Solgar Male Multiple Review – I Liked It In The Beginning

|  Initial Thoughts  |  Nutrients: Vitamins, Minerals, Other Substances  |  Additives  |  Success Rate  |  Final Thoughts  |

This Solgar Male Multiple review is about addressing every single detail, no matter how minor it may seem when it comes to this particular supplement.

What I mean is that we will go through and discuss all of its ingredients – both the beneficial ones and the inactive ones (additives). We’ll look at the amounts and nutrient forms and whether or not these can help you balance out any nutritional gaps. Lastly, we’ll also be looking at what other people think about it and the success rate it enjoys.

The Description Page Of The Male Multiple Of Solgar Is Very Laid Back

According to the manufacturer, “Male Multiple Tablets is one of Solgars premium-quality mens health products.* Advanced phytonutrient multiple vitamin, mineral and herbal formula for men” [R].

The supplement comes in three different sizes: 60 tablets, 120 tablets, or 180 tablets. It is considered to be vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free. Additionally, we also find it is claimed to be free of wheat, sugar, yeast, artificial flavors, and artificial preservatives.

It’s description page also contains a section for suggested use (basically, recommending to take 3 tablets daily), supplement facts (describing all the active ingredients, their amounts, as well as additives), and something that they refer to as additional product information (which contains warnings and trademark-related stuff).

Overall, the page feels very simplistic and straight forward. And with that, it does remind me of the ones multivitamins like Centrum Men or Garden of Life Vitamin Code Men have. Whereas if we compare that to, for example, what Smarty Pants Adult Complete or Olly Women Multivitamin does, it’s like night and day.

As for claims, they don’t make any for the Male Multiple of Solgar. Hence, they don’t really have anything to live up for. I feel, they pretty much imply that we ourselves are to determine how is this going to help our overall, long-term well-being. It’s an approach I much rather prefer over something like the Amway Nutrilite Double X which kind of claims to be the best you’ll find (to be a supplement of the future) but then, I feel, fails miserably at that.

So, overall, a very likable, very down-to-earth type of, not overhyped supplement.

Beneficial Ingredients Are Everything From Terrible To Good To Great

When it comes to the ingredients of Solgar Male Multiple, there’s just an insane diversity in every possible meaning of the word. There are certain ingredients that are very high-quality. Then there are others that are not as great but still very good. And then there are those that are essentially completely terrible.

To make it the least overwhelming, I think it would be a great idea to discuss first all the vitamins, then minerals, and then every other beneficial substance it has. But before we do that, a few things to regard when generally speaking of this Solgar thing.

As far as multivitamins go, there are at least a couple of different approaches that we can take to evaluate them. To that end, two of them I feel are the most prominent. There’s the traditional approach based on 100% Daily Values. And there’s also the more lesser-known path of what I regard to as the best practices for nutrient amounts. Both can work depending on what our goal with the supplement is.

In regards to the Solgar Male Multiple, it doesn’t believe in the Daily Values. It goes by the best practices. And generally, it does a pretty good job of keeping up with those values. However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows with it either.

While There Are Plenty Of Vitamins, The Forms Of Them Are Not Always Ideal

Solgar Male Multiple offers many different vitamins. In fact, in one form or another, it holds 12 of the crucial ones (plus Choline), only missing vitamin K1. At least that’s what apparent superficially.

Vitamin A comes in the form of Beta-Carotene. Which while many would think is sufficient, it’s everything but that. In truth, vitamin A comes in two forms – Retinoids and Carotenoids. Both of them are important, each can’t really replace the other [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

In this particular one, we’re getting only Carotenoids. Namely, 15,000 IU or about 9 milligrams of Beta-Carotene and 172 micrograms (which by the way is a truly miserable amount) of a mix of all the other most popular Carotenoids, like Alpha-Carotene, Lutein, Zeaxanthin, Cryptoxanthin, and, yes, again, Beta-Carotene. There’s also a bit of Lycopene but absolute zero of Retinoids.

Many consider that a good thing. However, that’s nothing but complete ignorance. While some Beta-Carotene our bodies can transform into preformed vitamin A (Retinoids), also known as the usable vitamin A, the rate isn’t great. Moreover, many people lack the gene to make that transformation. Hence, no matter how much Beta they would ingest, they could still easily be vitamin A deficient. So, an additional vitamin A supplement (yes, they come vegan as well) is unavoidable [R, R].

Speaking of that, I feel, an additional vitamin D supplement also won’t be avoidable with the Solgar Male Multiple. This is because the vitamin D that this one uses is the cheap, half as effective, likely toxic over the long-term type of form. It will barely provide benefits and it can backfire somewhat easily [R].

Vitamin C slightly lacks in amounts. Vitamin E comes in only one form with no regard to the 7 other ones. While a great part of Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) is our typical form we find in most supplements, there’s also the Cocarboxylase. It may not be as beneficial as the Benfotiamine, but it’s a truly capable one nonetheless [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

For vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) and B3 (Niacin), each of them come in two different forms, each of the two forms for each of the two vitamins are pretty great (vitamin B2 as Riboflavin and Riboflavin-5′-Phosphate, and vitamin B3 as Niacinamide Ascorbate and Niacin) [R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

Whereas while vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid) comes in two great forms but is generally a bit scarce, vitamin B9 (Folic Acid) and B12 come in cheap and not the best absorbable forms but in amounts that are according to the best practices. As for Choline it also falls in the category of good-amounts-not-the-best-form [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

As for vitamin B7, it’s the best form and great amounts. Lastly, vitamin B6 comes in two forms: Pyridoxine HCl and Pyridoxal-5′-Phosphate. The first we get plenty of but it’s not too easily absorbed. In fact, there are some people who won’t be able to convert it to a usable form (again, genes). Whereas the second is usable by our bodies immediately (it’s bioavailable) but we don’t get very much of it (just 6 milligrams) [R, R, R, R, R, R].

Other than that, the amounts are mostly coherent with the best practices. But to put this all into a sentence if you don’t mind… Vitamin A, D, B9 suck; C and B5 are a bit short but the rest is mostly fine.

For Minerals, We Only Get The Typical Ones; The Abundance Of Magnesium & Calcium Though

The picture of minerals for the Male Multiple of Solgar looks far better than what we just saw with vitamins. Plus, there is that rather unconventional aspect due to which it, I feel, deserves quite some credit.

So, we get 10 of the crucial minerals (Calcium, Iodine, Magnesium, Zinc, Selenium, Copper, Manganese, Chromium, Molybdenum, Boron) and one of the optional ones (Potassium). What we are missing though is Vanadium. Two also paramount minerals.

Most what the supplement does have, however, comes amino acid chelate forms with very decent, the best practices complying amounts. Which is extremely good as all of these are generally very well-absorbed. For Iodine, we get the best possible form. Whereas with Magnesium and Calcium, there’s quite a mix of things [R, R].

What I really like about these two minerals in the Male Multiple of Solgar is something that we don’t get in most other multivitamins. Namely, supplements like the Optimum Nutrition Opti-Men or the Klaire Labs MultiThera 1 just don’t have that. It’s about the amounts they come in.

I mean, 400 milligrams of each essentially means that you can easily bypass any necessity to purchase a separate supplement or supplements to get to that best-practices amount. Namely, typical multivitamins, even the truly great ones, just don’t provide because these two minerals take up a lot of space. And if they’re able to push that amount into three tablets, I’m kind of afraid to even think about how big they may be.

But there’s also another more important aspect to consider. Each of those two minerals come in three different forms. While two of each are great the third ones, which is likely the most abundant one, aren’t. We just won’t get that much value out of Magnesium Oxide and Calcium Carbonate. They are like the weakest forms for Magnesium and Calcium, respectively. Moreover, they will likely battle each other out for absorption [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

So, ultimately, even though 400 milligrams of each of these two minerals look great, they may still ask for additional supplementation. Because for all we know, we may get almost all of the amount in those cheap and ineffective forms. And what benefit would that bring?

Also, I’m not really sure what Solgar Male Multiple is trying to accomplish with listing 5 milligrams of Sodium as a nutrient on the label?

We really don’t need that from a supplement. Food will provide plenty. I feel it’s truly unconventional to add that there.

There Are Quite A Bit Of Added Substances To Make Up For Any Shortcomings & Pile On The Good Sides

When it comes to the additional substances (just anything beneficial beyond the raw nutrients), the Solgar Male Multiple does remind of the Rainbow Light Men’s One. This is because it provided plenty, an abundance really, of extra substances to contribute to our health.

In my opinion, the best part about the list is the 100 milligrams of the Inositol and Citrus Bioflavonoid Complex each.

Inositol is essentially a brain-function and brain-health boosting nutrient that the best practices for nutrient amounts say that we should also have. And it’s very abundant here. Whereas Bioflavonoids are like the second line of defense right after vitamin C for your immune system. They provide anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumoral, anti-platelet, anti-viral, anti-allergic, anti-hypertensive properties [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

I mean, I feel, I’m kind of selling them short with just one paragraph for both. But I truly believe they one of the best additional nutrients to have.

Then there are three different Ginsengs in the mix: the Eleuthero (Siberian Ginseng), American Ginseng, and the Korean Ginseng. These can boost energy, memory, and recall, improve focus and alertness, augment sleep quality, relieve stress, promote better mood, lower blood sugar, prevent infections, aid immune system’s function, treat erectile dysfunction, enhance lung function, prevent cancer, and have powerful anti-inflammatory properties [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

As for Saw Palmetto and Pygeum, they’re for the sexual well-being. Namely, they can increase libido, improve prostate health (also help treat prostate cancer), promote the urological system, boost testosterone levels, and increase sexual desire. Additionally, they can also reduce inflammation, improve immune function, fight kidney disease, and they have a few other potential benefits [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

Whereas Stinging Nettle possesses one of the most powerful allergy relieving capacity there is (amazing anti-inflammatory properties). And with that, it can help with detoxification, arthritis, diabetes, and a plethora of other things [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

Lastly, as for Soy Germ Extract, I’m not really sure if we should be happy about having this. I mean, sure, it can potentially provide benefits (which has been far more tested with menopausal women). However, I feel that there is a rather high chance that this is something actually derived from GMOs because why would they list 7 other ingredients that they don’t have and forget to list arguably one of the most important ones [R, R, R]?

If it’s Soy, it’s extremely likely that it’s GMO, unless they can prove otherwise. And if it’s something derived from GMO soy, we just might be looking at an ingredient that will be the core and center of more inflammation to our bodies [R, R, R, R, R].

Thus, while the other ingredients will likely counter that, I still feel like Solgar Male Multiple is actually somewhat shooting itself in the foot with this.

Additives Are A Pretty Decent Disaster; At Least Three Ingredients I’m Not A Fan Of

I feel that for many, additives are a decently hard concept to grasp. Not because people lack intelligence, no. But because people have entertained the idea that supplements always contain only beneficial ingredients for far too long. However, that would be like saying that every single ingredient in any given processed food is healthy for us. Which is simply not true [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

So, how good or bad is it with Solgar Male Multiple in this regard?

While it’s definitely no Centrum Silver Men 50 Plus or Centrum Performance, it’s not as flawless as Douglas Laboratories Ultra Preventive or Garden of Life Vitamin Code Men either. It’s kind of somewhere in the middle. And sadly, more geared towards the potentially harmful side of things.

The additive list starts out fine – “Vegetable Cellulose, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Silica, Vegetable Magnesium Stearate, Vegetable Stearic Acid, Vegetable Glycerin, Chlorophyll.” All of these are, essentially, as harmless as a substance can be. It’s the tail of the additive list that I’m not a fan of – “Titanium Dioxide, Mannitol, Maltodextrin” [R].

Titanium Dioxide used to be a truly harmless one. But then the food industry had this revolutionary (stupid!!) idea to make them nano and thus, improve the visual appearance of the color. Now, while Titanium Dioxide is the second most-produced nanoparticle material in the world, those particles are also too small for our bodies to effectively filter. And thus, they can potentially lead to lung, brain, liver, other organ damage [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

As for Mannitol, it typically isn’t that bad. As a sugar alcohol, it does raise blood sugar levels far less than table sugar does. But it will make one gas like crazy. Whereas Maltodextrin (a hidden sugar) can bring sudden headaches, bloating, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, rash, and among other potential side effects weaken our immune system (plus, it not great for blood sugar levels) [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

But be that as it may, I’m not a fan of any kind of processed sugars in supplements. Not only because we are typically having too much of them in our daily diets already, but also because regular consumption (especially abuse of them) can cause eating disorders, heart disease, depression, cancer, diabetes, obesity, make us stupid, and bring proper havoc onto our digestive systems. And there are other dangers as well [R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R, R].

So, overall, I believe it’s fair to say that, as far as the additive aspect goes, the Male Multiple is definitely not looking very hot. That’s, to say the least.

What Is This High Success Rate? How Did That Happen?

With all the theoretical aspects out of the way, it’s now time to move to a more practical approach. Meaning, let’s explore what the actual customers have said about the supplement.

To that end, while the review section of its description page doesn’t hold any reviews yet, there are a bunch of retailers and sellers that do have insight into this.

So, comprehensive research on all the real Solgar Male Multiple reviews I was able to find suggests that it’s actually a pretty well-regarded supplement. It’s not the best in this regard, for example, it can’t keep up with a supplement like the Thorne Research Meta-Fem. However, it’s very good nonetheless.

So, in total, at the writing of this article, I managed to find 435 reviews. Of these, 53 were negative (1- and 2-star) and 382 were positive (3-, 4-, 5-star). This means that the Solgar Male Multiple enjoys a global success rate of about 87.8%. Which is actually likely even higher than that given that people report negative experiences far more often than positive ones.

So, it’s essentially an above 87.8%. Which is pretty decent

But in the full context of things, I feel it does not matter. This is because a positive and very good success rate is great. But as I see it, that’s irrelevant given the potentially harmful ingredients the supplement uses.

The Active Ingredients Were Solid, The Inactive Ones – Not So Much; Better Avoid

So, let’s recap all of this a little bit.

The vitamins of Solgar Male Multiple were nice most of the time. Vitamin A and D were a nuisance and there were a couple other but generally all pretty good. The minerals were great, proper greatly beneficial forms for most. There were also much of Calcium and Magnesium, however, their listed forms did not make it a truly reliable source for these minerals.

As for the beneficial substances, most were really great promising addition of a plethora of benefits. However, there was one which despite its superficial beneficialness may, in fact, be harmful, especially given the concerns that it might be of GMO.

As for additives, there were three not that great ones. The kind of which I would personally always avoid. And I would suggest that same to others. This then played into the global success rates. And hence, despite them being very decent, I think puts in in the category of avoidable.

That said, if you are, however, interested in truly great multivitamin supplements, I’ve created a list of them that was made through evaluating and assessing every single such supplement I could find online (that had an English label). Also, in that article, you can become familiar with other multivitamins that different best-of lists around the internet hold as the best ones but really they’re nothing of that breed. Which I also explain why I think that.

Above all, I hope this Solgar Male Multiple review on the supplement helped you find the information you were looking for. Would you pick this one for yourself even despite the not ideal additives? Do you think the beneficial ingredients are just too good and, so, justifies that? Let me know below.