To evaluate multivitamins I guess the first thing is to look at the contents.

What does it contain? All of them will have the basic vitamins (A, B, C, D, E, K, etc) and basic minerals (calcium, iron, phosphorous, magnesium, zinc). Even the cheapest ones have these because these are the basics. The better multivitamins will have additional ingredients and really it is up to the manufacturer what other extras they want to pack in - it can be probiotics, antioxidants, enzymes, etc... etc... the list is endless. Of course if they pack in extra ingredients then the dosage goes up. Instead of just 1 pill per day, it can be 2 pills per day, or 3 or 4 or more.

Does it contain enough? For all the basic vitamins and minerals, the health authorities have established a RDI (Recommended Daily Intake). This % will be stated in the multivitamin label. Most of the ingredients will be supplied at 100% or more than 100% of the RDI. For the non-basic ingredients many of them do not have any RDI, so there is no % given.

What is the quality of the ingredient? This is perhaps the hardest to determine because no info is given. Manufacturers get their raw material from different suppliers. Nowadays a lot of raw material comes from China (because cheaper). Usually the cheaper multivitamins will source from China. Other premium suppliers may source from Western countries.

What is the manufacturing quality? This describes the factory/plant used by the manufacturer. How clean is the premises and equipment used to manufacture? Remember the issue with an Aussie manufacturer that was reported in the newspapers a few years back? Again this is hard to know because the info is undisclosed. The only public thing we can try to find out is if they follow GMP standard or not.

What is the form of the ingredient? Vit C is not all alike. Vit E is not all alike and so on. The vitamins can have different forms or versions. From what I can tell, the different forms impact absorption and bioavailability. For example Vit C can be ascorbic acid (the most basic and cheapest form); a better multivitamin might use something like Ester-C or ascorbyl palmitate. Zinc is normally just zinc oxide - a better multivitamin might use zinc picolinate. And so on...

How well does it disintegrate? Tablet type pills have got binders and fillers. These must disintegrate in the stomach to release the ingredients. There are standards in the US and British Pharmacopeia about disintegration. We assume all manufacturers follow that but not necessarily. That's why in some 3rd party tests they test this and some multivitamins don't pass.

As you can see it's not easy to properly evaluate a multivitamin.

After a thorough real comparisons between all, I found what supposedly is the product with a broad range of vitamins and minerals, as well as vegetable extracts.
If you do need more info, that product name is Alive! Men, sold by our LYN forumer that I've quoted above.
Look at the link in his signature.

I'm not recommending that you buy it straight away.
Instead, use that as a baseline to compare with other products in terms of price, breadth of nutrients, amount of nutrients and professionalism of the company.

As an added info, I've come to know Amway and GNC sold supplements at a relatively more expensive prices compared to their counterparts. So, do compare beforehand for the retail price first.

I go one step further. Currently taking New Chapter's Every Man's One Daily Multi

Have a look and tell me if it's better.

Comparing them both brings a particular controversial issue.
Yours contains the same nutrients as available in Alive!, however, they abide strictly to the RDI, so you'll benefit them without risking overdosage.
Alive!, however, contains nutrients few times the RDI, and also contains some extra herbal or vegetable extracts that, overall, provides more important supplementation such as CoQ10 and resveratrol.

It really depends on the individual.
Athlete or active adults deplete their nutrient value from bloodstream faster than average, and some has them less.
Besides that, multivitamin should, though cannot, cater to the differences between the mass of the consumers.

In my opinion, Alive! would be better, since I'd take the risk of an extra dosage.

For your own comparison, the product is;
http://www.naturesway.com/Products/Energy-...Daily-Mens.aspx
However, I've switched to a more potent version which contains amino acids, enzymes and probiotics as well;
http://www.naturesway.com/Products/Vitamin...Mens-Multi.aspx

New Chapter's Every Man's One Daily;
http://www.newchapter.com/multi-vitamins/e...upplement-facts

Actually what I meant by go one up was that I'm going for fully natural products.

Check this out then http://www.newchapter.com/multi-vitamins/every-man

Above would be the full version, with a recommended serving of two pills.

I'm taking the One Daily (which is not as potent) out of convenience and budget sake.

Where can I get New Chapter's Every Man or Every Man One Daily?

Is there any local retail shop or distributor?

Actually what I meant by go one up was that I'm going for fully natural products.

Check this out then http://www.newchapter.com/multi-vitamins/every-man

Above would be the full version, with a recommended serving of two pills.

I'm taking the One Daily (which is not as potent) out of convenience and budget sake.

Hi, I don't recommend it anymore. Nor any other multivitamin at this point in time.

Instead I now opt for a mix of fresh juice and vegetables, once every other day.

Hi, I don't recommend it anymore. Nor any other multivitamin at this point in time.

Instead I now opt for a mix of fresh juice and vegetables, once every other day.

How big are the tablets ?  Some of these multivits in tablet form
can be really huge, such as those by Rainbow Light - quite a few
bad reviews on them on the net.

I read a review of one man buying one of their teen's multivit for his daughter,
but threw the whole bottle away when she opened it up and showed
him the one-inch long tablet.

This is why I am not a really big fan of tableted supplements, especially multivits,
unless I don't have a choice like when I am choosing one of these one- or two-
a-day types for my brother - quite impossible to squeeze at least 20 to 30 nutrients,
especially calcium and magnesium which take up lots of space and weight,
into one or two one-gram capsules.

Then there's also the problem of absorption, which is the main reason why
Vitamin Research Products uses only capsules in their products.

It's always best to get your nutrition from whole foods (eaten or juiced).

How much would you be spending for your juice blend each time? In terms of the cost of the raw materials?

May I know why you don't recommend multivitamins anymore?

So most of the time, the extra or unneeded vitamin will come out from your pee. You can see that if your pee in yellow color.

My juice blend, as it's in a commercial area, costs about RM7.00 per cup of about 450 ml including approximately 150 ml of plain water.

My blend is usually made up of (I can vaguely remember), something along the lines of: celery, green apple, lemon, mint leaf, carrot, ginger, honey (for taste).

If you ever see the shop Iz Jeruk, that's a great shop to go. You get more volume. I'd mix carrot, lemon, celery, bittergourd.

Do you blend or juice your vegetables & fruits?

Iz Jeruk, will check them out, any other places that you recommend to source for vegetables & fruits?

I would love to do that but due to personal circumstances I don't think I can keep a fresh inventory of fruits and vegetables without having them go stale and lose their nutrients. Commercial places have higher turnover that makes that feasible.

I'd recommend organic sources of vegetables and fruits. I'm not sure where to get cheaper sources as opposed to the more popular, expensive brands. You'll have to ask around.

Commercial places like Juiceworks and Boost cost a bomb though