One of the first things I do in The Vitamin Answer Book is to expose how the true cost of a multivitamin, like Centrum, is much higher than you could realize. For those who have not yet had the opportunity to listen to The Vitamin Answer Book, let me summarize what I teach you in that audio book.

In The Vitamin Answer Book, I compare the costs of a bottle of Centrum to a bottle of Alpha Base by OrthoMolecular Products. A bottle of 240 count Centrum costs about $15 while a bottle of 240 count Alpha Base costs about $38. Which one is more expensive? Well, you would have to say that the Alpha Base is about 2 ½ times more expensive than the Centrum when you only look at tablet count and price. What you do not see is that you would need to buy over 40 bottles of Centrum to equal the amount of vitamin B12 found in Alpha Base. For most of the other B vitamins you would need to buy 7-8 bottles of Centrum to equal the amount found in Alpha Base. You would need 3 bottles of Centrum to equal the amount of vitamin C and a staggering 50 bottles to equal the amount of the sugar regulating mineral vanadium! When all is told you need to buy close to 3 bottles of Centrum to equal the amount of nutrients you get in Alpha Base. That means that the bottle of Centrum actually costs around $40-45 per bottle. And, this comparison was done without even considering the differences in quality between the two.

Another good example can be illustrated by looking at fish oil prices. A cheap store-bought brand like Puritan’s Pride usually costs about $15 for 200 capsules. OrthoMega by OrthoMolecular Products retails for about $60 for 180 capsules. (I sell it for $49). The only important ingredients in fish oil capsules are known as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). The store-bought brand contains 180 mg of EPA and 120 mg of DHA for a total of 300 mg. (Note: Most brands will try to trick you by claiming that their product contains 1,000 mg of fish oils. But, the EPA/DHA content within that 1,000mg is only 300 mg. This is the important number.) Thus, the total amount of EPA and DHA in the bottle is 200 capsules times the total of EPA/DHA which was 300 mg. That gives a total of 60,000 mg of EPA/DHA in the $15 bottle.

The OrthoMega bottle contains 720 mg of EPA/DHA per capsule and has 180 capsules. Thus, the total amount of EPA/DHA in each bottle is 129,600 mg. Correcting the prices for the amount of EPA/DHA gives you the real comparison of your cost for each product. The Puritan’s Pride product actually cost $32, not $15. When you consider the quality differences that were outlined in The Danger Of Taking The Wrong Fish Oil article, you have to decide whether saving 10 cents a capsule is worth the risk of taking rancid and pesticide contaminated oil. That is a decision you have to make for yourself.

Now, the same comparison can be made with another high quality fish oil like Nordic Natural’s Ultimate Omega 500. This product contains 550 mg EPA/DHA in 45 capsules for a total of 24,750 mg EPA/DHA. The cost is $25. Remember that the OrthoMega (an equal in quality fish oil) contains 129,600 mg EPA/DHA per bottle and cost $50. Thus, you need to buy 5 bottles of the Nordic Natural product to equal the amount you get in one bottle of OrthoMega. That means you are paying a whopping $125 for the same amount of fish oil! Ouch!! Anyone out there getting robbed by Nordic Naturals? Marketing is a wonderful thing, is it not?

The bottom line is that you have to look at more than how many capsules are in a bottle and the price. After you figure out the actual amounts you are getting and then consider the topic of quality, you may find out that you were not getting such a great deal after all!

If you ever need me to do a comparison for you, let me know what you are currently taking and I will be happy to give you my recommendations.