A Vitamin a Day...

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I have trying to focus on making healthier choices for my family so when we ran out of the usual vitamins I give my kids something hit me...

I am paying more attention to the ingredients on the food I am buying but what about the vitamins I am buying?

I flipped the Flintstones Vitamins bottle over and read exactly what ingredients I was letting my kids eat each day and I was floored because this is what I saw:

Sucrose, Sodium Ascorbate, Fructose, Ascorbic Acid, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Stearic Acid, Gelatin, Vitamin E Acetate, Niacinamide, Maltodextrin, Invert Sugar, Magnesium Stearate, Starch, FD&C Red #40 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Yellow #6 Aluminum Lake, Artificial Flavors, Mono And Diglycerides, Aspartame†, FD&C Blue #2 Aluminum Lake, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Acetate, Folic Acid, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol), Vitamin B12.

Ummmm, yuck? What is with all of the added junk, artificial flavors and dyes?

After seeing that, I decided to go for a more natural multivitamin for my kids- something that preferably wasn't hopped up with crap I would't even let my dog eat.

I ended up buying Nature's Plus Animal Parade Gold vitamins and was much more pleased with their ingredient list:

Xylitol, Natural Color, Citric Acid, Guar Gum, Natural Cherry Flavor, Magnesium Stearate, Certified Organic Gold Standard Whole Food Blend [Organic Acerola Extract, Apples, Broccoli (Brassica Oleracea) Sprout, Cauliflower Sprouts, Collard, Cordyceps Mushroom Mycelia, Kale, Kale Sprout, Maitake Mushroom Mycelia, Nettle, Parsley, Beet (Beta Vulgaris) Juice, Carrot (Daucus Carota) Juice, Spirulina (Arthrospina Platensis), Reishi Mycelium (Mushroom), Shiitake Mushroom Mycelia, Spinach (Spinacia Oleracea), Tomato Juice, Wild Bilberry, Wild Blueberry (Vaccinium Angustifolium), Wild Lingonberry, Pure Chlorella], Rosa Canina (Rose Hip), Whole Brown Rice, Broccoli (Brassica Oleracea), Mangifera Indica (Mango) Fruit, Carrot (Daucus Carota), West Indian Cherry, Papaya Fruit, Mineral Aminoates (whole brown rice chelates)

Were the natural vitamins more expensive than the Flintstones ones? Yes, heck yes. I am willing to pay it though because I want to do what I can to make sure my kids aren't being pumped full of junky ingredients. In my opinion, it really is a sad state of affairs that to get healthier vitamins for your kids you have to shell out a lot more cash. Why can't mainstream companies and even store brands pay more attention to what they are putting in their children's multivitamins? I am all for companies making a profit but when they get into the business of people's health and then add junk to their product to increase their profits they are doing to huge disservice to us all.

If you're feeling daring, why don't you look and see what is in your child's multivitamin?