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.
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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'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 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.
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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 pill box 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.
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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...
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My Multivitamin Criteria #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.
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My Multivitamin Criteria #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.
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My Multivitamin Criteria #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.
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My Multivitamin Criteria #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.
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My Multivitamin Criteria #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-savings 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 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.
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.
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My Multivitamin Criteria #6: No GMO's
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 ingredients are derived from GMO sources nor that they utilize GMOs in their production.
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My Multivitamin Criteria #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.
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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 a 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.
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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.
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 "ThorneFX".
ThorneFX 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.
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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 ThorneFX 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 cyancobalamin.
-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.
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 label and 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 D (as Vitamin D3) 2,000 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 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 D (as Vitamin D3) 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 - ThorneFX 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.
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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 ThorneFX Multi AM/PM Complex is now my recommended, go-to source for the ultimate combination of science and simplicity. Furthermore, the entire ThorneFX 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 34 bucks.
You heard me right: 34 dollars.
So rather than forking over hundred 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 ThorneFX - 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 over on the blog post for this episode, feel free to ask me about how to use or implement any of the ThorneFX 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!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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