non-athlete for overall health and longevity? Been looking at Thorne Al’s Formula, Basic Nutrients V and also Douglas Preventive X. Wondering if the EXOS might be overkill and how Thorne EXOS and non EXOS compare. Thanks

  21. Michelle says:

    Would it be OK to take coq10 150mg along with these multis?

    1. I am not a doctor and this is not to be taken, interpreted or construed as medical advice. There are no known contraindications for CoQ10 consumption with anything in Thorne's Multi Elite product. However, There are a ton of precursors in this multi that will assist with your own CoQ10 production and activation so you may not need to continue supplementing with CoQ10. These are just my own personal thoughts and not a prescription or a diagnosis or any form of health care whatsoever.

  22. Sway says:

    Just another info-mercial in disguise. Wonderful.

    And no need for tea in anything, its not a vitamin, nor mineral – no need for added stimulants in the American diet.

    1. M trollinger says:

      Yes. I agree.

    2. Jeremy Garrett says:

      Yeah cause the average American is so damn healthy, and our soil nutrient levels the best in the world, oops I mean worst.

  23. Athlete says:

    I am surprised that Thorne puts Vit D in their evening pill. I would think the Vit D would keep you up and give you a restless sleep. I’ve always read to only take Vit D in the morning.

  24. Bibiani says:

    Hello, first of all love all your great podcasts and the info you pass on. I have been using Thorne FX Multi Vitamin and now exos for almost 1 year., I listened to a podcast a couple weeks back that had the creator of pure vitamin club on. He of course was up selling his product and claims his product is all you need for a fraction of the price of exos multi. Now I know his product does not contain everything exos does, but I am not a nutritionist or even well versed in dietary supplements, so I was hoping you could summarize the additional benefits/nutrients in exos that are not in PVC that a triathlete training competitively for Iron man distance would need. Thanks and sorry for the rambling.

    1. Bibiani, Thank you! As you are probably aware, there are thousands of vitamin companies out there. I am not familiar with Pure Vitamin Club, so I can't really speak to their product. I've always found Thorne products to be of the highest quality and can highlight some of the ways they beat most competitors….

      Thorne products have:
      Higher doses almost across the board with every vitamin/mineral comparatively
      Vitamins & minerals in a form that allows for superior absorption (chelated minerals for example)
      Additional nutrients that would be helpful for Triathletes (Meriva, Relora, Green Tea Phytosome)
      Meriva is the most well-studied curcumin supplement on the market, relora has been shown to support better sleep quality in endurance athletes

      All Thorne products are manufactured in-house in an NSF for sport certified facility as well as TGA (therapeutic goods administration certified) which audit us regularly and require the strictest standards in the industry.

      Find Thorne products and more information here:
      BenGreenfieldFitness.com/Thorne

      Hope this helps!

      1. Solomon says:

        How would you compare this (in absorption rate and overall coverage) to a green powder multi? The one I am currently taking is called Maximum Vibrance. I love the results but not the taste. I am wondering if these can really match a whole food powder or if it at least is close to the effectiveness of Maximum Vibrance. Thanks!

        1. This is the multivitamin I use and recommend. I'm not familiar with Maximum Vibrance and "green powder multis" are all different so I can't really compare them for you. You can view the Thorne AM/PM label, which lists the nutrition information, and compare it to what you're currently taking. https://getkion.com/shop/essential-products/thorn…

  25. Shameer Mulji says:

    Hi Ben,

    There seems to be debate within the health / fitness circles on whether multi-vitamins are beneficial to one’s health. I came across a couple of articles:

    https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abs…

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4098709/

    Curious what your thoughts are on this.

    1. My thoughts are written above…unless you are living on a pristine Himalayan mountaintop and ESPECIALLY if you are an athlete or hard exerciser, it is a huge insurance…

  26. Joe says:

    Here is comparison of 100 most popular multivitamins.

  27. Jen says:

    Would it be okay to consume cod liver oil in addition to the daily vitamins? Thanks!

    1. Yes, because multivitamins do not really have the capability to be able to contain fish oil you typically need to take Fish oil with them

  28. Sebastiaan Stokhof de Jong says:

    Hello!

    Could you please speak to the importance of a routine ? If one is short on funds or planning to travel extensively , would there be benefit to taking these every day ? Does the effect rely on the consistency of use ?

    Thank you !

    1. Sebastiaan Stokhof de Jong says:

      Every other day **

  29. Shameer Mulji says:

    Hi Ben,

    Can one take the Multi-Vitamin Elite in conjunction with this product that you sell?

    https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/plant-minerals

    Or does the Multi-Vitamin Elite already contain the ingredients that are in the trace liquid minerals product?

    Thanks.

    1. Yes, you can definitely take both at the same time…

  30. Shameer says:

    Hi Ben,

    Have you heard of this all-in-one liquid multivitamin Intramax by Drucker Labs?

    http://store.druckerlabs.com/intraMAXinfo_s/117.h…

    If so, I’m curious on your thoughts with respect to this product?

    Cheers.

    1. I have not, but at this point I can heavily vouch for anything other than the multivitamin here as I have tried it, done a facility tour, and swear by it: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/multi

  31. Brandon says:

    Ben, Do you have a discount code for this multi?

    Thanks

  32. There'sa says:

    I am looking for a multi for my 9 year old son as well as my husband and me.

    Could the Thorne am/pm complex be given as 1 of the 3 in the am and 1 of the 3 in the pm?

  33. Keenan says:

    Really great product. I have great energy, mental clarity, and focus from just the AM supplement. It makes me wonder how deficient I might be in some of these minerals.

    The only time I’ve felt better than this was when I first tried Qualia by Neurohacker, and I haven’t been using it for a few months as stimulants have been bothering me.

    Taking this thorne multi-vitamin is part of a drive to fix what I think is HPA-axis disregulation, but haven’t had funds to do lab testing for.

    The past two weeks or so, I’ve felt more “normal” than I have since a panic attack in April that started this whole mess, and with this multi, I feel optimized in a way I’ve only ever felt from nootropics with Noopept.

    I strongly recommend this multi, especially if you are suffering from any kind of issues. Nutrient deficiency can have major effects on you, from heart attack risk to mental states.

    Everything affects everything. Dysfunction in one area of the body probably means general or specific dysfunction elsewhere

  34. LANCE says:

    Hello, I am interested in this product but unfortunately it doesn’t come in powder form. :(

    1. Why are you seeking a powder, do you have a specific reason?

  35. Denise says:

    Hi. Thank you for your extended research and article.

    My family all have mthfr. My teen girls (18 & 13) both suffer from depression and my 13 y.o.

    is anemic and over weight.

    I need help trying to find one supplement we can take with an digestible form of iron.

    Also is it best to wait and get my daughter’s anemia under control before starting a workout program? My concern is that with her depression she needs more physical activity besides her 2x a week attendance of martial arts.

    Any suggestions. Thank you for your help.

    -DESPERATE MOM

    1. Chad New says:

      Ben, I was just turned on to your podcast on my sister-in-law. Outstanding detail and work. I listened your latest podcast were you described folic acid as being bad and immediately went to my multivitamin and found out it indeed has folic acid.

      So I’m 43 year old Police sergeant working graveyard and I currently take centrum silver, selenium, Boron, CoQ10, fish oil, vitamin B complex, Tumeric and biotin. I have couple questions.

      With my current night schedule should flip the am and pm?

      Should I still take CoQ10 as it appears everything else I take is covered?

      Would you recommend one capsule for children, if so what min age?

      By the way, I am so thankful for your introduction to Kimera Coffee. It is awesome!

    2. Carol says:

      Denise: This reply is very late, but as a mother of girls I feel deeply for you. From the viewpoint of a well-educated health enthusiast (not an MD), I would say that a paleo-type diet with adequate protein and fat and low in simple carbs could help with all 3 issues (anemia, weight gain & depression). The reasons for this:
      1) animal protein (eggs, fish, poultry) contains heme iron that is easily absorbed, as well as zinc and B vitamins crucial to brain/ mood health.
      2) fatty acids are absolutely crucial to the health of the brain, mood etc.
      3) sugar and simple carbs can cause mood swings (due to blood sugar fluctuation) and weight gain due to high insulin (the fat storage hormone). Protein and fat provide much greater satiety than simple carbs, and this will aid in weight loss. One key to eliminating simple carbs is having better options readily available for when cravings occur (e.g. dark chocolate and nuts).
      Also– do an audit of medications being taken, as some may cause depression or weight gain (birth control comes to mind). Flouroquinolones (flouride-containing) antibiotics are a particular hazard to those with MTHFR. Those with MTHFR need to be more vigilant than the average person with regard to toxins in general, so organic food (at least w/ regard to the Dirty Dozen), filtered water, flouride-free toothpaste and aluminum-free deodorant (Native is one brand) are good ideas.
      You are probably already familiar with Ben Lynch, who studies MTHFR extensively.
      All the Best to you and yours.

    3. Gaurav says:

      Consider Tests for Leaky Gut, Candida and Food Sensitivities. Remove offending foods and add supplements accordingly! Exercise is great for mood and activating dormant genes…

  36. Kyle says:

    just was curious if you would recommend this for women or would you recommend one more geared towards females. my wife is into everything organic and non gmo and herbal so she is very hesitant when it comes to vitamins. thanks for any feed ba k

    1. This is totally fine for women also!

    2. Abby says:

      Hey Ben! So with this multi vitamin, would you recommend any changes in caffeine intake? I usually drink a cup of coffee a day, sometimes half. I’m taking a cheap Kirkland’s brand multi now (poor college student) that has 4mg B-6 and 50mcg B-12.

      Thanks so much, you’re awesome!!

      1. You do not need to cut your caffeine intake but I really don't recommend you drink more than one cup of coffee a day anyways

  37. Victor says:

    Hello,

    I’m not an athlete but am following a ketogenic lifestyle and need a good multivitamin to help supplement. I’m currently taking Thorne Basic Nutrients 2/Day. Is that good enough? I see that they have some with 3,4 and 5/day. What do you recommend?

    1. Rodrigo says:

      Try TRIUMPH – From Legion. Also their website is a very good source of information along with the owner’s website. Mike Matthews: muscleforlife.com

  38. Norwegian Dude says:

    Hello Ben,

    And thank you for being thorough and critical.

    The Elite product is almost perfect, but I am working from the hypothesis that I struggle with copper toxicity and adrenal issues – which makes the addition of copper a no-go for me.

    For that reason I have been taking Life Extension Mix, but the P5P content in this product is too high when taken over long periods of time (for me), and results in diarreah/headache/sweating. I have taken P5P from Kirkman earlier and gotten the exact same problems.

    Could you be so kind to mention some of the other contenders for the perfect multivitamin product from the ones you vetted?

    Kind regards fron Norway

    1. If I had to choose ONE I'd say the Onnit one <a href="http:// (http://www.onnit.com/bengreenfield” target=”_blank”> <a href="http://(http://www.onnit.com/bengreenfield” target=”_blank”>(http://www.onnit.com/bengreenfield will give you a 10% discount)…

    2. Keenan says:

      I followed a similar path of hypothesis.

      I started getting panic attacks after using the dry sauna in a fasted state after an olympic weightlifting session (sound like a party?)

      However, the list for copper toxicity is very similar to the list for magnesium deficiency, which is much more likely.

      Copper toxicity takes direct exposure, where-as magnesium deficiency is extremely common.

      Just food for thought. As soon as I started magnesium supplementation, 70 percent of my symptoms disappeared. Like, literally, that day.

      It’s a bit hypocritical of me to say it, as I’ve done none of my own thus far, but your best bet is to test yourself. I’m saving up for Direct labs ion micronutrient panel, and also WellnessFX premium blood panel, to get a starting point.

  39. Rodrigo says:

    Ben, I think your article is a great source of information, I would just love to see quotes on some of the facts you mention, for example the “chelated minerals” being more absorbable than non-chelated. Anyway just wanted to say thanks and ask you for an opinion on another brand that I think back up their products with results and seem like an honest company. The multivitamin is called TRIUMPH by Legion. I don’t know if you’ve heard of them.

  40. michael rosen says:

    hey dude! any concerns w/ a supplement that includes copper? Have heard from a few different respected sources that it’s a no-no for the brain (dementia, alzheimer’s implications)…thoughts?

    1. Robin says:

      Agreed,just listened to a doctor’s lecture on Cancer,

      High iron is a no no and so is copper, as copper feeds cancers blood source.

      1. Paul says:

        Evidence?

  41. Chris says:

    Hey Ben,

    Love your stuff. I’m a new listener but I’ve been slowly catching up on everything!

    Anyway, I have homozygous mutations for COMT V158M, COMT H62H, MAO-A R297R Snaps and was wondering if Thorne Research might have something for this.

    I know that 5-HTP is something to look into and the other B vitamins found in this multivitamin are benfitial to my situation. Just would like to hear what information you might have.

    Thanks for sharing your info/experiences. You are a pillar of knowledge, sir!

  42. Geoff says:

    Hey Ben,

    I read the thread and couldn’t find a specific answer to the question I have.

    Like you mentioned in this article, I am sick and tired of taking a 100 different supplements and would like to take a multi-vitamin but I’m concerned of getting to much selenium through diet and the multi-vitamin.

    Are you concerned with exceeding the recommended of 400mcg? With an athletic diet, high meat, eggs and butter, it seems that I would likely exceed 400mcg daily.

    What recommendations do you have for a fellow athlete?

    Thanks for your time!

    1. Hey Geoff, unless you are eating a lot of Brazil nuts, that are much higher in selenium than other foods, or live in an area that has an unusual amount of selenium in the soil, I would not be too worried about a selenium excess from the 200 mcg selenomethionine you would get with a full daily dose of any of the Thorne multi!

  43. Andy Neale says:

    Hey Ben, I am a work from home personal trainer and nutrition coach in Nashville, TN. I have just recently found (and fallen in love with) your podcast. You speak my language of research and “proof” studies that get my myocardium pumping and cerebral hemispheres hummin’! I thoroughly enjoyed this article, as I’m very much into supplementing to heal and assist the depletion of vitamins and minerals in our diets. If I may introduce you to what might be the next evolutionary step from the EXO sub brand? I’m part of a new health and wellness company that takes many of the principles you mentioned and intensifies it with 18 yrs of research, nearly 10,000 independent 3rd party clinical studies, HIPPA compliant medical assessment. I don’t want to do a commercial here on your site, but would love for you to check it out here – www.AlphaNutrition.IDLife.com – and give me your thoughts. It is customized to every individual – dosing for all lifestyle, diets, gender, etc – it also knows vit/min depletion of thousands of OTC/Pres drugs and fills those gaps…as you finish the assessment, it will even give you the option to click on a “why” button if you want to see each of the scientific studies backing the suggestion of each supplement…that is where I think you will dig what we’ve got (backed by tons of science studies). Lots more to share with you, but will cut it off here and thank you once again for what you do…I can’t get enough of this new found diamond in the rough of all things bio-hacked.

    1. I don't have much time for this, but thanks for thinking of me, Andy!

  44. george uzymirski says:

    Hi Ben I google the best multi vitamin and loved your article wow. I’ve ordered the a/pm/complex multi-vitamin from thorn research. I chk prices online and use ebay/amazon a lot. prices were similar 59.99. however I found a supplier who I buy a lot from on ebay had the product for $49.99 free s/h and get it in 4-5 days. looking fw to this product. I’m a quad double below elbow/knee amputee and walk 1.5 -2 miles 4 times a week here in panama city beach, fl living next to a golf course. I also use tumeric with peperdine for aborsortion and N.O. Burst a nitric ocide formula has helped a lot with stamina a intermittent cludication I get in below my knees has helped a lot. appreciate info from you re; good nitric oxide products you recommend. thankyou

    1. ebay is usually fake knockoffs fyi…

  45. William says:

    Hi,

    I’ve been taking the this multi for about 2 years. It’s works great. But I was just wondering if the dosage should be adjusted according to sex, mass, height, or other factors.

    It doesn’t seem to make sense that a 7 ft 300 lb man would have the same requirements as a 4 ft 100 lb woman.

    Thanks for recommending this effective product!

    1. Yep, a lot of guys take 3 am and 3pm while a lot of girls will do 2 and 2.

  46. John says:

    Hey Ben,

    What would you recommend, Thorne Basic Nurtients 3 or 5? Im a 22 year old male into weightlifting but dont want to spend money on exos. So whats better 3 or 5 for my demographic. Is it bad that 5 has no iodine, I feel like active people need that.

    1. Benjamin says:

      Hey John,

      I want to preface this by saying that I’m NOT Mr. Greenfield. To answer your question though, I think the Basic Nutrients 3 (w/o Copper and Iron) is the better choice. For a year I had been taking their multi-vitamin titled “Multi-Vitamin” (go figure). When they eliminated this product I had to go through and make the same call you did (I didn’t want to spend that much for the AM/PM formula either). These two products, the Basic Nutrients 3 and 5, are extremely similar, The 5 formula has 100 mcg of vitamin K (which is found in an extreme abundance in green leafy vegetables), copper (which I have read that it is rare to be deficient in, even for athletes on a good diet) and Calcium in both the citric acid and malic acid forms (the two separate forms is the only plus to me). However the deciding factor to me was that the 3 formula contains Iodine (good for people who don’t have a lot of fish or salt in their diet), 50 more mcg of Biotin (for hair, skin, and nail health, and a marginally lower price point. I hope this helped : )

  47. Geoff says:

    Hi Ben,

    I read all the comments on adrenal fatigue but I’m curious if the Thorne Elite Multi would be okay for people with low cortisol? In studies it shows that Relora lowers cortisol, not by modulating.

    Thanks!

  48. Lisa Hearne says:

    I’ve been low in Vitamin D for years. Seems like any time I’ve had blood work for feeling fatigued, my Vitamin D comes back anywhere from 12 to 20. I finally started seeing a hormone doctor who said it takes supplementing with 10,000 IUs per day for 6 months to increase Vitamin D. Mine was at a 17 at that doctor’s visit. I just had it retested after 9 months of 10k per day, and it was a 32. My primary care doctor prescribed 50,000 IUs twice per week for a month. I’ve been prescribed 50,000 IUs per week for 8 weeks in the past (and the doctors never told me to come back to be retested…not good). I just assumed each time my vitamin D was going back up. Not the case. After I’m finished with the 100,000 IUs per week, I’m supposed to go back to 10,000 IUs per day..then be retested in 6 months. I’m interested in taking the Thorne Vitamin D. I’m taking BioTech capsule from my local health food store. I’m wondering if the Vitamin D with K2 would help me better absorb the vitamin D; however I would need to take 20 drops per day to equal the 10,000 IUs daily. My concern is…Is that TOO much Vitamin K2 each day? Thanks. Excited about trying Thorne.

    1. K2 can indeed help with Vitamin D absorption and I wouldn't use Vitamin D unless I were also using K. But a lot of moving parts here and I would need to see your health history, etc. I am not a doctor and this is not to be taken, interpreted or construed as medical advice. Please talk with a licensed medical professional about this. These are just my own personal thoughts and not a prescription or a diagnosis or any form of health care whatsoever.

      I'd be happy to help you via a personal one-on-one consult. Just go to https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/coaching. and then choose a 20 or 60 minute consult, whichever you'd prefer. I can schedule ASAP after you get that.

  49. Emilyanne says:

    Awesome!! I live 30 miles away from Dover and I couldn’t be more excited to learn about them. I am excited to support my community and also my health. Thank you for your insights!

    1. that means you're close to me here in spokane.

  50. Dan says:

    Hi Ben,

    I’m impressed by the depth and breadth of your podcasts and articles and I’m grateful for the information and encouraged to find a forum/community of other passionate people – thank you for your input.

    I find it hard to distinguish between what’s in the readers interests vs your interests (e.g. What’s a marketing/PR plug and what readers should adopt for objective/credible reasons). This article feels more like an editorial (even the title seems like puffery). I read on the site of a competitive multi manufacturer that you are employed by Thorne – is this true or a confusion? If so, why was this conflict of interest not stated up front in the article?

    Thanks again for all the info, I am very grateful and will continue to follow your work, but I hope you can understand that just a little more transparency on your vested interests in the products your recommend (if any) will be very powerful for your readers.

    Thanks, Dan

    1. I advise the sports line for Thorne, but that was after this article/formulation was developed. The only money I ever make off something like this is "affiliate" income meaning when you click to purchase, a kickback goes back to me. Ultimately, I'd never promote or talk about something I haven't personally purchased, discovered and used myself with great efficacy before ever promoting here on the site.

      1. Dan says:

        Thanks Ben, appreciate the heads up. Enjoy the week ahead

      2. alyr says:

        Doublespeak. So the answer is YES, you have two financial arrangements with the company. It was OBVIOUS from your overzealous hyperbole. If you KNEW you had “great efficacy”, you’d be backing THAT up too – with before and after proof.. Apparently the efficacy is in your bank account.

        1. hurr says:

          Why do people act like making money makes someone evil?

        2. theo says:

          Alyr, You are being a bit ridiculous here. Let’s say you found an awesome product that delivers on its’ promises. Your expectations for this product have been met &/or exceeded in terms of quality, price point & efficacy. You are excited about sharing this product with others because you strongly feel you can help many peeps by doing so. You have a platform (with a sizeable following – be it Twitter, instagram, Podcasts,etc…) where u can reach others regarding this product. U know in advance that you could generate thousands of dollars in new sales to the company that offers this product with your endorsement (via your platform).

          Given that….here’s the $64K question…………….Would you do it for FREE???? A follow-up question…given your heartfelt endorsement of a product you truly believe in – should that endorsement reduce your authenticity or credibility simply because you are sharing a small % of revenues you are generating for the company – monies you could donate to your fav charity – if you wish too? Think about that!!!

  51. Connor says:

    I am a 17 year old high school boy so I don’t have a ton of money. Fitness and weightlifting are a passion of mine and so I usually buy some supplements. The only way I could afford this am/pm multi is if I stop buying the other supplements like protein. Would you say that this multi is worth forgoing the other supplements? Also, Thorne makes a cheaper 2-a-day mulit… what are your thoughts on that?

    1. Yes, if I could just take ONE supplement it would be this one…

  52. Laurent says:

    Thank you so much for your detailed article!

    Since Thorne no longer delivers the multi-vitamin in Europe, what is the 2nd best multi-vitamin you would advise to take?

  53. Kai says:

    After two months of stress, trying to find the perfect set of supplements, I’ve bought a couple from NowFoods, only to learn that although they’re gluten-free, non-GMO etc., they contain soy, magnesium stearate, and other nasties.

    I was pleased to find this product and your review (I trust that it’s an honest review and not just about the commission/endorsement payout). Is it still your top pick, even in 2017?

    About the soy, you say it’s almost non-existent. Does that mean the nasties, especially for men, that have been tied to soy are inapplicable in this case?

    Any update on the Vitamin C question?

    Thorne’s on several lists of purest supplement co. in America; but so are Herb Pharm and Gaia. How do they compare?

    PS While ericpotratz quotes his site and on it forces visitors to join his mailing list in order to access the “top recommended plant-based vitamins”, he does make some good points.

  54. sonja says:

    which multi would you recommend for a 13 year old girl swimmer? she swims 9000+ yards, 5 days/week. Thank you.

  55. Ramon says:

    I have been doing a lot of research on a good multivitamin for the past month or so and I was really happy when I came across the Thorne Research multivitamin but unfortunately it is not vegan friendly. Not to sound annoying about it but your article mentioned that it was vegan friendly and while it is highly vegan friendly, it is not 100% vegan so I thought you should update it so that you do not mislead any potential vegans that are looking at the product. I wrote the company to ask them if their product is vegan and this is what they responded:

    “The Multi Vitamin Elite is not considered vegan due to the Vitamin D in the product. The Vitamin D is sourced from cholesterol that originally came from sheep’s lanolin.”

    I really wish that they made a vegan version of this product, if they did I would totally purchase it.

    1. Angelica Garcia says:

      Ramon, thanks for the clarification. Ben mentions vegan is a quality he looks for and the vitamin D in this item is not vegan…so an informed vegan may not want to take this supplement. Sounds like it may have been too much to ask for to use lichen-sourced D3. Think I’ll email them to make a request and hope they’ll consider creating one. Id also like to find a top-notch, vegan children’s multi. More $ for them, right. Because…the future is vegan, after all;)

  56. eychenne says:

    Hello Ben, as i’m a men 46 year old, should i go with the AM PM thorne formulation or their AL formulation dedicated to older than 40 men.

    Thanks for your advice

  57. Everett Morrison says:

    Thank you So much for this information packed article! I have recently started taking a daily multi vitamin and mineral supplement (jamieson) and quickly realized much of it was not being absorbed. I googled “most bioavailabile multivitamin” your article was second. This is probably one of the best articles I’ve ever read in terms of thoroughness and information to back up ideas. Thanks for giving your time so that everyone can enjoy these highest quality vitamins with almost no effort!!

  58. Jens says:

    Hey Ben,

    this multivitamin is awesome!

    Unfortunately is the shipping to germany really expensive..

    So what do you think about Life Extension? Especially their 2-Per-Day Capsules and the Life Extension Mix with extra Niacin?

    All the best from germany,

    Jens

    1. Life Extension is "OK" but not as good as Thorne, and without the same herbs. You also may need to take extra! I am not a doctor and this is not to be taken, interpreted or construed as medical advice. Please talk with a licensed medical professional about this. These are just my own personal thoughts and not a prescription or a diagnosis or any form of health care whatsoever.

  59. John Agapos says:

    Ben,

    It boggles my mind how when I do a search for something related to health, nutrition or fitness – your name comes up more often than not.

    I was glad to read this article, because in the back of my head, I hear all these supplements that you’ve endorsed – and I just can’t imagine why you’d take any of them, aside from Curcumin, Magnesium and Fish Oil.

    Particularly, given the foods you eat, I would think that you get a lot of the requisite nutrition you need. Given the way you quantify everything, I’d be surprised if you didn’t know exactly how much of each Vitamin you consumed at various parts of the day. When I see a video, I half-expect to see an IV drip bag so you can constantly feed yourself just the nutrition without having to eat anything. (I hope that doesn’t give you any crazy ideas!)

    Since you are raising goats and my understanding is that you are growing a lot of your own food – are you really needing all these supplements? If our diet addresses these needs, are these supplements necessary? How can we actually discern if the food we’re eating actually has the micronutrients “the internet” claims they have?

    1. Here is why:

      There’s actually nine reasons for the failure of modern diets to supply our bodies with all the nutrients we need.

      First, modern commercial farming practices strip our precious soil of nutrients. When plants are repeatedly grown on the same land for year-after-year (a relatively new phenomenon in agriculture that beats up our land but gives us lots and lots of calories), the overused soil loses it’s nutrients faster than they can be replaced. Over time, the plants have fewer nutrients to grow, so the farmers are forced to fertilize.

      Fertilizer does indeed contain enough nutrition for a plant to survive until harvesting, but not enough nutrients to support your body’s nutrient needs. As discussed in the excellent book “Not On The Label: What Really Goes Into The Food On Your Plate“, this results in plants that up to 75% fewer micronutrients. This problem is compounded by the fact that most plants are not harvested fresh, and the nutrients degrade as they often sit on airplanes, trucks, shelves, and counters for weeks before they arrive on your plate.

      Second, most modern fruits and vegetables are grown for maximum sugar calories, and not maximum nutrients, and because of this much of your fresh produce that us humans would have historically relied upon for nutrients are instead artificially high in calories, fructose and other sugars while being low in nutrients. And of course, this is all passed on to the animals (including you!) that are eating the plants. For example, one study in the Journal of Nutrition and Health found copper levels have dropped by 90% in dairy, 55% in meat, and 76% in vegetables!

      Third, pesticides are making this problem even worse. Because polyphenols – a plant’s most potent antioxidants – are produced as a defense against bugs and pathogens, plants exposed to pesticides will be lower in precious polyphenols compared to organic ones. To make matters even more frustrating, even if you buy organic plants, this is no guarantee that they haven’t been exposed to pesticides! So unless you’re going out of your way to grow your own fresh fruits and vegetables in a pristine backyard garden which contains soil that you’ve treated with added minerals, you are at a huge risk for malnourishment and nutrient deficiency that adversely affects your performance, fat loss, recovery, digestion, brain, sleep, and hormone balance.

      Fourth, it’s not just nutrient-poor plants that are affecting the nutrient status of the actual animals we rely upon for food, but it’s also what many of those animals are being fed – especially grains. Compared to grass-fed meat, grain-fed meat is lower in antioxidants, micronutrients, fatty acids, minerals, and vitamins, but unfortunately, eating high-quality, organic grass-fed (and grass-finished) meat, pastured pork and naturally raised poultry is simply not a reality for many people living in urban environments or frequently traveling.

      Fifth, the nutrients in your food aren’t the only things that are disappearing – your liquids are being affected too. Unless you’re drinking from your own well, or relying upon fancy mineralized water such as Pellegrino, Perrier and Gerolsteiner, your bottled water, filter water and tap water is also often stripped of precious minerals – and if does indeed contain adequate minerals, these are typically accompanied by enormous levels of flouride and chlorine. So this means that unless you want to spend lots and lots of money on fancy water, you are stuck in a situation where you must filter your water to get rid of the dangerous stuff, then figure out other methods, such as supplementation, to get the minerals you’d normally be getting from the water.

      Unfortunately, milk is not much better than water. The majority of nutrients in milk are found in the fat, so while organic raw, unpasteurized, full-fat dairy is high in nutrients, most of us simply don’t have ready access to it, especially at the typical grocery store. In addition, pasteurization can destroy many of the nutrients in both skim and full fat milk. Modern, conventional milk and other dairy products from grain-fed cattle can also be higher in aflatoxin and other mycotoxins, which increases your nutrient needs even more, creating a vicious cycle.

      So whether it’s due to nutrient-poor plants, nutrient-poor animals, nutrient-poor milk, or nutrient-poor water, most diets are now so micronutrient deficient that they require on average 27,575 calories to supply all the essential nutrients that you need. In other words, in our modern era, you would need to be stuffing your face all day long to actually get what your body needs, and this does not into account the fact that if you are trying to lose weight by restricting calories or if you are a physically active person like a triathlete, marathoner, Crossfitter, weightlifter, or other exercise enthusiast, then your risk of nutrient deficiency is going to be even higher!

      In other words, if you are A) trying to lose weight by not stuffing your body full of excessive calories or B) an athlete or physically active person, then you’re pretty much guaranteed to be at a constantly malnourished nutrient deficit (unless you figure out a way to somehow squeeze in all those added nutrients). The older you get, the fewer nutrients you absorb, so as you age, the worse things become. And that’s reasons six (weight loss), seven (exercise) and eight (age) that you may need a little help over and above what you’d get from food.

      So let’s say you dig a well, grow your own produce, milk your own goats, eat strictly grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish, you’re relatively young and you avoid excessive physical activity or calorie restriction for weight loss. Then you’re safe, right? No added nutrients necessary, right?

      The unfortunate ninth fact is that unless you live on a pristine mountaintop in the Himalayas, you’re exposed every day to airborne pollutants, xenoestrogens from plastics and BPA, environmental toxins, mold, industrial solvents, electromagnetic fields, heavy metals, fluorescent lighting, constant stress, sleep disruption and a host of other modern-day assailants upon your biology. Your body simply wasn’t mean to deal with these physiological stressors – all of which vastly increase your need for nutrients to help you fight the daily battle.

      So for the nine reasons above – depleted soil, nutrient-poor produce, pesticides, conventional meat, subpar water and milk, weight loss, physical activity, age, and our modern post-industrial living environment, you definitely shouldn’t throw out all your supplements.

  60. Shauna says:

    Is the vitamin A (palmitate) the natural form or the synthetic form?

    What would you suggest for children supplements? A multivitamin and fish oil/or cod liver oil? Thank you.

    1. For kids, I recommend the Smarty Pants kids multi: http://amzn.to/2davP6y My kids love that one, and also the Kid's Calm Liquid as a liquid option. https://amzn.to/2cFFyib

      For Vitamin A, it is the natural form, not synthetic form. Hope that helps!

  61. missy says:

    Just curious if you think the EXOS are safe for pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy. Blood work will certainly need to be done, but wanted to know if there was anything potentially harmful. Thanks for the great post.

    1. I would recommend the Thorne prenatal instead: http://bit.ly/2cQE5qo because there are no herbs at all in it…

  62. Sara Roberts says:

    Hi Ben, just found this today am really struggling with IBS, I found you after searching nutreince and IBS and ended up here. I am currently on Nutreince which I found after meeting Mira and Jason in person on holiday. Like you I love these two guys, but am now willing to give EXOS a try (although am a little concerned re the copper comments I’v read above). I’m also trying to restore my healthy bacteria and looking at FODMAPS. In the UK there is a product called Symprove. Iv copied this bit from their website. “Symprove is a water-based multi-strain supplement that contains 4 unique strains of live activated bacteria. These include: L. rhamnosus, E. faecium, L. acidophilus, and L. plantarum. Normally a healthy gut would already contain all four of these, however when it doesn’t, it can soon become unbalanced.” Ben – What do you think of this? It sounds good to me but I’m no expert. I was thinking of trying EXOS, with sillicolgel and Symprove together with looking at FODMAPS, diet, exercise and relaxation/destressing techniques. Could you advise whether you think the EXOS, together with the other two things might work or clash or whether you have any better suggestions. I’m researching IBS like crazy but without being a qualified dietician its like gobbledygook to me!!! Any help would be amazing, my IBS is so depressing. Thanks

    1. Hey Sara, best to book a consult and we can go over everything there. Go to <a href="https://greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/ben” target=”_blank”>www.greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/ben and choose 20 or 60 minutes and we'll get you scheduled.

  63. Amber cox says:

    Hi Ben,

    First time to your website. You provide awesome info. I have a question for you. I’m 48. Have always been active, and since I was 40, I have competed in triathlons, half marathons and one marathon. I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma almost two years ago right after my first marathon. I’ve not really ever got my energy back. I have a year left of chemo, but it’s every other month, so it’s not life altering like other chemos. I believe that the am/pm vitamin would be beneficial because I have been looking for high absorption vitamins. Do you suggest anything else? Fatigue is an issue. I thought I should begin a ketogenic diet as well. What are your thoughts? My prognosis is good, and I feel that I have many more races to run. Thank you

    1. Hey Amber, I am not a doctor and nothing I say should be taken as medical advice. If you want to go into detail I suggest booking a consult at <a href="https://greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/ben” target=”_blank”>www.greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/ben and choosing 20 or 60 minutes and we'll get you scheduled.

  64. Oldrich says:

    Dear Ben,

    this is really amazing, that like found holy grail.

    But here is question, when I first open the site that your reffer to, it said, there was change in the name of product.

    So, I´m quite confuse, it I should buy:
    https://www.thorne.com/products/sports-performanc…
    or
    https://www.thorne.com/products/foundation/dp/mul…
    But the second one (Multi-Vitamin Elite) is out of stock. So, still I should go for Multi-Vitamin Elite, OK?

    And do you know where to get it in Europe?

    Thanks very much!

    Oldrich, Czech republic

    1. Hey there, this currently doesn't ship to Europe and yes, you want to go for the Multi Vitamin Elite!

  65. Bradley Smith says:

    Do you know what the availability of these Exos multivitamins in Canada are? I’ve found Thorne products, but nobody seems to know of or stock it, and the prices to get it from the states seem insane. Any ideas? Or something similar I should take a look at?

    1. They are aiming to have shipping to Canada of the product sorted by September this year!

  66. Kimberly says:

    Hi, thanks for the article.

    This was done out of wholesome genuinity and you’re not actually an EXOS representative, right?

    1. Nope, I do in fact now serve on their board! I found the product, I loved it, and became such a big fan of the company (its the only one I can stand behind – besides my own of course!) that I now help them develop other things.

  67. Health Vibed says:

    Great article Ben, I especially vibed with your point about capsules over tablets, as that’s something I’m thinking a lot about at the moment, going through various health challenges, and all the required supplementation that that brings with it.

    Gonna have to check out Exos in the future! looks pretty intriguing…

    Cheers!

    Nick

  68. John says:

    I noticed that this has no potassium listed. What would be your recommendation for potassium supplementation in addition to Exo?

    1. I personally use a trace liquid mineral like this: https://greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/product/natu… and then liberal use of Aztec salt!

      1. John says:

        Thanks! And for calcium, which also isn’t present in high quantities? By the way, it may be merely a placebo effect, but after a week on Exo, I am feeling much calmer and more energetic.

  69. Stephen Steiner says:

    Looks like a pretty good formula. However, I consider the Life Extension Mix capsules the absolute best multivitamin on the market.

  70. HP says:

    HI, I love love your article! I am thinking to become a health coach & reading a lot of Dr Mark Hymans information & he says we all need a good multi. Your article couldn’t have been anymore timely. I thank my friend who was asking my advice & sent this to me! My question is I know Thorne is good doesn’t use excipients but I have called them in past about a B vitamin (I think) & it was synthetic. I was brought up on Standard Process supplements which are all whole food based (although lower dosage & yes, they use some excipients) & I think the body must read this better. I hate that when I do take a synthetic B Complex my urine is always bright yellow ! Not w Stand P ! I am on an elimination diet & cant have gluten thus I am off the SP Supplements as ones I need had wheat germ.

    What are your feelings on Synthetics -vs- Whole food sourced vitamins & can you tell me if the MULTI from Thorn is all or part synthetic or not ?

    THANK YOU !!!!!!!!

    1. The multi-has some synthetic and some whole food sourced components… There are some things that are actually better when synthetic. You can read through this thread to see what I mean. And by the way, whether you're taking a whole foods vitamin B or a synthetic vitamin B, your urine is going to be yellow. That's a normal byproduct of vitamin B metabolism.

  71. nadia says:

    hello

    I am recovering from a devastating heartbreak.it has now been three years, and I am trying to come back to life. I lost 40 pounds,,,5’7 to 98 lbs. I am now 115. I am starting to weight lift. :) you can imagine the havoc this has caused with my body..do you have any suggestions-where to start? I need to have hope to reclaim my body,,and then maybe my heart. does exos make anything for heartbreak….lol

    1. They don't unfortunately :) I would check out this program for a good place to start. It might sound deceptive but it's not super intense and will promote healing in general. https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2015/09/how-t…

  72. rok says:

    Ben, I recently started taking the Exos AM/PM complex and noticed that my pee in the morning after taking the am capsules is neon yellow. I’m concerned that many of the nutrients are not being absorbed by my body. Can you please comment on this?

    1. That's just normal metabolism of B vitamins, not to worry!

  73. Hyper says:

    Awesome news!!

    I just got an answer from Thorne Research.

    They say, that shipment to Euope is possible. :)

    Actually the order has to be done manually, until the shop is ready for other locations.

  74. Hyper says:

    Oh no :(

    Is there any alternative that is nearly as good?

    1. I find this to be a really useful, reliable site for supplement searches https://labdoor.com/

      1. Hyper says:

        I found that site yesterday and I bought the Multivitamin from Now foods.

        Hope they deliver EXOS to Europe soon :)

  75. Joan D says:

    Hi Ben,

    Thank you so much for your podcasts and your articles, I truly rely on them. I follow your salt, Doc Parsley sleep aid and avocado oil recommendations.

    I just started using the Exos multi-vitamn elite and I love it. I will be placing an order for my husband today. My son is now 3 and I would like to start him on a multi vitamin, what do you suggest?

    Also I am 5′ tall and 110 pounds with a case of subclinical hypothyroidism. Is there adequate iodine in this multi to manage this issue?

    Thanks so much.

    Joan D

    1. The one that my kids take is the sugar-free smarty-pants multivitamin: amzn.to/1Q5M5Pr Regarding the thyroid issue, it really depends. Everything from Reverse T3 to autoimmune status would affect my answer. I'd be happy to help you via a personal one-on-one consult. Just go to https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/coaching. and then choose a 20 or 60 minute consult, whichever you'd prefer. I can schedule ASAP after you get that.

  76. Hyper says:

    Hi,

    awesome article! Is there a supplier for Europe?
    I could not find it anywhere :(

    Regards,
    Hyper

    1. Unfortunately not right now!

  77. Craig says:

    Hi Ben,

    I’ve been using Youngevity Products for about 3 years, there are chelated and it’s all the 90 essential vitamins and minerals. It is an MLM company which I don’t sell. I have enjoyed the products but think there might be something better out there. I wanted to know how you rate the Youngevity products.

    1. I can't vouch for them. Haven't toured their facilities and don't know the people that work there. I will, without a doubt, vouch for Thorne and EXOS, however!

  78. Nik says:

    Why is it still not possible to buy from outside US/Canada?

    Thanks, N.

    1. If you email the Exos team, they will be able to help you out!

  79. John Douglas says:

    FDA is aware that Internet distributors may not know that the products they offer are regulated as drugs or that these drugs are not in compliance with the law. Many of these products may be legally marketed as dietary supplements if claims about diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention are removed from the promotional materials and the products otherwise comply with all applicable provisions of the Act and FDA regulations. Under the Act, as amended by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, dietary supplements may be legally marketed with truthful and non-misleading claims to affect the structure or function of the body (structure/function claims), if certain conditions are met. However, claims that dietary supplements are intended to prevent, diagnose, mitigate, treat, or cure disease (disease claims), excepting health claims authorized for use by FDA, cause the products to be drugs. The intended use of a product may be established through product labels and labeling, catalogs, brochures, audio and videotapes, Internet sites, or other circumstances surrounding the distribution of the product.

    Furthermore, FDA has no information that your products are generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced conditions and therefore, these products may also be “new drugs” under section 201(p) of the Act [21 U.S.C. 9 32 1 (p)].

  80. John Douglas says:

    Warning letter from the FDA.
    http://www.casewatch.org/fdawarning/prod/2004/tho…

    1. Here's a response from Thorne:

      Thorne Research received a Warning Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2004 regarding a number of product claims on the Thorne Research website that the FDA did not consider to be appropriate structure/function claims for dietary supplements. Following receipt of the Warning Letter, the product claims objected to by the FDA were promptly revised. Thorne Research’s website has remained in full compliance with FDA labeling regulations since that time. In addition, during two week-long FDA inspections of Thorne Research’s manufacturing facility in Sandpoint, Idaho, in April 2011 and January 2014, both of which included FDA review of the Thorne Research website, no regulatory violations of the Thorne Research website were noted.

      The September 2004 Warning Letter pre-dated the June 2010 sale of Thorne Research to the current owners and management of Thorne Research by almost six years.

      Kim Randall Pearson
      General Counsel
      Thorne Research, Inc.

  81. Joe says:

    ben,

    Have you looked at the research studies on relora? Most of them don’t seem very convincing and some even seem like suspect attempts at marketing. I’d like to know what you think of the research and what got you comfortable with its effectiveness,

    Also is it really a good idea to take adaptogens and herbs on a continual basis in a multivitamin? Don’t they lose their effect?

    1. joe says:

      any reply to the credibility of relora studies ben?

  82. JMK says:

    Dear Ben,

    First of all thanks for lots of free resources here at the website. Having started with the 4hb, then getting deeper in the topic and exploring your website, I have some questions how to implement supplements in my daily routine:

    The facts:

    – I´m following the slow carb diet for one month. I´m 1,90, 95 kilos.

    – I want to transform fat into muscles

    – diet is clear, sport programm also (following “The Kiwi workout” of 4hb

    – I wanted to start wih the following supplements:

    1. PAGG for fat loss (6 days/3 weeks a month)

    Q: For how long should I do that and is PAGG part of EXOS (I found only Green tea extract)

    2. Fishoil

    Q: I didn´t find at all

    3. Vitamin D

    Q: I guess the suficient amoungt is in EXOS

    4. cod liver, 2 table spoons

    Q: can I take that in addition?

    Last questions: In one of your last podcasts you mentioned a supplement you take which prevents you from catching a cold. I do not remember the name and do not find the part of the podcast again.

    If too much questions, I´m happy to book a 20 min 1;1 if you can answer it there.

    Thanks,

    Jens

    1. great questions. If I were in your shoes I would simply take the eXOS multi-combined with the SuperEssentials fish oil that you can find: https://greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/product/supe…

      For some of this, it's going to be highly dependent on your specific health history and diet… I'd be happy to help you via a personal one-on-one consult. Just go to https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/coaching. and then choose a 20 or 60 minute consult, whichever you'd prefer. I can schedule ASAP after you get that.

  83. Marilynn says:

    I am 73 I do not want to tak a huge hand ful of pills everyday. But being older I do not need some of the vitamins of the young very active person. I do want good quality vitamyns. Could you recommend something for my age group. I know thorne is a good product. I take Thorne B-complex #12 I do not eat meat or dairy (vegan) I am looking for a good multi vitamin.

    Thank you

    Marilynn

    1. if I were in your shoes the exact vitamin I would take is the one that you just read about. It would be perfect for you

  84. Ana Paula says:

    I still prefer the Multivitamin Opti-Women. It´s wonderful. What do you think about this one?

    1. Haven't tried it yet. Can't vouch for it vs. the EXOS one.

  85. Deb Wilkin says:

    I am so excited to find this vitamin. I have researched for a decade looking for answers to my adult kids physical/mental issues and discovered they fit the MTHFR SNP profile to a tee. Then, came the problem of finding and being able to afford and find all the specialized supplements. I think this product pretty much meets the Lynch/Yasco MTHFR -methylation protocol and even tho I had to really argue with them about taking 3 capsules two times a day- they finally agreed to do at least 2 twice a day. Better than nothing. So, after knowing what they needed and not being able to find/afford correct supplement or get them to take what I could find/afford – for almost 10-years- I have been rescued from my misery with this product- it is superb. Thank you for your successful quest.

  86. monika says:

    Was this post sponsored by Thorne Research ?
    Please be honest as this makes a difference in this article’s credibility.
    Thank you.

  87. Mark David says:

    Hello Ben, First time visiting your site. Arrived here after buying the Thorne Medipro All in One Vegan shake from a local integrative medicine center and wanted to research (after my purchase) its efficacy. The reason for my visit there was to talk to them about my son who is 14 and simply cannot eat fruits or vegetables. He seems to have a gag reflex whenever anything that is remotely textured like F&Vs gets near his throat.. We are worried about his future development and health. First what are your thoughts on this product and second do you have supplemental recommendations for a teenager that simply is unable to swallow F&Vs

    1. Well Mark, I'll be totally straightforward with you. If this were my son, and it wasn't some kind of a medical condition that kept him from eating fruits and vegetables, I would tell him to get tough an to eat his fruits and vegetables rather than figure out a way to cater to his physical or mental weakness by finding some alternatives for him. However, just so I don't leave you hanging, here's a good article/podcast for you: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/health-fitness/h…

  88. Melanie says:

    I cannot find Exos am pm multivitamins anywhere…….why?

  89. Sergio says:

    Unfortunatley EXOS don’t ship to Europe. Can anyone recommend a good multi available here?

    1. sergio says:

      Thank you!

  90. Nicole says:

    They look like something well worth trying, but I’d ask you to ask Thorne to consider if there’s any way to make them more cost efficient and still turn a profit.

    The thing is, like everything else in the world, the supposedly good deals aren’t so good anymore when you have a family. If this were just me, this would be a 1-month supply and it’s really not so bad. If it were just my husband and me it would be $120 per month and I’d have to order every 2 weeks, okay, getting up there, but I can just about still do it. But I have two teenagers. Now we’re looking at the fact that this is a one-week supply. $240 per month. I can’t do that. :) We’d have to get rid of cable and stare at the walls all day, and no internet connection so I can order the vitamins.

    Asking for this to be cut in half I know is asking a lot, but might it make it worth it if they get a certain amount of confirmed orders?

    Also, at 48, I’m almost at that magical 50-year mark, and I’d like to know if these address my changing needs and also, is there anything in it that helps in building hgh naturally? Thanks.

    1. Response from Thorne:

      EXOS and Thorne are committed to formulating with the highest quality ingredients with performance, health and vitality in mind. This means that the products are efficacious; however, having high quality ingredients and manufacturing comes at a premium. There are many factors that go into maintaining hormonal balance as we age and we are getting ready to embark on a 15 month study evaluating the impact of training and nutrition on the mental and physical aspects of aging. For general support from a nutritional standpoint – our standard protocol for healthy individuals absent of a medical condition is to incorporate a multi-vitamin (elite or regular), fish oil, and probiotic as a part of their foundational routine. When it comes to any types of hormonal recommendations – we always recommend that you start with an understanding of your own biochemistry and then progress from there. Getting your bloodwork completed through your primary care physician or through a service like bengreenfieldfitness.com/wellness will provide insight as to where you currently are biochemically and then will fine tune the adjustments that you may need to make to your diet, lifestyle, and training.

    2. Tina says:

      What about iron for those of us who are anemic, especially when I exert myself more intensely during exercise? I currently take Garden of Life iron supplements. I should probably go in for a blood test to see where my levels are now after having supplemented for seven months now on a daily basis.

  91. Edward Chick says:

    I know you are on the advisory broad now so you may not be able to answer the question. What other Multivitamin would you recommend apart from EXOS?

    EXOS is expensive, I know it is of quality from what you describe, but it is like $10 off my top budget. I came through your site when i was searching for Multivitamin with Methylcobalamin as B12 rather then Cyanocobalamin. Obviously I dont need the best of the best Multivitamin, but if that was the price it would be out of reach for me. So I find Garden of Life Kind Organics Mens Once Daily, how would you rate that?

    http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/p/garden-of-life-kin…

    Another question is Shipping, EXOS still do not do international shipping. And Emailing is simply tell customer to go away. I live in HK i am wondering if they plan on doing international sales?

    1. I can't with good conscience say I have vetted the other brands, but I would start by visiting labdoor.com!

      1. Todd says:

        Just started listening to your podcast and they’re great!! I had seen this post way before today and I’m enjoying all the additional content on your site.

        I looked at the labdoor.com site and the EXOS vitamins are not listed. Why is that?

        I’m considering making the switch to EXOS, even though they are much pricier than the Vitamin Code that I currently take. Are these vitamins ok for someone who is not an athlete? I workout but not like I used to when I was younger. I don’t want to overload on any supplements that would be unnecessary for a non-athlete to take. Thanks!

        1. Here's why the EXOS vitamins are pricier.. <a href="http:// .https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2015/03/behind-the-scenes-of-how-a-supplement-is-made-an-insider-interview/” target=”_blank”> <a href="http://.https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2015/03/behind-the-scenes-of-how-a-supplement-is-made-an-insider-interview/” target=”_blank”>.https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2015/03/behind-the-scenes-of-how-a-supplement-is-made-an-insider-interview/ – as you will hear, you get what you pay for, in this case extreme, extreme quality.

          They're not on LabDoor yet frankly because LabDoor hasn't "gotten to them" yet!

          1. Todd says:

            Hi Ben, Can you address my question about whether or not these vitamins would be beneficial for a non-athlete? As I mentioned, I like to workout, but I’m not involved in any types of sports. Before spending the money on these vitamins, I wanted to make sure they would not be more than necessary for my needs. Thanks!

          2. yes, absolutely. A huge majority of my clients are pursuing longevity and antiaging and health, not extreme sports, so absolutely!

          3. Todd says:

            You can combine this with my previous post …

            How do the AM/PM vitamins compare to the Foundation Multivitamins made by EXOS? Are these more targeted to non-athletes?

          4. AM/PM have added herbs and anti inflammatories and are STRONGER (HIGHER AMOUNTS of the multivitamins)

  92. Alex_Anderson says:

    Ben, how do feel about Texas Superfood containing Folic Acid? Do you recommend another similar supplement with the preferred form of Folate?

    1. Yes, if you want gold standard methyltetrahydrofolate form use this: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/multi. It does not have greens like Superfood does but you can always add those in via other sources.

  93. Rick says:

    Really wish the vitamin company didn’t sponsor you….

    1. I think it's a win-win. I get to use my research and readings to help create a supplement that helps people the way they should be helped.

  94. Rajan says:

    Hi Ben, I have literally just come across your website this evening after researching a number of different sources for multivitamin reviews. I find your take and passion for nutrition to be refreshing and will certainly be bookmarking this website. With regards to the above product, I have been using GNC MegaMen Sport Multivitamin and Align 24/7 probiotic. I would say the multivitamin does help with feeling energetic since I use it for the gym but I cannot tell if the probiotic is working or arguably have a detrimental effect on my digestion. Could I just eradicate both and use the above Exos product as a 2 in 1? If not, is there a probiotic you recommend outside of the Exos brand enlisted on the website? My end game is to maintain feeling energetic, a good metabolism and assure I get my required daily supplements. I am 29 and train regularly.

    1. You would still need to use a probiotic if you use the EXOS multi and you are not eating a wide variety of fermented foods. The EXOS probiotic is actually quite good. You can check it out at https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/exos

  95. Edward Beck says:

    The stuff I just read was rather confusing. What multi-vitamin supplements can I take to get energy to get up in the morning and feel like doing stuff? I have a box of vitamins from a to e with complex b and b1 and b12. I am on quite a few drugs for various things like diabetes (metformin) acid reflux (prilosec {omeprazole]) high bp (lisinopril and verapamil) urine flow (tamulosin) pain (gabapentin) (meloxicam) ( hydroxyzine pam) (quetiapine fumarate) (clonazopam)(mirtazapine)(vitamin b1 100 mg tab)(vitamin b12 100 mg tab) I would really love to get off all this stuff and be able to take alternative supplements. I have had insomnia for many years and that may be due to years of shift work. I was diagnosed as a diabetic about a year ago. I hope this is not just a comment because I am really hoping you can help me as to what alternative supplements that I can take that will take care of the ailments that I mentioned. Edward Beck

    1. I would suggest booking a one on one at greenfieldfitnesssystems.com/ben and we can go over everything there!

  96. Happy2bhere3 says:

    Have you look into the supplements by USANA? USANA’s world-class scientists review the latest scientific literature and clinical studies on important nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. They also test the potency and purity of every USANA product to ensure complete and balanced formulas. USANA scientists come from varying fields of expertise, and most have published numerous papers in their careers.

  97. Shelly says:

    Have you look into USANA? USANA’s world-class scientists review the latest scientific literature and clinical studies on important nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. They also test the potency and purity of every USANA product to ensure complete and balanced formulas. USANA scientists come from varying fields of expertise, and most have published numerous papers in their careers.

    1. I have looked into them and I can't vouch for them. Thorne facilities are the only ones the Mayo Clinic vouches for and the facilities are immaculate. Most supplement companies can't *touch* that quality.

  98. leslie dabrasky says:

    Entering into menopause and taking compound progestreone and testosterone would taking the multi am/pm be ok? Could I stop taking those with taking the multi am/pm? Also taking supplements to get rid of toxins in my liver through supplements called Standard Process any thoughts

    1. The multi isn't necessarily going to replace compounded hormone replacement. However, I'm not convinced you need to be on compounds. I would recommend you begin by going through this article, which covers common endocrine disruptors: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/08/how-t…

  99. John mcguigan says:

    Have you come across longevity products?

    If so,how do they compare????

    1. That's a REALLY broad question but in a nutshell, elements like iodine, selenium, and methyltetrahydrofolate area all helpful in decreasing DNA damage. But for a true anti-aging approach there are so, so many other factors. You should read the book "Blue Zones" for more on that.

  100. Rocky Walter says:

    Ben,

    Can you comment on the health concerns regarding supplementing Vitamin A, E, and Iron and Copper that Dr. Fuhrman bring up? Is there any truth to this?

    http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/mulitvitamins-in…

    1. Sure, pretty straightforward really. It all mostly comes down to everything in moderation. see my notes in caps.

      Most studies have not shown a consistent benefit of taking multivitamin/mineral supplements for preventing chronic diseases.1 A 2006 National Institutes of Health (NIH) State-of-the-Science Conference Statement reported regarding studies on multivitamin/mineral supplements and chronic disease prevention “Most of the studies we examined do not provide strong evidence for beneficial health-related effects of supplement…”2

      IN HARD CHARGING INDIVIDUALS LIKE TRIATHLETES, CROSSFITTERS, EXERCISE ENTHUSIASTS, ETC. IT IS ENTIRELY ANOTHER MATTER. MICRONUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES CAN BE FAR MORE RAMPANT AMONG ACTIVE POPULATIONS…

      …AND ALSO "CHRONIC DISEASE PREVENTION" AKA "ABSENCE OF DEATH" IS FAR DIFFERENT THAN PURSUIT OF ANTI-AGING AND OPTIMAL HEALTH.

      Of course, micronutrient deficiency is detrimental to health. So why have most studies shown no benefit for preventing chronic disease? One important reason is that most multivitamin/mineral supplements on the market contain ingredients that have been shown by studies to be harmful in supplement form.

      Certain nutrients are beneficial when provided by whole foods, but may be harmful in supplement form.

      Folic Acid. The synthetic folic acid found in supplements is chemically different from food folate, which is abundant in green vegetables, beans and other plant foods. Folate is especially important for women of childbearing age, to prevent against birth defects. However, women who take synthetic folic acid in multivitamins may be at increased risk of breast cancer.3-8 Folic acid supplementation also raises the risk of prostate and colorectal cancers.9-11 Luckily, we don’t need to get folic acid from vitamins, because folate is plentiful in green vegetables and other whole plant foods. Folate in its natural form protects against breast and prostate cancers.9,12-14 Of course when we get our folate from food it comes naturally packaged in balance with hundreds of other cancer protective micronutrients. Consuming folate-rich foods, not folic acid, during pregnancy may also offer protection against cardiac birth defects, childhood respiratory illnesses, and childhood cancers.15-21

      YEP, IT MUST, MUST MUST BE IN METHYLTETRAHYDROFOLATE FORM!

      Vitamin A and Beta-carotene. Ingesting vitamin A or beta-carotene from supplements can potentially increase cancer risk by interfering with the absorption of other carotenoids with anti-cancer properties, like lutein and lycopene.22 Beta-carotene supplements are poor substitutes for the broad assortment of carotenoid compounds found in plants. Since beta-carotene gets converted into vitamin A by the body, there is no reason a person eating a reasonably healthy diet should require any extra vitamin A. There is solid research revealing that supplemental vitamin A induces calcium loss in the urine, contributing to osteoporosis.23 Too much vitamin A from supplements during pregnancy is associated with cardiac birth defects.24 On top of these risks, a recent meta-analysis found an increased risk of mortality in people who took supplemental vitamin A, beta-carotene, or vitamin E. 25

      YES, UNLESS BALANCED WITH VITAMIN D AND VITAMIN K.

      Vitamin E. As mentioned above, supplemental vitamin E in the dosage ranges higher than what can be achieved with food is associated with an increase in mortality risk. Vitamin E is an antioxidant vitamin that we can easily get from raw nuts and seeds, rather than in a supplement.25

      TRUE FOR PEOPLE THAT DON'T NEED THAT AMOUNT OF ANTIOXIDANTS…LIKE SEDENTARY FOLKS SITTING AROUND ON THE COUCH ALLDAY.

      Selenium. There is evidence that high selenium levels are linked to diabetes, hyperlipidemia, prostate cancer, cardiovascular disease, and impaired immune and thyroid function. The studies are somewhat conflicting though—some see a mild protective effect, and some see a detrimental effect. There is also a link between selenium excess and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).26-29 The answer here is to have selenium sufficiency, but be careful not to get excess.

      YES BUT ONLY WHEN IODINE DEFICIENCY IS PRESENT.

      Iron and copper. Iron and copper serve vital biological functions, but as we age excess amounts of these metals may build up and become toxic. The most common culprits of iron and copper excess are red meat and multivitamins. Iron is crucial for oxygen transport, and both iron and copper are essential for the proper function of several chemical reactions in several of the body’s cells and tissues. The human body evolved to store excess iron and copper to fuel these reactions in case of extreme conditions like bleeding or famine. However, their accumulation over time may be detrimental because both metals are involved in generating oxidative stress, a byproduct of energy production, which contributes to chronic diseases—specifically cardiovascular disease and brain disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. There are appropriate times to supplement with iron, however—when there is a deficiency or an increased biological need, such as in pregnancy.

      ALSO TRUE BUT YOU CAN'T PAINT WITH BROAD BRUSH. SOME PEOPLE ARE IRON AND COPPER DEFICIENT, SOME HAVE EXCESSES. THAT IS WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO TEST RATHER THAN TO BLINDLY SUPPLEMENT!

      1. Conny E says:

        With your info on Vitamin A (above), why does the multi vitamin EXOS have 5000 IU in am plus 1000 IU in pm? This amount seems like way too much. In other research I read that vitamin A & D should be close in dosage as vitamin A tends to cause poor absorption of Vitamin D. Perhaps your explanation will help my understanding. Thank you.

  101. cindy says:

    Can you please email me? I am allergic to seafood and supplements containing fish oil, etc… Anything else you would recommend?

    1. You can email [email protected] but there's no fish oil in this product.

      1. Irene says:

        Hi Ben,
        I have two children who are aged 13 and 17. Just wondering if the multi vitamin for kids you suggested on Amazon is suitable for them as well. Thanks

        1. It is yes! You'd also be fine to use the Multi AM/PM Complex, though kids may not need the extras included in it.

  102. kathy says:

    I am surprised that Thorne puts Vit D in their evening pill. I would think the Vit D would keep you up and give you a restless sleep. I’ve always read to only take Vit D in the morning.

    1. Vitamin D is in many, many food compounds and doesn't produce any issues with sleep at all! I've never seen that in any literature. You have nothing to worry about.

  103. ktruff0423 says:

    Hi, hello! After hearing your podcast and reading this article, I decided to cash in the money and order the EXOS A.M / P.M vitamins. I've been very happy with them, especially since I now only have two bottles to worry about instead of 20. With this ordering, I am part of EXOS' email subscription and recently received an email titled, "Fat is critical to good health." While the email, as a whole, contains good information, I am a bit concerned that it recommends to "Bake with canola oil." You have authored many articles and spoken frequently about the negatives of toxic canola oil. Should I be worried that this company does not align to the same mentality? Am I over-analyzing this too much? Would love to hear your thoughts!

    1. You are 100% correct that EXOS is not 100% "Primal", "Ancestral", etc. But the EXOS products themselves are EXTREMELY sound, safe and well-formulated, and when you combine that with the idea that it's best to rely upon *me* for usage advice than to rely upon EXOS for usage advice, then there is nothing to worry about!

      1. ktruff0423 says:

        Fair words – I can dig it :) Thank you for taking the time to reply!

  104. jill says:

    Thorne uses sand in almost all supplements – Where’s all that building up at? And to avoid fillers I bought their huge gel cap C and B’s. So much soy bean oil it could choke a horse. These aren’t shown at they web site – It’s hydrogenated too I bet. Thorne paying you handsomely?

    1. Thorne does not put sand in almost all their supplements. They do add a very small amount of silicon dioxide to adsorb moisture in some of our products. This is not sand, it is trace mineral silica (silicon dioxide is the industry's most common way to list silica on a label). Yes, it is a component of sand, but it is very different than the perception of taking a handful of sand and putting it in a capsule. Some of the silica, like all minerals, is absorbed and utilized in the body. What isn't absorbed is excreted. It does not "build up" in the body. In fact, silica is a trace mineral that in higher doses can support skin and joint health

      Thorne does not manufacture any B-vitamins or Vitamin C in a gelcap. Even their products that are offered in a gelcap are not diluted in soybean oil. For example, Thorne's Ultimate E (vitamin E product) is not diluted with soybean oil, like most liquid vitamin E gelcaps on the market. It contains vitamin E and extra virgin olive oil. Thorne goes out of our way in formulating this product so that they do not use soybean oil.

  105. Yashnabakshani says:

    Hi there again,

    I just realized that this multivitamin has silicon dioxide in other ingredients.According to my research ,silicon dioxide is not good for kidneys.

    1. Kidney stones may form with consumption of massive amounts of silica over a long period, but the amount of silica in this multi is not significant enough to cause stone formation or other side effects. And like I said, when it is necessary to fill the capsule with something in addition to a nutrient or botanical, I’d rather see a multivitamin manufacturer use magnesium citrate, a the pure element reacted with pure citric acid; cellulose, a pure plant fiber, magnesium citrate-laurate, a pure element reacted with citric acid and lauric acid (a small fat molecule that does not inhibit absorption), silica, a pure element found in sand, and the amino acid leucine.

  106. Yashnabakshani says:

    Hi Ben,

    Thank you so much for this post.I have been looking hard too at multivitamins available today and have been disappointed.But your article gives me hope.Only question is ,Can I give half dose of this Thorne multivitamin to my 8 year old.
    Thanks

    1. Nope, I wouldn't use the Thorne multi with kids as it has herbs in it. I'm careful with that. My kids use this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CX6DM0O/ref=a…

      1. Raj says:

        This as folic acid. Is that okay to give to kids? I have the MTHFR gene mutation (actually both). I have not tested my kids, but I assume they do too or at least one mutation. I would like to give them this one, but wanted to confirm if you think Folic acid in this one is okay. I assume so since you give to the kids. I use the Exos multi for myself.

        1. Response from Exos for you: The folic acid in both of the EXOS multis is (as listed on your site) not folic acid (see below), but methylated folate or 5-MTHF (generally, the preferred source for those with the genetic issue that is mentioned): as L-5-Methyltetrahydrofolate from L-5-Methyltetrahydrofolic Acid, Glucosamine Salt

          The mutli I recommend for kids is this: amzn.to/1Q5M5Pr

  107. khawkins2480 says:

    Hi Ben, first of all love all your great podcasts and the info you pass on. I have been using Thorne FX Multi Vitamin and now exos for almost 1 year., I listened to a podcast a couple weeks back that had the creator of pure vitamin club on. He of course was up selling his product and claims his product is all you need for a fraction of the price of exos multi. Now I know his product does not contain everything exos does, but I am not a nutritionist or even well versed in dietary supplements, so I was hoping you could summarize the additional benefits/nutrients in exos that are not in PVC that a triathlete training competitively for Iron man distance would need. Thanks and sorry for the rambling.

    1. There is always too much 'behind the scenes' information to know that makes comparing labels to labels almost obsolete. But, here is some information to consider with that in mind:

      The following products highlights are found in the EXOS Multi Elite, and not found/suboptimally dosed or not found in the PVC vitamin product:
      -Natural folate (folic acid has been shown to be unmetabolized by a fair amount of people, and thus potentially detrimental to health)
      -Mixed tocopherols with alpha tocopherol
      -Meaningful dosage of true Albion Chelated minerals (mineral oxides are very inexpensive and therefor used often in the supplement industry, the are not optimal in the gut from an absorption standpoint)
      -Meaningful dosage of an undiluted, pure Vit D3 (Thorne dilutes it's own Vit D making sure there are not leftover contaminants from the dilution product used to make Vit D into a powder – these can be lactose, BHT and others solvents and diluents that they deem unnecessary and unacceptable)

      Addition of meaningful ingredients from partners worldwide like:
      -phytosome curcumin
      -phytosome green
      -relora

      Thorne Research is the leader in hypoallergenic manufacturing in the supplement industry. Thorne sets the bar for what 'pure and clean' manufacturing truly means when it comes to supplement safety, purity and efficacy. Thorne values the following achievements and certifications to show how/why this is paramount over all else at Thorne:
      -one of the first and only supplement companies in the US to be certified, and continually audited and certified, by the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Association – the Australian FDA, who the world went to before the US FDA had to start implementing the regs from the DSHEA act)
      -Successful, complimentary random audits of their manufacturing and procedures by the FDA (very rare to pass with flying colors in this industry-or to even have been audited and then passed)
      -NSF certified manufacturing facility
      -5 NSF Certified for Sport Products (with more to come)

  108. carrera727 says:

    Hi Ben, I'm not trying to question your integrity, but I'm concerned about a potential conflict of interest in your post. You wrote this article on the premise as an impartial consumer, but you serve on Exos' Advisory Board (and are most likely getting paid for your time). Also, your links from BenGreenfieldFitness.com don't link directly to an Exos webpage, but instead they link internally to your website and are then re-directed to Exos' website. Both of these create a serious perception of conflict of interest which makes me think that you may not be promoting these products with consumers' best interest in mind, but rather you have a financial stake in the sucess of these Exos products. Now I'm an open individual and don't rush to conclusions so I welcome to hear your response that could alleviate my concern.

    1. I have said many, many times on the podcast that I am on the advisory board. I also purchase all my own product and vetted the company for a year before deciding to support what they were doing. My "conflict of interest" is an interest in YOU – my readers and listeners!

  109. jd77xx says:

    Hi Ben – The 10% off link seems to not work anymore? Is it no longer being offered? Thanks for recommending the AM/PM!

    1. If you click through and add it to your cart it will be calculated at 10% off in your cart.

      1. jd77xx says:

        Thanks for the reply! The discount seem to apply only when you choose a delivery frequency, but when you choose one time, the discount goes away?

        1. The 10% discount is the reward for getting it on a regular basis, that's why! Hope that helps.

          1. jd77xx says:

            It does and thanks for all the great information Ben!

  110. ericpotratz says:

    This is not the greatest multivitamin on earth. This product is loaded with synthetic/isolated vitamins that can increase the risk of stroke, cancer, and mortality. We just published a comprehensive review on this topic: https://blog.botanicalcraft.com/vitamins-syntheti…

    1. I think we would both agree that a plant based, protein rich, healthy fat diet should be everyone's first line of nutrient intake. Supplements are just that, supplements to the aforementioned. As you know the majority are not yet eating and caring for themselves in that way. There has been some potentially negative press on 'synthetic' 'isolated' dosing for certain nutrients but that language has varying levels of interpretation, like the use of natural and or processed. If a whole food based tablet product is in a bottle, at some point it was processed to get there.

      Here's a response from the Exos team: The cited isolated high dose vitamins, antioxidant et al press and research have not been reproduced across the board and are at best dose dependent and at least not to be used to extrapolate and liberally apply to all 'synthetic' or 'isolated' nutrients. With many research partners including the Mayo Clinic, we take research seriously at Thorne. We are always keeping on our mind first and foremost the safety and efficacy of everything we manufacture. Which is why our legacy for truly pure and clean sourcing and manufacturing is such. As you know it's not just what's on the label, but what is not on the label that should be also on inquiry and concern. With TGA and NSF certifications and passed random FDA audits, we feel confidant that our products are best-in-class in many areas. We hope you that you hold that standard and expectation as well.

  111. Anne-Marie charland says:

    Hi Ben, I read up on a prior comment/response that Thorne is looking at a kid friendly exos version. A lot of children are nutrient deficient and many recommendations to help relieve the symptoms of adhd/add are to supplement with specific vitamins and minerals. I’ve been looking everywhere for a high quality, bioavailable version for myself and wondered if I could give him this in the meantime that something better comes along. And do you and and idea when a children’s version will be in the works? Thanks!

    1. This is what my kids use right now: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QQ9LVS/ref=a… – this is mainly because the Thorne/EXOS brand has herbs that hasn't yet been proven 100% safe for kids!

  112. Nspock says:

    Hi Ben,
    First of all great article! I recently started getting into vitamins so I'm still learning what to use but your article was very informative. About two weeks ago I started using a GNC Men's Mega Sport vitapak, I work out a lot and eat very healthy. But I also have IBS and the supplement ended up making me very sick and triggering my IBS. I really enjoyed the added energy and it even helped with some of the anxiety I experience. Based on the reading I've done it sounds like absorption was probably the biggest issue into what triggered my side effect, they were tablets which you mention aren't the way to go. Anyway wanted to get your thoughts on whether you think this vitamin pack would be safe to use for people with IBS? Also will this supplement help with anxiety at all? Thanks so much for your insight!

    1. If by "vitamin pack", you mean this multivitamin I've just written about, the answer is yes – and it is low in fillers, artificial compounds, etc. that would trigger IBS. And the phellodendron and magnolia from the "Relora" complex in the multi can certainly help reduce anxiety. HOWEVER, your underlying IBS issue should also of course be addressed. I'd start here for that: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/07/how-t…

      1. Nspock says:

        Thanks so much Ben, really a fantastic article that helped me learn a lot about my issue. I will certainly be investing in some Digestive Enzymes at the very least, following a strict Gluten Free & Fodmap diet, while also getting tested for SIBO & Celiac's disease.    Great stuff here please keep up the good work, I came to this site looking for more information on Vitamins and ended up with an encyclopedia of information to get me healthy all around.  Look forward to reading more of your articles.

        1. GREAT to hear!! Keep up the good work and let us know how you go!

  113. acharland025 says:

    Hi Ben, I have stopped running for a week now, decreasing in the last few weeks because of complete exhaustion, heavy tired legs… After trying various All foods multi, I haven't been feeling any better, despite taking an iron supplement, and I feel extremely lethargic after taking a b complex. Any thoughts on this? I would like to try the am/pm as the ingredients seem top notch but I'm worried about how lethargic they might make me feel about 1 hr after taking them? I'm not sure if you have experience or know what might be cause this? Thanks for your help, I would really like to start running again!

    1. There could be a LOT of things going on here. Best place to start is my post on identifying adrenal fatigue issues…check here: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/06/how-t… – blood testing MAY be in order too. BTW the PM formula will definitely make you tired. Take it with dinner. It's meant to enhance sleep! And take EITHER AM or PM with a meal!

  114. gramck24 says:

    Ben,

    Since Thorne FX / Research became EXOS Fuel, I can no longer get products shipped to the UK. I've tried emailing them but with no joy.

    Could you please assist?

    Thanks.

    1. This is what they say: “We ship a variety of product to Canada and are actively working on a shipping solution for distribution in other countries. For updates email [email protected].”

  115. nikis81 says:

    Thorne makes a multi specifically for women of "child bearing age". I am wondering if this specific multi is necessary or if I can just take the am/pm formula.

    1. Take a look at this page https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2014/06/vitam… there is a section about pregnancy in particular that should help!

  116. Andrew says:

    Hey Ben. I have been thriving as a vegan now for quite a while. I follow your vegan stack currently so I don’t have any gaps in my diet. Can I take this multi along with an omega 3 and be well covered? Or should I add something more? I am coming from te perspective of a active lifestyle person, rather than a competitive athlete. Thanks for the help.

    1. Loads of good vegan diet info for you over on this page – https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/07/how-t…

  117. sam barbary says:

    Great info about multivitamins and the use of natural over synthetics. But then the downer. I reviewed the ingredients of your recommended AM/PM formula and to my surprise, I see ascorbic acid as vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is not natural vitamin C. Vitamin C needs bound cofactors to be synthesized by the body. With ascorbic acid, it needs to search for these cofactors to work. So, it draws from cofactors in the body, which no depletes the body of these cofactors. Vitamin manufacturers use ascorbic acid because it us cheap. I am truly disappointed with this formula. If you are going all natural, then go all natural with no synthetics.

    The Synergy Company is something that you need to look at.

    1. The following is the position at Thorne Research regarding ascorbic acid below:

      Ascorbic acid is the most researched form of Vitamin C in science. Biochemistry texts refer to Ascorbic acid as vitamin C. Any quality scientific paper is going to refer to ascorbic acid as vitaminC. There are other enantiomers, including mineral ascorbates, but they all end up as ascorbic acid in the biochemical reactions that rely on this nutrient. Pure ascorbic acid is what our cells use. There are many food sources of ascorbic acid and in many of them other compounds, like flavonoids, exist alongside the vitamin C. However, that does not negate the activity and necessity of this nutrient, nor does it prove that flavonoids and other plant compounds are necessary for ascorbic acid to do its job in the body. They both exist naturally and have effects on the body's biochemistry. But ascorbates do not require flavonoids to work.

      Vitamin C is not synthesized in the body. Vitamin C does not deplete the body of cofactors. Vitamins and mineral work together in a delicate dance in the body. Some are in relationship to one another and how much you dose of one can effect the levels of others (i.e. too much zinc intake can throw off selenium levels). The amount of ascorbic acid in the Multi AM/PM is not a concern for this occurance.

      Other nutrients that have actually shown to potentially be detrimental to health if not in the optimal form are worth paying a bit more attention too; natural folates versus folic acid and mixed tocopherols and d-alpha versus dl-alpha tocopherol.

      This answer was a culmination of our Medical Affairs team and myself.

      Best of health to you!
      Jill Lane

    2. Alex says:

      Ben,

      You have had a podcast describing how ascorbic acid is bad for our body, how it is unnatural and how it may cause kidney stones. You have stated that only natural vitamin C should be used. Did you change your position?

      1. Ascorbic acid is the purest form of the nutrient you can get. Thorne feels this is the best way to supplement with the nutrient. If there was another form that was proven to be absorbed and utilized better, such as having some kind of carrier, they'd use it.

  118. asaeug says:

    Hey Ben, I have been taking this for about 2 weeks now but have noticed that when I take it my pee turns super yellow just wondering if this is normal or if it means I am not absorbing it properly and if so what I might do to help absorb it (also taking thornefx HCL enzymes).

    thanks!

    1. Darker pee is usually just normal Vitamin B metabolism. It happens to almost everyone.

  119. BRONXNY61 says:

    Thank you Ben.

  120. BRONXNY61 says:

    Hi Ben, I work the night shift and sleep during the mornings, should I take the multi in reverse. Thank you for your response.

    1. Yes, you should. Good question.

  121. craighuggart says:

    Hey Ben, I am really considering trying this. It could be a real breakthrough in simplicity and cost for me.

    What about Oregano? Do you still use this daily? While traveling?

    Thanks, Craig

    1. I still use oregano but only when traveling (e.g. before a flight).

      1. craighuggart says:

        Thanks, Ben. Sounds like a plan to me.

  122. DrAnnaW says:

    Hi Ben,
    Your podcast mentioned wanting the capsule not to contain gelatine so it can be recommended to your vegetarian/vegan listeners/customers. But I note the Vitamin D is in the form of D3, which is usually animal-derived. Would you still recommend this multivitamin for vegans?
    Thanks.

    1. Anna – the source is lanolin (sheep’s wool) In my experience, usually vegetarians are ok with this (shorn sheep not slaughtered) and vegans are not – though it sort of depends on how vegan they are and why…

  123. Tandra Nystrom says:

    I realize how great these vitamins are, but the AM pills smell so bad that I almost gag! What causes them to smell so bad? :(

    1. In Thorne products, they don’t use vitamins that are coated, diluted, or masked with agents to conceal smell/taste. They instead use pure, undiluted nutrients – in a capsule, not wrapped in the coating of pharmaceutical glaze of a tablet. Vitamins in their pure forms can smell. For example, thiamine (B1) smells, frankly, a bit like sweaty socks if you smell it alone…but that's the trade off for purity. Get a clothespin perhaps? ;)

      Hope that helps!
      Ben

  124. bmicic says:

    Hello Ben,

    This might sound a little strange, and I might be the 1% when it comes to multivitamins. But, I seem to have some kind of a weird issue with cognitive function (foggy brain feeling) while taking multivitamins. Recently, I have switched from the Progressive Active Men brand to EXOS in a hope that the foggy/fuzzy feeling would lift. However, I am experiencing the same effects. Also, as soon as I stop taking the MV's, it's a night and day difference for me and I feel back to my normal self. As well, I have tried taking the MV's at different times of the day with difference foods, but I get the same feeling.
    I am an active triathlete and I know that I need proper vitamins for my body to cope with the high volume of training, but I don't know what to do in this case and what could be causing the foggy cognitive function from the MV's. The only other supplements that I currently use are Vega brand protein & recovery drinks, as well a Nutrasea liquid fish oil + vit D. I really appreciate your feedback and advice regarding this. Thank you !

    1. Are you taking them with food? That is the #1 biggest mistake I see is not taking them with food. Also, leaky gut issues can cause neurotransmitter issues that affect brain fogginess also, so you may want to review this: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/07/how-t…

      1. bmicic says:

        Thanks for the quick reply Ben. Yes, I am taking them with food or right after a meal. Also, I don't get an upset stomach. I do wonder if I could be allergic to something in the complex. I have tried to isolate some of the vitamins by themselves and I have noticed that I did react in a same way when taking a vitamin B complex.

  125. FOODALLERGY says:

    Hi Ben,

    Always love reading through your blog, and listening to your podcasts!
    I am interested in the AM PM Complex Multi you have discovered… I am currently taking https://www.australianvitamins.com/product/microgenics-vitamins-pregnancy-breastfeeding-multivitamin-with-fish-oil (based in Australia). Is the AM PM Complex safe for pregnancy and breastfeeding? I am an instructor for HIIT and body pump and teach everyday.

    Also – my 14 month old has multiple allergies. He has Nanored Biopharma Scientific powder each morning in a smoothie. Is this a good brand? http://www.rockwellnutrition.com/p-biopharm-scien…

    Thank you very much,
    I look forward to hearing your recommendations. I just ordered the Magnesium Oil from Echolife.

    1. Some of the herbs in it have not necessary been tested for pregnancy/breastfeeding, so you may be better off using the Thorne pre-natal: http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=…

      For your son, that Biopharma does not look bad although I do not personally have much experience with that one. If it were my kids, I'd use the LivingFuel Superberry or Supergreens…

      1. FOODALLERGY says:

        Hi Ben,

        Thank you so much for your prompt reply!

        So at the moment I am doing what you have said you have been able to stop doing:

        I take every morning

        -microgenics multivitamin (breastfeeding and pregnancy)

        -Fish oil

        -Nanoreds & spirulina

        -Ultra Muscleze (at night) http://www.bioceuticals.com.au/mobile/preview/Ult…

        -And have ordered some of the Echolife oil.

        If I was to add the Living Fuel superberry powder – would I remove just the nanoreds, or the ultra muscleze too?

        And

        My 14 month old takes each morning:

        -Nanoreds

        -Fishoil

        -Probiotic

        -liquid vitamin B http://www.naturesanswer.com/p-832-platinum-vitam…

        If I was to add the Living fuel to his diet would I remove the nanoreds only, and continue the rest of those supplements?

        We have found giving him a Vitamin B is the only way to keep his appetite up… He drops of eating each time we stop with it.

        Thanks so much Ben, sorry for all the questions. We value your opinion and knowledge!

        1. Superberry would replace nanoreds, and honestly, for me to start to research Muscleze and all this other stuff, I'd be happy to help you via a personal one-on-one consult. That's what I do for a living. ;) Just go to https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/coaching. and then choose a 20 or 60 minute consult, whichever you'd prefer. We can schedule ASAP after you get that.

          1. FOODALLERGY says:

            Perfect thanks so much Ben! We will most definitely do that in the near future.

            Good luck for your training the next fortnight and Hawaii.

            Be in touch!

  126. bigmikeede says:

    Don't know if you can help but my wife really struggles to swallow these, describes them as sitting in her stomach. Is it okay to break open the capsules and mix them in something? e.g. yoghurt or is that likely to mess adsorption up?

    1. Technically they are designed to break down over time, so it would be best for her to learn a good capsule swallowing technique, like this: http://misterimmortal.com/tips-swallowing-pills/

      1. bigmikeede says:

        Unfortunately that is pretty much the technique she uses. Are there any liquid multivitamins you would recommend? Thanks for the input though!

        1. Yes, this liquid one is one I used for awhile…my kid's take the kid's version of it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011DJ650/ref=a…

  127. doscer says:

    Hi Ben or anyone who has experienced the following,

    I purchased the multivitamins and the first few days I took them in the morning with my bulletproof coffee and I got a massive urge to vomit and nauseas.

    The label says take with meal but still its a high calorie drink and every time I do it I experience the same feelings. The first time it happened I was driving so it is dangerous to take them on an empty stomach. When I ay nauseas there where severe, not talking about just getting a little light headed.

    I've had to take them with lunch to avoid this from happening.

    Is there a problem if I take them at lunch since I IF every day? Or do you have any advice on how to take them when you IF?

    Thanks for everything you do, I've lost 45 lbs since I started following your advice.

    1. Generally speaking, multivitamins like the TFX AM PM Formulas are highly concentrated nutrients. it’s best to take them with a food-based meal or with something of some substance (like a protein shake). This is both beneficial for absorption, but also buffers the lining of the stomach from concentrated nutrients that it is not normally exposed to. While some people can easily take a highly potent vitamin on an empty stomach, many cannot.

      That said, even if they can take it on an empty stomach, you may not be able to take it with coffee. Taking a vitamin with coffee if pretty much never an good idea. Caffeine stimulates gastrin and gastric acid secretion. Because it is a liquid, it stimulates all that, and then pretty much leaves the stomach immediately. If you drop in 3 multivitamin capsules, the body now has all this acid that is only going to work on three tiny little pills (when it’s prepared for a steak) – it’s way too much. This will – for some % of people – always create heartburn and nausea. In addition, coffee contains substances that can be non-beneficial for the absorption of some nutrients such as thiamine and iron.

      The side effects of strong coffee:
      Most adverse effects attributed to coffee consumption are related to caffeine. Adverse reactions to caffeine may include tachycardia (rapid heart rate), palpitations, insomnia, restlessness, nervousness, tremor, headache, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and diuresis (increased urination).

      Ultimately, I'd just take your multi with lunch…

  128. Genevie says:

    Hi Ben

    I’m currently taking the Multi. I do crossfit and I work long hours running around. I’ve only been taking the Multi for one month. Do you recommend anything else I should be taking. I am also about 8 weeks out from an SI, L4/5 injury. Is there anything I should be taking to help with my recovery. It’s a work injury not crossfit.

    1. Yep, the fish oil at <a href="http:// <a href="http:// wwww.greenfieldfitnesssystems.com”” target=”_blank”> <a href="http://wwww.greenfieldfitnesssystems.com"” target=”_blank”>wwww.greenfieldfitnesssystems.com” target=”_blank”>http:// <a href="http://wwww.greenfieldfitnesssys…” target=”_blank”> <a href="http://wwww.greenfieldfitnesssystems.com” target=”_blank”>wwww.greenfieldfitnesssystems.com from EXOS would be ideal. And then on harder days the "Rebound" and the "Relora" if you want extra. I'd start there! Those all work really well with the multi.

  129. Monijsea says:

    I purchased these multivitamins yesterday and I'm excited about trying them out. I've been looking for an exceptional fish oil supplement. In checking out the Super EPA Complex I'm wondering why the liquid form is taken once per day and the gel-caps are taken 2-3 times a day. Both contain the same amount per serving. Aren't you getting more omega-3s with the gel-caps?

    1. The standard serving size for liquid fish oil is 1 tsp, which is 4.5 g grams, providing 1250 mg EPA and DHA.

      One Super EPA Complex softgel is 1 gram, providing 700 mg of EPA and DHA. Two softgels would be be 1400 mg of EPA and DHA, close to the 1 tsp recommendation but with less total fat, so we make a ³2-3² softgel recommendation to keep both in the ³ballpark² of one another.

      All that said, many fitness professionals and practitioners recommend higher levels of 6-10 grams, or more per day.

      1. Monijsea says:

        Thank you for your response! It is ok to take 2 tsp of the liquid or 4-5 softgels? I want a product that has a1000 mg dosage of DHA.
        Also, is liquid better form to take, or are they both as effective? Basically, which one of the two do you recommend?

  130. ronm51 says:

    Hey Ben

    Just received my Thorne vitamins today. Took the morning dose and felt pretty good. Just wondering what would be a good time to take the PM dosage. I don't want to be up all night with a lot of energy. Thanks

    Ron

    1. Don't worry, there is nothing in the PM dose that will keep you up.

  131. Ian says:

    Ben,

    I shared this with Rhonda Patrick and asked for her input on the claims of this product. She expressed doubt about the six pill set up and that taking both am and pm groups could lead to overexposure to zinc and folic acid which would not be good for the body. Have you looked into the levels of that and whether it affects you or your clients negatively?

    1. Of course I have! I do not endorse anything I haven't thoroughly researched and stand behind completely. I would be interested to know why Rhonda feels that way…

    2. BTW, you may want to have Rhonda read through ingredient label or listen to podcast too, because I go quite a bit into the forms of minerals and forms of folic acid…

  132. jennymdoss says:

    I am considering ordering this product. I need to reduce the amount of money I spend on supplements each month, and this product looks very promising. I take Enerprime capsules, coq10, vitamin d, fish oil, probiotics, vitamin c, selenium and iodine. The only health issues I have are celiac disease and mild asthma. I do not eat fish but do eat other meats. Which of these supplements could I cut out if I order the multi? I am a 43 year old female triathlete. I realize this could be answered best with bloodwork, but I would appreciate your general opinion. Thank you.

  133. Charles Anderson says:

    Ben,

    Thanks for all the info you have shared on this great product. I have recently purchased the Multi am/pm Complex and have never felt better. However, a couple of questions that maybe you, being a triathlete, can help me out with. Of all the nutritional supplements that Thorne FX sell, which combination of their supplements would you recommend taking that could not only boost endurance performance, but also recovery?

  134. L_squared says:

    Hiya, Ben! Okay, SO excited to try this as I'm over purchasing and taking multiple nutrients daily; however, I recently began taking JJ Virgin's new beef protein peptide shakes in the morning. (I just needed a break from the usual eggs and bacon.) Anyhoo–I see the shake contains many of the same nutrients in different quantities and I am afraid I'm back to square one (grabbing select nutrients/herbs to make a more "complete" daily multi). Would you simply skip multis on the days you ingest these shakes or products such as these, take less capsules of the multi, or just include the full dosage of the multivitamin and get over one's self? :) I'm really over thinking this, but just don't want to overdo anything. Thanks so much for your time!

    1. Here's the deal: anytime you have a shake like that you are COMBINING nutrients with calories. I'd personally rather keep the two separate so that I have better flexibility about what I'm going to eat and when. Way more versatility. Plus the PM dose of the Thorne has a ton of evening nutrients that Virgin's doesn't have…

      1. L_squared says:

        Thanks so much, Ben. I appreciate your reply!

  135. Jason850 says:

    I'm currently established a 11AM to 7PM eating window.
    Would consuming the AM portion later in the day lessen the effects? Or, would it be advised to consume the AM portion earlier, as others would, without a meal?

    Thanks for reading Ben, and please reply when convenient.

    1. Take it with your first meal of the day – that will be fine!

      1. Jason850 says:

        Oh, in addition — what about intake during Fasting in general? Would it be a big deal to potentially skip an opportunity to harbor the effects of Fasting?

        Thanks again.

        1. If fasting works for you, then by all means, keep doing it. It's your total micronutrient intake by the end of the day that matters most…

  136. ggaona79 says:

    Hi Ben, if i'm not wrong, you are a big fan of Phenocane, but since this multi already has 200mg of curcumin, would you still recommend taking Phenocane on a daily basis?

    1. I only recommend adding in something like https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/rebound on hard days or travel days. Basically, days where you have MORE inflammation than you normally would.

  137. Sabrina says:

    Good afternoon Ben…
    I have been about 25lbs overweight for the past 4 years now. Recently I have decided to start weight lifting (heavy lifting). While researching on getting the best results I have found that in addition to a good diet supplementation helps. I have also found that everyone has different recommendations on what supplements a women needs to take. I love this multi you have recommended but in addition to this I have read I am supposed to be taking BCAAs, omega 3s, etc etc. Please Ben, give it to me straight. I’m 30 years old lift weights 3 times a week, need more energy, and work full time. Currently I have been taking the Alive multi and am planning on switching to the AM/PM by Thorne other than this what other supplements should I be taking to help with recovery and muscle building?

  138. Wendy says:

    Ben I am wondering if you know of and are able to recommend anything as good as the Thorne products that would be available in Australia because I just ordered some of their multi vitamins to try, but $100 postage makes it way too expensive to buy on a regular basis

    1. They're working on a better solution for international shipments. their rates are a pass-through of what they get charged for shipping. I’m hoping to have a solution in the near future. I'll keep you posted!

  139. Rick Salsa says:

    Ben – would taking the multi along with their Rebound product overkill? Looking for additional inflammation support combine with the other recommendations (e.g. sleep, destress, etc).

    Thanks!

    1. That would be a good combo. Nice 1-2 punch.

  140. Superberger says:

    Hi Ben,
    Thank you for the hard effort you put in,
    I do marathons and I'm kind of vegan (don't eat meat nor cheese products but keep the fish and eggs)
    1. I cannot swallow capsules nor tablets, though I can eat them, is it good enough or do you recommend on liquid and which?
    2. Do you recommend on other supplements based on my conditions (marathon, nearly vegan)?
    Thanks, keep the ultra work you're doing!!!

    1. I would still recommend the EXOS just chew them up and wash them down with water. https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/thornefx

      1. Or put them in a smoothie.

  141. ricky sharpe (london) says:

    hi Ben, i haven.t had a chance to read all these comments so apologies if you’ve already answered.

    You convinced me a few months ago that the delivery system is the most important part of vitamins absorption. i like you’re approach and your open mind to change and being corrected, so if that’s the case, i totally appreciate it, but i was waiting for you to get to the point about liposomal, trans-dermal, sub-lingual or intravenous delivery and it never came… is there a reason you’re so bullish about this product with a lack of attention to delivery???… i trust that you’re not financially attached to the company as it doesn’t seem your style.

    i’ve order a months worth to give a try as i dont mind being a guinea pig either, when they turn up i’ll take a closer look, but i’d be a lot more trusting if they gave a dosage that referenced body weight, sex or maybe something slightly more specific than just 3am 3pm… as nice as it would be for life to be so simple

    1. The expense associated with a multivitamin completely deliverable via liposomal and transdermal AND FDA approved AND proven for absorption is through the roof. I just don't thinka $500 daily multi is palatable for most folks.

  142. HarleyEblen says:

    Hey Ben,

    Thanks for the comprehensive article! I just ordered some to give it a shot.

    I have one question: Are there any issues with using Tian Chi with this multi? I use Tian Chi every day, but would dial it back to only when I need to really focus and crank through work. I know that they both have B6, and I'm sure there are other overlaps as well. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

    1. I've been using TianChi, but I've dialed back on it a bit, and now only use it on "tough" days…

  143. pipesbi says:

    What about Natural Vitality Organic Life Vitamins, I though you mentioned in the past the best way to digest vitamins is by drinking them? Also, I thought you recommended Organic Life?

    1. The organic life vitamins are not bad. My children still use their liquid formula, for example. But the EXOS is FAR more complete, especially for the needs of athletes and exercise enthusiasts.

  144. jmjaxon68 says:

    Ben, the whole time I was listening to this podcast this morning I kept thinking that there has to be something Thorne offers! I've been using their Q10 Plus for years to help with irregular heartbeats, I swear by their products. As long as I take it I hardly ever have any issues. I also use their vitamin D product since I can easily be deficient living here in Seattle! Just placed an order for the multivitamines. Great podcast, thanks!

  145. Peter says:

    Hey Ben!

    I’m quite excited about the simplicity you are getting to here. Thanks for working on this. Sorting through the world of vitamins can be so darn overwhelming. Would this supplement be appropriate for young teens, i.e., at 13 and 16 years of age? Getting my girls to take on a pile of supplements can be so tricky.

    1. Yes, just not for babies and toddlers or very young children. There isn’t research on kids using Relora, Green Tea or Curcumin so I’d exercise caution in recommending it.

  146. JordyT says:

    Looks amazing! I will definitely try it when it becomes cheaper to ship to Australia. I have been repeatedly hit it in the face by a company called Isagenix recently and wanted to know your take on them. They have lots of success stories, high profile athletes and celebrity researchers/health bloggers backing them but I have lots of questions about their ingredient choices and glitz & glam shows/marketing. What do you think, Ben? Thanks for all your awesome work mate.

    1. Check out this episode of Endurance Planet http://www.enduranceplanet.com/sports-nutrition-v… I did a section about Isagenix over there.

  147. Sabrina says:

    Ben,

    What is the equivalent prescription vitamin Thorne produces? I’d like to get an RX from my physician and have my insurance absorb the cost.

    Many thanks!

    1. Thorne doesn't make a "prescription" vitamin…but you can check this out in terms of getting supplements covered by insurance: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2014/02/deduc…

  148. Nick says:

    Hey Ben

    Is there a contact in New Zealand for this multi, horrendous price for shipping more than the multi!!! Very keen to try

    Cheers Nick

    1. Not yet, but they should have international shipping up within 4 weeks and I'll post it to the site as soon as they do!

  149. mfez48 says:

    Ben, can you please let us know if you have a financial relationship with ThorneFx, and the nature of that relationship? I noticed as did the other commenter that you are on their "advisory team."

    1. Well of course…I outline that all in the article…you can ONLY order EXOS through fitness professionals and I am one of the fitness professionals you can order it through. Once I found the multi I applied to become one of their recognized fitness professionals so I could actually tell my readers about it…otherwise there would be no way for you to get it.

      1. mark says:

        Thanks, must have missed that. Will you be posting your seminar after it is done for those who can’t listen in?

  150. Munna78 says:

    Hi – I really want to try the vitamins, but i'm apprehensive because I have trouble swallowing larger pills and capsules. Would it be okay to open them up into a protein shake and drink it instead?

    thanks

    1. The coating is cellulose. So you don't even need to open them up. Just toss them in a blender with your smoothie ingredients!

      1. Munna78 says:

        Will give it a shot! Thanks!!!

  151. Shon G says:

    I liike the EXOS AM/PM multivitamin review you have given recently. But I am still battling high TSH numbers and currently on Armour Thryoid. I need get my T3/reverse T3 numbers tested. According to Thyroid sessions it seems I still need extra selenium and Iodine, and I’m also taking rhodiola and ALA. More than what is in the Thorne FX recommended dose, Is this primarily for those already in a ‘normal’ range?

    1. First, if it were ME I wouldn't be on Armour. I'd be on Thyrogold. Check out https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/thyroid. I'd also be using selenium from Brazil nuts, iodine from nascent iodine <a href="http:// (http://www.magneticclay.com/120-5-3-6.html)” target=”_blank”> <a href="http://(http://www.magneticclay.com/120-5-3-6.html)” target=”_blank”>(http://www.magneticclay.com/120-5-3-6.html) and then you could do 3 Thorne AM and 3 Thorne pm. That's where I'd start: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/multi

  152. dwmn27 says:

    Thanks Ben for the detailed and good info. However, are these vitamins from a "whole food" source or are they synthetic? If Synthetic, do you think they give your body as much value as a "whole food" vitamin? Whole food as in derived from a real natural/organic food source and not created out of synthetic or non-food like chemicals. Please let me know as this has been bugging me for a long time now regarding vitamins in general. Thank you in advance!

    1. Some supplement manufacturers market their products as “whole food” nutrients because some of their nutrients come directly from food products, or from yeast that has been fed individual pure vitamins and minerals.

      However, these products, which can be allergenic, usually contain very low amounts of nutrients, and almost always have pure nutrients (such as what Thorne uses) added as well.

      It is our philosophy that individuals should eat a quality, nutrient-dense, varied diet. When supplementation is necessary we believe it should be done using the highest quality pure nutrients and botanicals. That is why I recommend https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/multi

      1. dwmn27 says:

        Thanks Ben. So what do you mean by "Pure?" I am still not clear as to whether or not your vitamins and minerals are derived from food or are made from chemicals. If not chemicals, where is the source or base of your supplements coming from? I'm sorry to be so picky, but I don't want to put artificial ingredients into my body but whole foods. If they are not derived from whole foods, can you give me a reason why we should be taking synthetic vitamins? I am not closed to taking synthetic, but I believe along with many others that science proves that we are just putting more toxins into our bodies when using synthetic vitamins as our bodies can't really assimilate them to begin with. Your thoughts?

        1. These are not chemicals. They are derived from whole food and herb sources. But in the realm of supplements, the term "whole foods" often means that the derivates themselves are mixed with whole foods powders to enhance absorption, which is *not* necessary and is *not* the case with these! They are not synthetic, however.

          1. Rick says:

            Isn’t MK-4 synthetic? That’s the form of K2 used in this formula, right? Like dwmn27, I try to avoid synthetic ingredients as much as possible. Thanks!!

          2. Response from Exos: MK4 is a synthesized.

            Some ingredients used in nutritional supplements are converted and purified from other starting materials. In these cases, we say they are “synthesized.” The starting materials may be simpler molecules such as amino acids or glucose. Once we receive the ingredient, it is inspected for identification to prove that it is what it is supposed to be. It is also tested for any potential contaminants. There is no trace of the original starting materials. The resulting ingredient is molecularly identical to the same ingredient that might have been naturally derived.

            If these raw materials are from a potentially allergenic source, we will inform the customer of this, although the material having been refined to its pure substance would not be likely to cause an allergic reaction.

            Talking points for MK-4 and MK-7
            • Whether K2 is synthesized by humans (ie, in a lab) or by bacteria, the end result is either MK-4 or MK-7 – the bio-identical vitamin.
            • Although there are non-soy sources, much of the MK-7 on the market is soy based and many people have soy allergies or otherwise want to avoid soy. Having an alternative is essential.

            • Both vitamin K2 supplements are nearly completely absorbed, with peak serum concentration at 2 hours for MK-4 and 4 hours for MK-7 after intake. However, MK-4 disappears from the bloodstream after about 8 hours, whereas MK-7 is capable of accumulating in the bloodstream (remains in the body for approx. 72 hours). You can get around this by taking it twice daily, although it is not necessary for the health benefits of vitamin K for it to be in high continuous levels in the bloodstream,
            • Originally, the most compelling research was on high-dose MK4. More recently, some interesting MK7 research has been conducted and published. Therefore, we are working on some new products containing this form of K2. We will continue to provide the MK4 as well so people who are prescribing it based on the extensive MK4 research conducted in Japan will still have it available.

  153. Josh says:

    Hey, very informative article… I have bee following your recommendations and I have been taking tian chi religiously for over a year now. But I have always failed in the eating healthy department and I have gotten sick through out the years probably because I never took a multi and only took tian chi. I am 25 and in good shape and just workout for fun and looks and health and work now, what do you recommend me taking? The am/pm ? Do I need the fish oil? I was also using the vectomega fish oil and curamine from terry naturally. Also for weights and sprinting, would I benefit a lot from your protein isolate and aminos from thorn? I have usually taking ones from gnc in the past in that department, thank you so much for your time

    1. Josh, you can't out smart a bad diet with supplements (why they are called supplements and not replacements). You need to get your diet dialed in. The am/pm would be a great place to start but I would certainly stay away from the stuff from gnc. Bad quality supplements have been shown to do more harm than good! Take a look at this https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2012/01/how-t…

  154. Greg Eisner says:

    Ben, Is it best to store the Thorne vitamins in the fridge? It says to take with a meal but I do a Sunday morning early group ride (which is really a 2 hr race) and usually before the ride I just have bulletproof coffee w/butter & coconut oil, some shaved coconut flakes w/cacao and coconut milk. Is that enough food to go ahead and take the 3am Thorne FX Multi Complex vitamins? Usually don’t really have a first full meal until around noon or so. Thanks and Love your podcast!

    1. Yes, Greg, that's enough food to take with the multivitamin AND I would also consider throwing in some aminos like this: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/aminos – and then also store them in the fridge because they have herbs!

  155. mcreston says:

    Hi Ben

    Great podcast. I'm taking Mark Sisson's damage control, fish oil, probiotics, and vitamin D. i've had really good luck with it the last 3 months but i must say there was part of me that really related to the frustration of sorting out a million pills for the morning/noon/night pill sessions. beyond the convenience of the thorne product how would you compare them to the quality of Mark's Primal Nutrition brand? thanks for all the awesome info!

    1. Mark’s got a great product and his Primal supplements are good. I would say the main consideration for you would be: 1) less complexity if you use the Thorne AM/PM formula, since it’s just 3 capsules in the AM and 3 in the PM; 2) less $ spent on shipping if you decide to tack on other EXOS products like their Whey protein, electrolytes, etc. 3) the fact that EXOS is specifically designed to address the needs of exercise enthusiasts, so you’re guaranteed that anything they have now or introduce in the future is going to pretty much be your “one-stop-shop” for human performance; 4) the fact that I personally am now using EXOS and advising them on the development of future products, so I will know the EXOS products inside and out, and be able to help you with every little detail of them in terms of use and effectiveness, and I can’t necessarily do the same for you with Primal Blueprint and other supplements.

  156. Roxone says:

    Hi Ben! I’m currently using USANA’s Multimineral Plus and Mega Antioxidant. How do these stack up against EXOS? Aside from the fact that they are in tablet form…

  157. nathanma80 says:

    Hey Ben I just ordered thanks to your recommendation. I have been waiting for a good Multi like this. I recently started taking vitamin k2 so I am stoked that this also has that in there. You have touched on this question I am just curious I also take a probiotic and fish oil from Primal Nutrition Products. I noticed you usually take superessentials. Do you see a benefit to switch over to Thorne for those as well? Or is it just more of a preference at this point. Yes shipping would be a factor but do you see a quality difference? I have been doing marathons lately and enjoy running so I really appreciate all your feedback and love your podcast. Thank you!

    1. For ease of ordering, you could definitely switch over to the Thorne EPA/DHA formula at https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/fishoil – but as I mentioned – everything I've recommended in the past is all still really good, so you could also just stick to Superessentials. That is another of the few actual "good" fish oils out there!

    2. Happy2bhere3 says:

      Look into USANA they are the most potent purest on the market.

  158. Pierre says:

    Hello,

    I wish there was a scientific research comparing all the leading multivitamins bundles on the market.

    I remember Ben in a previous podcast/blog post you mentioned it was better to time the intake of vitamins rather than taking all of them at the same time in order to get most of their benefits.

    1. You mean this post? https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/11/when-… It still stands!

      And by the way, the multivitamin AM/PM complex satisfies all my criteria: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/multi

  159. gramck24 says:

    Hi Ben,

    I don't suppose you know of UK stockists for this product to avoid lengthy shipping times and costs?

    Thanks.

    1. I do indeed know that https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/thornefx is working on that, but there would be no harm in using contact button on their site to "ask nicely" and see what they could do…

      1. gramck24 says:

        Thanks Ben, just sent them a message.

        Was wanting to order a 3 month supply but was going to cost me in excess of $100 to be shipped!!!

        1. floatbeyond says:

          + customs & VAT!
          I wonder if we could group together and set up a wholesale account

      2. gramck24 says:

        This is the response I've recieved from Thorne FX….

        "Hi Graham,

        We do not have any locations in the UK where you can purchase the product; however, we do have international shipping set up if you choose to order through Ben Greenfield. We currently ship via Federal Express or UPS. Shipping fees can range between $60 – $400+ depending on the weight of your shipment and Country. 3 boxes would be a 3 month supply and would put you in the $60.00 range.

        Please let me know if you have any other questions."

        Shame really as the cost of shipping plus custom and excise charges kind of rules me out from purchasing this product.

        1. Well, as one solution here you can send me a list of exactly what problems you're trying to solve for your body and I can hunt down some recommendations for you closer to where you live until the point Thorne makes intl shipping more do-able. Email me privately: [email protected] and cc one of my favorite docs in the UK: Tamsin Lewis – [email protected]

  160. Mark says:

    Hi Ben

    Loved the pod cast and want to buy this multi vitamin….however, I cant when I log onto their web site – I need to buy through an affiliate ?? I have emailed the company and am waiting for a response….is this correct ??

    Thanks, Mark

    1. You should be able to purchase it by following one of these links and click “add to cart”. Multi AM/PM Complex

      1. Joe_meehan says:

        Ben, sorry to be a pain but I don't suppose you have a referral code for the thorne FX website, to make a purchase it requires registering a client account and citing the referral code of the Certified Professional Trainer you're attempting to buy through. Many thanks in advance, Joe.

  161. Carl says:

    Is 3 capsules a day the right dose for petite females and XL males?

    I actually found this on the Lifetime Fitness shelf today with many other Thorns products – same price too.

    1. 3 and 3 are perfect for you. Lifetime Fitness is one of the FEW other folks who can purchase Thorne products. My distribution is via https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/thornefx

      1. mjsteve1 says:

        Great post Ben! Inspired me to order. I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum (5'3, 120# age 30). I was considering doing 2 and 2. I workout at least 6x a week (gradually increasing to 8x over 6 days). I'm training for my fifth year of sprint distance triathlons. My training includes at least 3x CrossFit sessions (+ often do similar work on my own). Thoughts? Thanks!,

        1. I would definitely add in https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/fishoil – but other than that you should be good to go! NEXT week I'll be publishing another podcast explaining some of the other stuff at https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/thornefx – so stay tuned for that one too.

          1. mjsteve1 says:

            Great, thanks for the quick reply! So to clarify 2/2 is enough for me? And I'm already taking fish oil, BCAA & l-glutamine ( 2g post-workout)

          2. If I were you I would still do 3 and 3.

  162. DoTheDu says:

    I am a bit disappointed. What exactly is the relationship here?
    You say that you "discovered" this vitamin, which implies that it existed before you were looking. Yet the manufacturer website shows you as a part of the "Advisory Team" and a "consultant for EXOS Lab Testing"?!
    Now this all sounds less like an endorsement and more like an infomercial for your own product.

    Please explain and help me understand. This sounds like a great product, and as a long time listener, I most definitely want to give you the benefit of the doubt. Please be transparent in your dealings with us.

    1. I told the entire story in the blog post…

    2. Yep, it existed before I started searching, I found it, I loved it, and am now such a big fan I want to help EXOS develop other things, like an endurance formula for example! So we've talked and I'm now on their board to make that happen!

      1. DoTheDu says:

        Fantastic! That is what I had hoped, I apparently just missed the timeline somewhere. I appreciate your gracious reply, Ben.
        I hope to order soon. I have a college-aged daughter with what I am sure is a broken gut, and I am hoping, based on some of your prior podcasts, that this new supplement formula with the curcumin, will help her with some of her issues. Thanks so much. I'll be sure to use your link, so you get credit for the referral. Godspeed to you in all that you do.

  163. jsherr2000 says:

    Thanks for the great info. Vegan is critical for me as you mentioned. I can't find confirmation on their website. Can you point me to where they say it is vegan? Sorry to bother you with this. I know this granular type of support can be like Chinese water torture. Thanks for all you do.

    1. From https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/thornefx: "Cellulose, a vegetable-based material, is the ingredient used to manufacture our capsules. The alternative would be to use capsules made from bovine gelatin. This means the Multi AM/PM Complex is a vegetarian friendly formula."

  164. Art says:

    I am sure it is a quality product but after comparing, I still have to keep taking Nutrience from Calton Nutrition. There are too many competing vitamins in the Thorne formula so to get the maximum micronutrient benefit, I don’t think you can beat the anti-competition technology in the Nutrience formula.

  165. Justin Cain says:

    How does this multi compare to the Calton nutrition nutrience AM/PM formulas? I’ve heard a lot of good things about them as well.

    http://www.caltonnutrition.com/nutreince/#

  166. shanasturtz73 says:

    I know you have prob discussed this before, but why?! is their whey an isolate instead of a concentrate? My understanding is that if you are not a body builder, concentrate is more ideal and less processed. Please advice.

    1. Much of the research studies whey concentrate, especially research on free-living conditions or older populations. On the other hand, a large amount of fitness and performance research has studied whey isolate.

      Grass-fed whey concentrate is probably the ideal protein source for those who can tolerate a little more lactose and who are looking for something to consume between or in place of meals.

      Grass-fed concentrate usually has more functional properties like lactoferrin, immunoglobulin, and serum albumin.

      However, those who are sensitive to lactose can have trouble with whey concentrate.

      Whey isolate is often preferred before training sessions, where individuals want to avoid extra work by their digestive system.

      Most whey proteins, especially whey isolates, contain sucralose, aspartame, and/or acesulfame-potassium (Ace-K) and often contain carrageenan.

      Because whey isolate has little to no fat and minimal carbohydrate, the above artificial ingredients are used to enhance the flavor (although we think EXOS’s Whey Isolate tastes awesome and doesn’t use any of that stuff).

      If you use whey concentrate, then look for a high-quality grass-fed protein. However, if you choose whey isolate the extra benefits of being grass-fed are removed, so it’s not worth the extra money to buy a grass-fed whey isolate.

      Just make sure instead that the isolate comes from cows not treated with hormones and isn’t loaded with artificial colors and sweeteners.

  167. Max says:

    Hi Ben. Three questions.. Do you still take fish oil separately?

    How can we get this in Australia without paying $90 for shipping which is extreme? Or are we better off using local products considering your kudos to our TGA.

    I find COQ10 a big help before workouts or events. At 63 years of age I probably need to, right?

    .

    1. Yes, order this at same time and take separately: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/fishoil – and I will get back to you on Australia shipping as soon as I find out! Local products aren't necessarily TGA and of this same quality!

      As far as 63 years old…read this: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/07/how-t…

  168. danny_aaron says:

    Do you have a coupon code for this product?

    1. The only discount code I currently have is for their Elevate adaptogens. The code is "ElevateMay" and it's only good until next Sunday at https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/elevate. It contains: Rhodiola is used in Tibetan medicine to strengthen the lungs and circulatory system, to ease fevers, and as a general tonic for increased energy.* Vikings praised it for providing extended physical energy, mental endurance, and reduced stress.* Scientific research indicates Rhodiola increases strength and physical performance by supporting the body’s formation of ATP.* Rhodiola can enhance stamina and promote endurance by supporting improved oxygen utilization and muscle growth, and can induce faster recovery from exertion by encouraging the body’s natural tissue-repair process.* In addition, Rhodiola can help fight fatigue and support the body’s natural ability to cope with occasional bouts of mental, emotional, or physical stress.* Research has shown that Rhodiola’s mechanism of action helps balance a complex hormonal pathway (the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal or HPA axis) of the body’s stress response system.* Under stressful circumstances the normal function of the HPA axis can become impaired, resulting in excessive production of cortisol. Rhodiola helps the body resist exercise-related fatigue and stress through cortisol modulation associated with the HPA axis.* Salvia miltiorrhiza (danshen) is the Chinese name given to Red Sage, where it has been used medicinally for thousands of years. While the leaves of Red Sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza) have a long history of culinary use, its root and rhizome are used in traditional medicine to help maintain cerebrovascular and cardiovascular health.* Research indicates the Danshen extract in Elevate can support normal blood circulation in the brain, thus supporting normal brain function.* Danshen might also support normal brain function through free-radical scavenging and antioxidant activity.* Green tea extracts help support the body's normal inflammatory response and natural healing process and recovery from exercise.* Ganoderma mushrooms have a long history in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine, having been historically used to support the body’s natural regulation of a wide range of functions, including cardiovascular health, fatigue, and mental clarity.* Ganoderma has also been used in these cultures to support normal immune system function and as an overall tonic for energy and athletic performance.* Recent research on Ganoderma has focused on its effects on energy, metabolism, and weight management. Ganoderma has been shown to have a stimulating effect on a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR-Delta, the so-called “fat-burning protein”).* PPAR-Delta mediates thermogenesis in fat tissue, inducing the mobilization and burning of fats, thus enhancing endurance and performance.*

  169. 0Shola0 says:

    Being new to a healthy eating regime and wanting to supplement, this info couldn't have come at a better time! I am also not in a position to spend 100's of dollars extra a month, and was thinking all through the podcast, 'great but how much?!' I still have never spend $60 a month on supplements but think it is super reasonable, considering the quality you've just explained. Thx for all the obvious hard work and time you put into your research and subsequent podcasts, I've found your site an absolutely invaluable source of info and inspo!

  170. Dion says:

    Are you sure this Thorne product is better than BePure One, made by Ben Warren in New Zealand, see www.bepure.co.nz

    1. I am totally sure this is better than BePure. I'm not even seeing any certs, ingredient info, etc on that one!

  171. Robert Coleman says:

    Ben, thank you for the info, I plan to order. Are you familiar with SeroVital?

    1. I have to admit that HGH precursors have almost zero science. You're better of sleeping, lifting heavy stuff, and then getting some of the adaptogens which will help DHEA in the Thorne AM/PM complex.

  172. cmot2196 says:

    Wondering how this multi compares to the USANA product of the mega antioxidant, chelated minerals and the bio omega?

    1. Since Multi AM/PM Complex isn’t a kit, but is instead and actual vitamin/mineral blend, you can’t include oil in the formula. Super EPA Complex (softgels or liquid) is our equally awesome omega option. You can’t mix the nutrient in the dry capsule into an oil-based environment and expect that they’ll retain their efficacy. You also have to remember that a one gram fish oil softgel contains one gram of fish oil. Whatever you took from a capsule to put into the oil would displace a large portion of the oil, which would mean you’d have to take many, many more capsules/softgels. You are essentially combining two delivery technologies that wouldn’t work very well together.

      1. cmot2196 says:

        So, should I discontinue the USANA product? Am I reading that right, that I am not really getting the full benefit of the product?

        WIth the AM/PM complex, would I be getting what I need or would I need to add in a fish oil as well?

        1. You would want to add in https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/fishoil for reasons I stated elsewhere in comments section – you can mix fish oil in and still have an effective multi.

          1. VisionNutrition says:

            I think the question about USANA's Essential Vitamins (vitamins and chelated minerals) and the BiOmega (fish oil ~ NOT in the same pills and the vitamins/minerals) is about the quality and bioavailability of the products in your opinion? I take USANA supplements (I have some that are not Usana) and recommend to clients a personal AM and PM health PAK of usually the Essentials (multi) & BiOmega (fish oil). That would be a basic to start with if the client is not taking anything.

          2. The fillers are not too bad: MicrOcrystalline cellulOse, Pregelatinized starch, crOscarMellOse sOdiuM, MOdiFied cellulOse, ascOrbyl PalMitate, dextrin, silicOn (as silicOn aMinO acid cOMP).

            And the ingredients are OK too but the problem is this is a multi level marketing company…so it contains LESS than EXOS at nearly THREE TIMES the price!

  173. LarryR says:

    Ben,

    Awesome podcast. Thanks for taking the time to do the research and the filtering.

    Ordered today…

    Will likely go on a monthly subscription. Have they given you a discount code, by chance?

    Thanks again! You rock.

    1. The only discount code I currently have is for their Elevate adaptogens. The code is "ElevateMay" and it's only good until next Sunday at https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/elevate. It contains:

      Rhodiola is used in Tibetan medicine to strengthen the lungs and circulatory system, to ease fevers, and as a general tonic for increased energy.* Vikings praised it for providing extended physical energy, mental endurance, and reduced stress.* Scientific research indicates Rhodiola increases strength and physical performance by supporting the body’s formation of ATP.* Rhodiola can enhance stamina and promote endurance by supporting improved oxygen utilization and muscle growth, and can induce faster recovery from exertion by encouraging the body’s natural tissue-repair process.* In addition, Rhodiola can help fight fatigue and support the body’s natural ability to cope with occasional bouts of mental, emotional, or physical stress.* Research has shown that Rhodiola’s mechanism of action helps balance a complex hormonal pathway (the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal or HPA axis) of the body’s stress response system.* Under stressful circumstances the normal function of the HPA axis can become impaired, resulting in excessive production of cortisol. Rhodiola helps the body resist exercise-related fatigue and stress through cortisol modulation associated with the HPA axis.*

      Salvia miltiorrhiza (danshen) is the Chinese name given to Red Sage, where it has been used medicinally for thousands of years. While the leaves of Red Sage (Salvia miltiorrhiza) have a long history of culinary use, its root and rhizome are used in traditional medicine to help maintain cerebrovascular and cardiovascular health.* Research indicates the Danshen extract in Elevate can support normal blood circulation in the brain, thus supporting normal brain function.* Danshen might also support normal brain function through free-radical scavenging and antioxidant activity.*

      Green tea extracts help support the body's normal inflammatory response and natural healing process and recovery from exercise.*

      Ganoderma mushrooms have a long history in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine, having been historically used to support the body’s natural regulation of a wide range of functions, including cardiovascular health, fatigue, and mental clarity.* Ganoderma has also been used in these cultures to support normal immune system function and as an overall tonic for energy and athletic performance.* Recent research on Ganoderma has focused on its effects on energy, metabolism, and weight management. Ganoderma has been shown to have a stimulating effect on a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR-Delta, the so-called “fat-burning protein”).* PPAR-Delta mediates thermogenesis in fat tissue, inducing the mobilization and burning of fats, thus enhancing endurance and performance.*

  174. Sabrina0406 says:

    Ok I'll check it out. Also do u take anything else on top of this multivitamin?

    1. Yes you could do fish oil at https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/fishoil – and then everything else would ideally be based on testing or your unique needs. For example, if you need "extra" iron adjustment you could add in extra iron, etc.: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/ironbis.

  175. Sabrina0406 says:

    Hey Ben,
    So there is a supplement/meal replacement from Beachbody called shakeology. So you are a fitness guru what is your take on this. They claim all the ingredients are safe. That all the nutrients in the product are safe and that it gives you everything your body needs for the day. What do you think?

    1. We've actually done a podcast on this one: http://www.slideshare.net/bengreenfield/ben-green… – check it out.

  176. BEScoach says:

    Couple things…should I continue taking my probiotic and digestive enzymes if I take the EXOS multivitamin? Also, I am a marathoner on a long hiatus due to being diagnosed with a mild case of adrenal fatigue and hypothyroidism. I was only diagnosed based primarily on my symptoms (have not yet had any lab testing done), and have tried a few supplements that have not been very helpful. Would this multivitamin help with adrenal and/or thyroid health? I am anxious to start training again following many of the suggestions you give in your book and online!

    Thanks!

    1. You CAN, but from a shipping standpoint you should know that EXOS has both a Probiotic and a really good HCl/Enzyme supplement. You can check them both out at https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/thornefx. That would simplify things for you from an ordering standpoint. And yes, this multi would be excellent for both adrenals and thyroid based on the iodine, relora, etc.

  177. Chel_99 says:

    Hi Ben,

    So timely! I was just about to by the Carlton's new product. Your article has provided some food for thought. I know you answered a comment above saying that Thorne product won out, in your mind. I have osteopenia, which is why I'm attracted to the Carlton product. It's supposed to be formulated to counteract that nutritional decline. In your opinon, does the Thorne product offer the same support? I like the high levels of K2. Do you believe there is enough calcium in the Thorne product. I also noticed Thorne doesn't include quercetin of CQ10. Just curious if you think the Thorne supplement would be the way to go in terms of bone health/restoration. Thanks so much!

    1. So, YES I would do the Thorne Multi, but I would ALSO be doing bone broth and bone marrow liberally, along with of course steamed or cooked dark leafies and organic yogurt and kefir. If you put all that stuff together, it would be gold standard. And I would get your Vitamin D tested and if low, you can add in the this D/K complex: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/vitamind

      1. Chel_99 says:

        Thank you! I have my weekly bone broth brewing in the crock pot right now. A favorite breakfast of mine munching on the leftover bones to get the marrow.

  178. Rob Loxton says:

    Ben is a Legend, Its official!

  179. Yoli says:

    Hello, are these supplements for Woman also? Are they made with Whole foods like The Vitamin Code Raw One?

    Thanks

    1. Totally for women too. Regarding the whole foods question, some supplement manufacturers market their products as “whole food” nutrients because some of their nutrients come directly from food products, or from yeast that has been fed individual pure vitamins and minerals.

      However, these products, which can be allergenic, usually contain very low amounts of nutrients, and almost always have pure nutrients (such as what Thorne uses) added as well.

      It is Thorne's philosophy that individuals should eat a quality, nutrient-dense, varied diet. When supplementation is necessary we believe it should be done using the highest quality pure nutrients and botanicals.

  180. Candace Rice says:

    The link is not taking me anywhere….I would love to buy this…..help!

  181. active40 says:

    Hi Ben.
    I am 45, just lost 14 kilos in 3 months. (got me some muscles now)Bulletproof coffee in the morning, paleo the rest of the day and find myself fasting 16 hours, 2-3 times a week.
    I am not mega active as my job is mainly driving but I do hit the gym 3 times a week. Weights and low impact stuff.
    I am not that technical when it comes to all these vitamins, I just take Vit D3 at the moment.
    This stuff cost twice as much in the UK so I don't want to be adding more on top.
    Would you say that this would be enough for me. Or should I be looking to add anything to the mix.
    Thanks for the great info. Eddy – active40 . net

    1. You can do this, and the only thing you'd need to add is https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/fishoil

  182. Sarau says:

    I have hashimotos and I'm allergic to gluten, soy and dairy. I see that this multi does not contain gluten or dairy but it doesn't say "soy-free". Do I need to avoid this? If not, are there other reasons to avoid this for those of us with an auto-immune disease? For example, is the Relora ok? Are there night shades in here? I haven't gotten off nightshades but I suspect I may need to. I understand they are to be avoided if you have an auto-immune disease. Thanks!

    1. Phytosomes, the technology that allows for extracts like green tea and curcumin to be absorbed many times better than standard extracts, uses lecithin from non-GMO soy. This technology comes from one of the world’s leading botanical companies. Though it is derived from soy, there is no soy protein or isoflavones, or any other controversial components of which you’d want to stay away from.

      There is technically no soy in the products, but because the phytosomes are used in some products, EXOS does not claim to be totally free of soy-derived ingredients. They do not use soy protein, soy isoflavones or really any other soy-based ingredients.

      This should be fine for you, but technically I'm not a physician, so you should ask your doc. I have to say that. ;)

  183. srobison1977 says:

    Thanks for the info, Ben! I've got young children (ages 2 through 8) and am looking for a good multivitamin. Is this okay for them if it was mixed into a drink?

    They would never take the capsule.

    1. Tom Nikkola says:

      You'd be fine to open the capsule and include the powder in a beverage. Kids may not need the extras included in Multi AM/PM Complex, though. We're working on an option for our EXOS partners to offer something designed more with kids in mind and hope to have that in the near future.

      1. MikeyMike123 says:

        How far off is the Magnesium formula, Tom? And what dosage/form can we expect? (just don't want to restock on my current one if yours isn't far off)

        1. Mikey, this question isn't clear…can you please tell me what you mean?

  184. dkokosky says:

    Hi Ben, love your information. You keep me sane, as with the other dozen or so podcasts, while I am truck driving cross country. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to cycle off all the supplements that I have been taking (Mark Sisson Damage Control, krill oil, amino acids, and probiotics) so I can give the body a break. And then I'm going to give Throne a try. Question is, how long should I cycle off? I was thinking about 2 weeks or maybe up to a month. More about me, I work out 3x a week (HIIT workouts), on mostly a ketogenic diet with carbs once a week, and heck even had some blood work done a few months back at Dr Rocky Patels' clinic. And his PA told me that I was the healthiest trucker he has met. One more thing, your book is great, still working on that monster. Thanks for all you do.

    1. Awesome! I would cycle off for a minimum of 3 days (that's about how long it takes for gastric cells to turn over) and a maximum of 30 days. I can't give you an exact number of days because, frankly, there's no research on it. If it were me, I'd do 2 weeks.

  185. pmeister says:

    Thanks for the great write-up, Ben. I'd like to try this, but $10 for shipping 2 bottles is ridiculous. I'll wait for these to become available on Amazon, like many of the other Thorne products.

    1. BTW, these won't be showing up on Amazon anytime soon methinks.

    2. MikeyMike123 says:

      $10 is ridiculous?!? haha…try $90 to Australia!

      1. They're working on a better solution for international shipments. Their rates are a pass-through of what they get charged for shipping. I’m hoping to have a solution in the near future.

        1. floatbeyond says:

          Same for the UK…

      2. Sigi says:

        This product is available on iHerb.com and should cost about $8 to ship to Australia in less than a week (that’s what all my other deliveries from iHerb have cost me recently). Problem solved.

        1. Don't confuse it with http://www.iherb.com/thorne-research EXOS is very different!

          1. Stephen Ward says:

            So any news on whether it’s going to be available overseas? $90 is quite frankly a joke!

          2. They should have international shipping up within 4 weeks and I'll post it to the site as soon as they do!

  186. Joe_meehan says:

    Hey Ben fantastic podcast/article. I'm currently doing the Tim ferris 4 hour body protocol to increase testosterone with d3, and blue ice royal fermented cod liver/butter for the vitamin A, D and K2, I've checked the ingredients above, could I drop these In favour of thorn FX and still get similar if not better results? Many Thanks. Joe

    1. Yep, you could cover all your bases with the Thorne Am/Pm formula, then just add in https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/fishoil

  187. Supp says:

    Ben – thanks for another great article and for sharing your many hours of research with us! I noticed that you have stated that this multi is non-GMO, but I’ve not been able to locate any sort of non-GMO mention in Thorne’s documentation on this product. Am I missing something?

  188. tbosler says:

    Hi Ben – Love your stuff. I've been listening to your podcast for a few weeks now and started reading your book Beyond Training along with Deep Nutrition. I'm a 36yo female and recently switched to eating more Paleo and cutting back on long runs/strength training to tame my underlying cortisol issues, among other things. I'm interested in this multivitamin by EXOS but also curious to know if (in addition to the eating/working out protocols you advocate) the Lean Factor, ThermoFactor, and MPX100 might be overkill for someone who's trying to shed body fat.

    1. If you want simplification, I would START with just doing https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/multi – and then track your results from there. The added Lean/Thermo/MPX may enhance results but is also more money…so that would be your call!

  189. sal pascucci says:

    Hello Ben. Can I buy the am-pm complex from you? It sounds like not just anyone can buy at the px site.Please let me know when ever. Sal

      1. Guillermo_MC says:

        Ben. It looks like an incredible line…but why is so difficult for companies to include a good Vitamin C? I have heard you say in multiple podcasts that ascorbic acid is not the best form of vitamin C and when it is used in studies we should not even consider the studies relevant in terms of "true vitamin C" benefits…

        1. I'm working on getting you a response to this, just waiting on the actual Vitamin C info from EXOS…will be in touch. For high, high dose Vitamin C, I use this http://goo.gl/X8Qj3M

        2. Steven says:

          I dont understand this… Ascorbic acid IS vitamin C. Literally…Saying ascorbic acid is not the purest form of Vit C is like saying acetic acid is not the purest form of vinegar. Acetic acid IS vinegar. Or it would be like saying sodium hydroxide is not the purest form of lye. Vit C is just the name given to Ascorbic acid. In fact, ascorbic acid is named for the disease process that Vit C treats (scurvy). There are synthetic forms of ascorbic acid. Maybe you are referring to that???

  190. megs1768 says:

    What about CoQ10?

    1. There are a ton of precursors in this multi that will assist with your own CoQ10 production and activation. Works very well in that respect.

  191. brandon says:

    Great article! Feeling the same way about all my supplements. My wife calls me a pill head with all the supplements. Looking to reduce that with the new multi. Fish oil, beta alinine, digestive enzyme, glucos/chondrotin and bcaas. Which would you keep daily?

  192. Guillermo says:

    Ben,

    I start reading the ingredients and the third one is “Vitamin C” (as ASCORBIC ACID). I have heard countless podcasts where you explain that studies using ASCORBIC ACID are not really using the superior form of Vitamin C…that ASCORBIC ACID is a poor vitamin c to say the least… SO???

    1. Tom Nikkola says:

      Hey Guillermo

      Ascorbic acid is vitamin C. It's the purest form of the nutrient you can get. From our (Thorne Research / EXOS) we feel this is the best way to supplement with the nutrient. If there was another form that was proven to be absorbed and utilized better, such as having some kind of carrier, we would use it.

      1. MikeyMike123 says:

        Is it non GMO at least?

        1. Yessir, totally non-GMO. Did you read the article? ;)

  193. JenniReyn says:

    I have been looking for a good multi for my whole family, so thank you for all this wonderful information. My question is, is this formula as good for women as for men? I've noticed many have separate women's and men's formulas. I also have a 19 year old female college student ( who happens to be a cross country runner as well) I need to find a multi for her as well….she currently just takes a centrum womens teen formula and vitamin b12 and d. If she and I switch to Thorne, is there something that could be missing or different for women? Is there anything you would add for my daughter to take considering she'll be logging a lot of miles during cross country season? I'd like to add that she doesn't eat very much meat. Thanks for all your great information!!!!

    1. Yes, this formulation is perfect for you or for a female college student – she should DEFINITELY not be taking Centrum. The only thing I would add in at this time would be https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/fishoil

      1. JenniReyn says:

        Thanks Ben! &nbsp; I'd like to add that I have also been considering Nutrience from the Caltons and was about to purchase that. Now, after your podcast this morning, I'm confused. Do you think Nutrience is a good product? I like that it's a powder, I like that it's a little less expensive. I like that it has all forms of vitamin e. I also have heard negatives about copper and theirs doesn't have copper. Can you advise? I'm so confused!

        Sent from my iPhone

        1. Nutrience is good, and I love the Calton's, but I have to admit: I have tried BOTH and the Thorne works better for me and also I like that Thorne has a bunch of "extras" should you need to add them in, like amino acids, extra curcumin from their "Rebound" supplement, etc. So I'm going to have to go with https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/multi

  194. Dina says:

    Hi Ben, I just joined your from the Thyroid Seminars and I have been wondering if there is a better vitamin than what I am taking. I take Mega Foods multivitamin tablets (6 tablets). I cannot swallow pills or capsules and I bite them into a comfortable size to take. What I love about this viatmin is that it has other ingredients that help me with my anxiety. Just started working out at age 58 and added Yoga, but am not where I wish to be. If I order this vitamin I would have to open the capsule and deplete absorbtion and what about other nutrients like ashwaganda (misspelle?) would I not be in the same predicament with taking other supplements for the missing ingredients in the vitamin. Please advise and I am looking for the perfect Omega 3 gel cap or liquid as well. Thanks for all you help and for doing all this work. it is very appreciated Regards

    1. Yes. I would use this: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/multi – it will work much better for you than what you are currently taking. You can also use this for the fish oil: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/fishoil

      1. Elise says:

        The Thorne website states you can only order through healthcare practitioner. :(

        I’d really like to try these multivitamins but I do not have a physician at this time. Any suggestions? THANKS

        [email protected]

        1. Use code: ThrnFx1072858

  195. Cynthia says:

    I’m impressed! Being a long-time supplement geek, I too became tired of taking a million pills a day, and looked for a good multi. Being MTHFR heterozygous, I have to avoid folic acid like the plague, and it is wonderful to see the form of folate that this multi uses. The forms of vitamins/minerals used is top notch. I also like the AM/PM aspect, as we do have different needs in the AM than we do in the PM. It is a little light on a few items that I need (based on extensive testing), but I can deal with that. I’m excited to give this a try.

  196. Andrew says:

    Hello Mr. Ben,

    How would you compare the EXOS amino to MAP?

    Have you tried it in your endurance drink? It seems it could, if nothing else, help the flavor a bit.

    1. I like it Andrew. It's versatile and mixes very well in powders and in water bottles especially. I've used both successfully now, so it depends whether you would prefer a powder or a tablet.

  197. George says:

    How do you compare or combine this with Ocean’s Alive Phytoplankton? I am on week 2 and like it so far.

    1. You can still use Phytoplankton as I consider that to be FOOD. Highly dense food from the ocean. Same stuff the whales eat. ;) I still use phytoplankton. I consider it the same as Nori wraps, chlorella, etc.

    2. darcieg76 says:

      What effects are you noticing with the Phytoplankton?

      1. More energy, mostly. Especially in the morning.

  198. atetley says:

    Any coupon codes we can use?

  199. Michael Wu says:

    Hey great info ben. Excited to try this stuff but wondering about continuing to take or not take my daily tian chi shot? I remember a recent podcast where you mentioned something about not getting too much of a vitamin b (around 100 mg I think, was it b6?). Anyway, do you think tian chi everyday would pair well with this or only once in a while or cycle it?

    1. I've cut back on the TianChi. I used to use it every day, but because of the Relora in the multi, I no longer use TianChi every day. However, I still have 2 boxes of TianChi left and wasn't grow to throw it away. ;) I'll keep using it, tapering off it here and there, and experimenting. But technically, you could try the Multi AM/PM Complex with and without and trial how it feels!

  200. Craig says:

    Heah Ben,
    Notice that the Multi only contains minimal amounts of Vit C. I usually take 2 900mg tablets daily. Do you recommend taking an additional Vit C tablet?

    1. Only if you are sick or injured, in which case you can add a bunch of extra chelated Vitamin C like this: http://goo.gl/X8Qj3M

  201. thomas Fr says:

    HI Ben,

    According to french leading Nutriterapists followers of seignalet, it is not recommended to suplement in iron, copper and manganese. Last one are included in the formula of thorn fx!

    cheers

  202. Jennifer says:

    While the beta-carotene is ok, I’m stunned that it used palmitate for vitamin A. There are so so so many people walking around with mutations that cannot convert beta-carotene to pre-retinol. Moreover, the palmitate form of vitamin A is linked with cancer – cancer cells are able to convert exogenous palmitate to glycosphingolipids and other structural components. Better to eat grassfed liver or have a spoonful of cod liver oil for your A.

    1. Palmitate IS vitamin A. EXOS do include both palmitate and mixed carotenes to offer a blend of forms, but palmitate is still the actual measured and viable source of vitamin A. As for an “association” with cancer, there are a lot of “associations” in the nutrition world but hardly show causation. That said, for someone who HAS cancer, limiting vitamin A may be wise, but in someone who does not have cancer, there really isn’t anything to suggest that it’s a problem.

  203. Arabella says:

    Have you heard of Juice Plus ? And if so, what are your thoughts? Thanks!

    1. Yes, I have heard of Juice Plus. It is good, it is clean, but it is also an MLM company so you are paying a LOT of extra money – as long as you know that and are OK with it, then it's not going to hurt you IF you're not using the sweet stuff.

  204. Dan says:

    Looking at Thorne’s site, it says these contain soy…. I have a high sensitivity to soy, unfortunately, but do you have information as to if this is a quality sourced soy? Obviously it’s GMO-free, but it still makes me nervous, as the less soy I consume the better I feel.

    1. Phytosomes, the technology that allows for extracts like green tea and curcumin to be absorbed many times better than standard extracts, uses lecithin from non-GMO soy. This technology comes from one of the world’s leading botanical companies. Though it is derived from soy, there is no soy protein or isoflavones, or any other controversial components of which you’d want to stay away from.

      There is technically no soy in the products, but because the phytosomes are used in some products, EXOS does not claim to be totally free of soy-derived ingredients. They do not use soy protein, soy isoflavones or really any other soy-based ingredients.

  205. MikeyMike123 says:

    What form of K2 is it?

    1. Tom Nikkola says:

      It is MK4

    2. The form of vitamin K2 they use is MK-4.

  206. Mike says:

    Got excited when I read “higher doses of Magnesium….than most multi’s” and it’s only got 170mg!

    Ben would you recommend the relatively high doses of many of the other ingredients for people who are not athletes? If not, what level of physical activity would you say is a minimum to “qualify”?

    1. Tom Nikkola says:

      Hey Mike. I worked on the Multi AM/PM Complex formula, along with Mario Roxas, ND. The 170 mg of magnesium was the most we could squeeze into the capsules without raising the capsule count to seven or eight per day. As Ben mentions above (and we agree with), 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening feel about right. Going higher gets to be too much for many people. The other thing to consider is that many find a higher dose of magnesium is especially helpful just before bed, which would be a dose outside of the multivitamin.

      1. Jason Fulgham says:

        I have been taking most of these supplements seperately for years because it is so hard to find a good quality one multivitamin. Thanks for taking the time to formulate such a powerful blend and done the right way. I will be giving this stuff a go for sure.

    2. The fact that the magnesium is chelated and has both added forms of Vitamin K2 to enhance absorption makes this like comparing apples and oranges. I still recommend testing magnesium via RBC testing but if you look at my most recent RBC Magnesium test, I was high, even though I QUIT using 400-500mg natural calm magnesium at night and began using this instead.

    3. Tony says:

      Avoid products with copper II. Exos has 750 mg.

      Read article below.

      It has become clear that copper toxicity is playing a major role in Alzheimer’s disease; but why is the brain copper toxicity with cognition loss in Alzheimer’s disease so much different clinically than brain copper toxicity in Wilson’s disease, which results in a movement disorder? Furthermore, why is the inorganic copper of supplement pills and in drinking water so much more damaging to cognition than the organic copper in food? A recent paper, which shows that almost all food copper is copper-1, that is the copper-2 of foods reverts to the reduced copper-1 form at death or harvest, gives new insight into these questions. The body has an intestinal transport system for copper-1, Ctr1, which channels copper-1 through the liver and into safe channels. Ctr1 cannot absorb copper-2, and some copper-2 bypasses the liver, ends up in the blood quickly, and is toxic to cognition. Humans evolved to handle copper-1 safely, but not copper-2. Alzheimer’s is at least in part, a copper-2 toxicity disease, while Wilson’s is a general copper overload disease. In this review, we will show that the epidemiology of the Alzheimer’s epidemic occurring in developed, but not undeveloped countries, fits with the epidemiology of exposure to copper-2 ingestion leached from copper plumbing and from copper supplement pill ingestion. Increased meat eating in developed countries is also a factor, because it increases copper absorption, and thus over all copper exposure.

      1. mrSwim says:

        it seems to me this supplement has 750mcg in morning and 750mcg in night,

        750mcg is 0.75mg,

        0.75mg is 1/1000th of 750mg, which is what you stated it contains

        Copper is also an essential mineral at certain levels, but can also be toxic at higher levels as you have given reference too,

        I’m not sure how significant 0.00075g of Copper is in this picture, which of course will be different for every individual. i hope this helps somewhat

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