The NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements is Bogus
Yes, I said it and I’ll say it again. The NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements is completely bogus. Why? There are a lot of reasons, and I’ll list them all here.
I often get approached by distributors of multi-level-marketing (MLM) companies, notably TrueStar Health and USANA, touting that their supplements are the best. After all, it says so in the NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements.
First and foremost, the author, Lyle MacWilliam was on the advisory board for USANA from 2003 to 2006. Funny enough, both Lyle MacWilliam and USANA tried to keep this under wraps (ie a secret).
I’m not sure what his connection is with TrueStar, but given that in previous editions he didn’t disclose his connections with USANA, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has connections with TrueStar. After all, how else could a relatively inferior supplement (I’m specifically talking about their multi-vitamin) be ranked number 1?
And just to be clear, I think TrueStar is far better than a lot of brands. But to call it “the best” would be an outright lie.
The 18 criteria that the NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements uses are:
- Completeness: does it have all the vitamins and minerals necessary for health?
- Potency: does it have the correct dosages?
- Mineral forms: does it have the most absorbable and bioavailable forms?
- Bioavailability of vitamin E – alpha tocopherol.
- Does it have Gamma tocopherol (another form of vitamin E)
- Antioxidant support: does it contain antioxidants?
- Bone: does it contain nutrients needed for bone health?
- Heart: does it contain nutrients needed for heart health?
- Liver: does it contain nutrients needed for liver health?
- Ocular health: does it contain nutrients needed for eye health?
- Metabolic health: does it contain nutrients needed for metabolic health?
- Methylation support: does it contain the nutrients that help with methylation (it’s one form of liver detoxification)?
- Lipotropic factors: does it contain nutrients that help with the metabolism of fat and cholesterol?
- Inflammation control: does it contain nutrients that help decrease inflammation?
- Glycation control (carnosine, and vitamin E): glycation is the binding of sugar to proteins in the body. Does it have nutrients that manage glycation, like carnosine and vitamin E?
- Bioflavonoid profile: bioflavonoids are plant nutrients that act as antioxidants.
- Phenolic compounds: phenolic compounds are different plant nutrients that also act as antioxidants.
- Potential toxicities: some nutrients (namely iron and copper) can be toxic. Do the different nutrients minimize toxicities?
Although I have a few quibbles with the criteria, I’ll leave it alone. Overall, the criteria aren’t bad. So let’s use NutriSearch’s own criteria to do a head-to-head comparison between 5 different products (all of them multivitamins): TrueBasics Solo from TrueStar Health, Body Rox from USANA, Multigenics from Metagenics, Multi-Basics from AOR and Swiss One 50 Multi Vitamin & Mineral Timed Release from Swiss Naturals (a simple brand from Shoppers Drug Mart).
- Completeness
Completeness means that a product has all the vitamins and minerals considered to be essential to health. These are:
Vitamin A (retinol)
Vitamin B1 (thiamin)
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
Vitamin B3 (niacin AKA niacinamide AKA nicotinic acid)
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid AKA pantethine)
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine AKA pyridoxal)
Vitamin B7 (biotin)
Vitamin B9 (folic acid)
Vitamin B12 (cobalamin)
Choline (it’s part of the B family)
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
Vitamin D (calciferol)
Vitamin E (tocopherol)
Vitamin K
Calcium
Chloride (although this isn’t necessary in a supplement)
Chromium
Cobalt (this is included as part of vitamin B12)
Copper
Iodine
Iron (although this isn’t necessary for men, children and post-menopausal women)
Magnesium
Manganese
Molybdenum
Phosphorus (although this isn’t necessary in a supplement)
Potassium
Selenium
Sodium (although this isn’t necessary in a supplement)
Zinc
USANA: is complete
TrueStar Health: missing iodine
Metagenics: is complete
AOR: is complete
Swiss Naturals: missing molybdenum
2. Potency
Potency means having the right dosages of the different nutrients. According to the book How to Prevent and Treat Diabetes with Natural Medicine by Drs. Michael Murray and Joseph Pizzorno, here are the dosages that we should look for in a multi-vitamin.
Maintenance dosages are what a healthy adult needs to maintain health (by contrast, therapeutic dosages are higher levels of certain nutrients needed to treat certain health conditions).
| Vitamin/Mineral | Range for Adults |
| Vitamin A (retinol) | 2500-5000IU |
| Vitamin A (beta-carotene) | 5000-25000IU |
| Vitamin B1 (thiamin) | 10-100mg |
| Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) | 10-50mg |
| Vitamin B3 (niacin) | 10-100mg |
| Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) | 25-100mg |
| Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) | 25-100mg |
| Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) | 400mcg |
| Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) | 250-500mg |
| Vitamin D | 100-600IU |
| Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) | 100-400IU |
| Niacinamide | 10-30mg |
| Biotin | 100-600mcg |
| Folic acid | 400-800mcg |
| Choline | 10-100mg |
| Inositol | 10-100mg |
| Calcium | 250-1000mg |
| Chromium | 200-400mcg |
| Copper | 1-2mg |
| Iodine | 50-150mcg |
| Iron | 15-30mg |
| Magnesium | 250-350mg |
| Manganese | 10-15mg |
| Molybdenum | 10-25mcg |
| Selenium | 100-200mcg |
| Zinc | 15-20mg |
According to these guidelines, here is how our 5 companies compare:
USANA:
- Missing retinol
- Not enough beta carotene
- Not enough vitamin B1
- Not enough vitamin B2
- Not enough niacin
- Not enough niacinamide
- Not enough vitamin B5
- Not enough vitamin B6
- Not enough folic acid
- Not enough vitamin B12
- Not enough vitamin C
- Not enough vitamin D
- Not enough vitamin E
- Not enough calcium
- Not enough chromium
- Not enough magnesium
- Not enough manganese
- Not enough selenium
- Not enough zinc
TrueStar Health:
- Not enough B12
- Not enough calcium
- Not enough iodine
- Not enough magnesium
- Not enough manganese
- Not enough zinc
Metagenics:
- Not enough retinol
- Not enough B12
- Not enough vitamin D
AOR:
- Not enough vitamin A (retinol)
- Not enough vitamin B1
- Not enough vitamin C
- Not enough calcium
- Not enough chromium
- Not enough magnesium
- Not enough manganese
- Not enough selenium
- Not enough zinc
Swiss Naturals:
- Not enough vitamin A (retinol)
- Not enough biotin
- Not enough vitamin C
- Not enough vitamin E
- Not enough calcium
- Not enough chromium
- Not enough magnesium
- Not enough manganese
- Not enough selenium
- Not enough zinc
3. Mineral Forms
Mineral forms means having the right form of the mineral to make it the most usable by the body. For instance, there are many different types of magnesium. There is magnesium oxide (the least absorbable) and magnesium glycinate (the most absorbable), and a lot of other forms of magnesium (like citrate, malate, etc.). The same applies to every single nutrient.
Here are the most and least bioavailable forms of every nutrient (where that information is available):
| Nutrient | Most absorbable form(s) | Least absorbable form |
| Vitamin A | Retinol | |
| Vitamin B1 | Thiamin | |
| Vitamin B2 | Riboflavin-5-phosphate | Riboflavin |
| Vitamin B3 | Inositol hexaniacinateInositol hexanicotinate | Niacin, nicotinic acid, nicotinate |
| Vitamin B5 | Pantethine | Pantothenic acidCalcium pantothenate |
| Vitamin B6 | Pyridoxal-5-phosphate | Pyridoxine hydrochloride |
| Vitamin B12 | Methylcobalamin | Cyanocobalamin |
| Vitamin C | Buffered vitamin C with bioflavonoids | Ascorbic acid |
| Vitamin D | Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) | Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) |
| Vitamin E | Mixed tocopherolsd-alpha tocopherol | dl-alpha tocopherol |
| Folic acid | 5-MTHF (methyltetrahydrofolate) | Folate |
| Choline | Phosphatidylcholine | Choline chloride |
| Calcium | MCHC (microcrystalline hydroxyapatite complex) | Calcium carbonateCalcium chloride |
| Chromium | Chromium picolinateChromium nicotinate | |
| Iodine | Sodium iodidePotassium iodide | Elemental iodine |
| Iron | Ferric pyrophosphateIron glycinate | Iron sulfate |
| Magnesium | Magnesium glycinate | Magnesium oxideMagnesium carbonateMagnesium chloride
Magnesium sulfate |
| Manganese | Manganese picolinateManganese citrate | Manganese chlorideManganese sulfate |
| Zinc | Zinc glycinateZinc citrateZinc picolinate
Zinc acetate |
Zinc sulfateZinc oxide |
Below I will list the companies, and which nutrients are in the most absorbable form.
USANA:
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Iodine
- Zinc
Truestar Health:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin E
Metagenics:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin E
- Chromium
- Iodine
- Magnesium
- Manganese
- Molybdenum
- Zinc
AOR:
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin B3
- Folic acid
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Chromium
- Iodine
- Zinc
Swiss Naturals:
- Vitamin B1
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
4. Bioavailability of vitamin E
I’m not too sure why vitamin E was singled out among all the nutrients, but let’s use it anyway.
All of the companies we looked at had the bioavailable form of vitamin E.
5. Does it have gamma tocopherol?
Again, I’m not sure why gamma tocopherol has been singled out here.
But anyway, the only 2 companies that did have gamma tocopherol were Metagenics and AOR.
6. Antioxidant Support. Does it contain antioxidants?
Yet another vague piece of criteria. There are plenty of antioxidants, and they don’t list which ones they’re specifically looking for. Since vitamin A, C, E and selenium are all antioxidants, all the companies we mentioned get a pass. If we’re specifically looking at nutrients that aren’t essential, then the picture is different.
USANA:
- Quercetin
- Green tea leaf extract
- Olive fruit extract
- Curcumin
- Lutein
- Lycopene
- Broccoli flower powder
Truestar Health:
- OPC
- L-cysteine
- Olive leaf extract
- Coenzyme Q10
- Green tea leaf extract
- Brassica oleracea broccoli
- Curcumin
- Lycopene
- Lutein
Metagenics:
- PABA
- Citrus bioflavonoid complex
- Quercetin
- Cryptoxanthin
- Zeaxanthin
- Lutein
AOR:
- None
Swiss Naturals:
- Dried barley juice powder
- Hesperidin
- Lemon bioflavonoids
- Lutein
- Papain
- PABA
- Papain
- Zeaxanthin
- Rosehips
- Rutin
Points 7-15 (bone health, heart health, liver health, ocular health, metabolic health, methylation support, lipotropic factors, inflammation control and glycation control) are very arbitrary. Just by having the essential nutrients all these points are taken care of. And all 5 of our formulas have almost all the essential nutrients.
Points 16-17 (bioflavonoid profile and phenolic compounds) are also very arbitrary. Bioflavonoids and phenolic compounds are simply sub-classes of antioxidants, and the guide already mentioned that antioxidants are important. There is no debate over that, but there is also no reason to include 3 different criteria for antioxidants.
Point 18: Potential Toxicities
None of our 5 companies contain toxic levels of any nutrient, so this is a moot point.
What do I think overall of the NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements? I think that some criteria are good, but there was a lot of redundancy, most likely just to be able to say “we evaluated 18 different criteria (even though there are only 4-5 different criteria that actually matter), and our supplement scored 18 out of 18.
But now that we’ve looked at the different criteria, let’s see which companies come out on top.
Winners For
Completeness: Metagenics, AOR and USANA
Potency: Metagenics
Mineral forms: AOR
Bioavailability of vitamin E: Tie
Does it have Gamma tocopherol: Metagenics and AOR
Antioxidant support: Swiss Naturals
Bone health: tie
Heart health: tie
Liver health: tie
Ocular (eye) health: tie
Metabolic health: tie
Methylation support: tie
Lipotropic factors: tie
Inflammation control: tie
Glycation control: tie
Bioflavonoid profile: tie
Phenolic compounds: tie
Potential toxicities: tie
Overall, according to the criteria of the NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements, the winner should have been Metagenics and the loser should have been either TrueStar Health or USANA. So how the folks at Nutrisearch came to the conclusion that TrueStar is the best, I have no idea. Even using their own (flawed) criteria, TrueStar didn’t come out on top.
Decide for yourself.
