Nature Made Multi For Her Review

There is no study of this multivitamin for building muscle, and the studies of its single ingredients mostly show little or no effect. Plain vitamin D did not add muscle in large placebo trials of older adults ^[1] or in people doing weight training ^[2]. Adding vitamin D to exercise helped leg strength only modestly ^[3]. Vitamin E did not improve strength ^[4]. Chromium did not raise lean mass or strength in pooled training studies ^[5]. Vitamin B12 has not been shown to help ^[6]. Folate is at a full dose, and one small trial in 40 young men who lifted weights found large muscle gains with folic acid ^[7], but other trials used mixed products ^[8]. Vitamin K reaches the studied dose at two servings, with one positive trial in people with diabetes ^[9] and several trials showing no change ^[10]. Vitamin C and magnesium are well below the studied doses, and studies found no clear strength benefit from either ^[11][12]. Thiamine, riboflavin, iron and selenium are at trace amounts compared with the doses studied ^[13][14]. Animal and cell studies are never counted.

Folate is the main ingredient, and the panel leans positive: five of the nine who spoke about it recommend it and the other four are neutral, while one panelist did not speak about it at all. Those who recommend it point to methylfolate, an active form the body can use directly, and tie it to mitochondrial function, to women preparing for IVF through a prenatal vitamin, and to the drop in spina bifida after folate supplementation. The neutral voices note that adequate folate can improve homocysteine levels, that birth control pills deplete folate needed for serotonin, and that folate can affect how the body responds to a supplement. No one gave a folate dose, paired it with anything, or said they stopped taking it. Magnesium and vitamin D came up often as smaller ingredients in this product, and zinc, vitamin K, vitamin C, vitamin E and copper were mentioned as well.