You Should Make This Is A Nonnegotiable When Buying A Multivitamin

High potency is a nutrient content claim that was defined by the FDA1 in 1997. As mindbodygreen's director of scientific affairs Ashley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDN, shares, "While nutrient content claims existed prior to 1997, this final rule in the late '90s amended those regulations to provide additional nuance and oversight for this 'high potency' claim and other specific verbiage."

According to the FDA, "the term 'high potency' may be used in a claim on the label or in labeling to describe individual vitamins or minerals that are present at 100% or more of the reference daily intakes (RDI) per reference amount customarily consumed." In other words: The product label and related advertising have to meet specific criteria.

In fact, ultimate multivitamin+ can claim a whopping 83% of its vitamins and minerals with DVs as high potency (which is well above the 67% requirement). 

If you're currently holding a jar of the mbg multi in your hand, you may notice that a few ingredients—including the six longevity botanicals (resveratrol, piperine, glutathione, lutein, zeaxanthin, and lycopene) and a handful of micronutrients (i.e., boron, silica, and vitamin K2)—do not have established daily values.* 

When it comes to all micronutrient ingredients, the multivitamin/mineral supplement (aka multi) segment of the industry is notorious for excluding key nutrients altogether (hello, essential macrominerals) or "fairy dusting" or "sprinkling"—i.e., including nutritionally insignificant quantities of vitamins and minerals in a product in order to market it as having X number of ingredients (when it may as well not include the lower quantities of micronutrients or phytonutrients at all). 

For this reason, mindbodygreen's high-potency multi claim is rare—and admittedly, we're quite proud of our formula. "We don't sprinkle. Sprinkles are for cupcakes—not multivitamins," notes Ferira. 

Bestselling author and holistic nutritionist Kelly LeVeque finds the 33-ingredient formula impressive and next-level. "It's hard to pick just one, but my favorite feature of this multi is the high-potency, built-in B complex," LeVeque confesses. 

What's so special about a high-potency B complex? Well, unlike most multis, ultimate multivitamin+ includes all eight B vitamins at two times the daily value (or higher) and considers their bioavailability and bioactivity in the body, as well.* Most people who take a B complex supplement have to do so in addition to their multi, but mindbodygreen combines these daily essentials to give individuals everything they need in one multivitamin.