comparing multivitamins (male)

My doctor hands all patients something I'll call This Year's Health Recommendations - at the Annual Physical Exam [APE]. One of those bullets includes "daily multivitamin" and I've gotten into the habit of buying Bayer's "One-A-Day Men's Health Formula". Honestly, I never thought much about it.

Recently (at Costco), I spotted a different multivitamin: Nature Made's "Multi for Him" and thought it was probably a clone of the Bayer product: not so. A closer examination showed significant differences between the products. Should I switch?

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I'm just trying to make sense of this stuff.

I was mildly surprised to see that there's disagreement between what the Feds (US Department of Agriculture) and the supplement manufacturers place on their label. The most recent USDA info I found is dated 2002 and I suspect those are current recommendations. I further suspect that this stuff is examined by Real Experts, but I couldn't find it anywhere on The Internets. So, I made my own chart (the numbers are for men age 31-50 and don't apply to anyone else).

Supplement	100% DV (label)	100% DV (USDA, 2002)	Nature Made %DV	Bayer %DV
Vitamin A	5000 IU	900 µg	50 (60% beta carotene)	70 (14% beta carotene)
Vitamin C	60 mg	90 mg	300	150
Vitamin D	400 IU	5 µg	250	100
Vitamin E	30 IU	15 mg	167	150
Vitamin K	80 µg	120 µg	100	25
Thiamin(B1)	1.5 µg	1.2 mg	100	80
Riboflavin(B2)	1.7 mg	1.3 mg	100	100
Niacin	20 mg	16 mg	100	80
Vitamin B6	2 mg	1.7 mg	200	150
Folic Acid	400 µg	400 µg	100	100
Vitamin B12	6 µg	2.4 µg	300	300
Biotin	300 µg	30 µg	10	10
Pantothenic Acid	10 mg	5 mg	100	50
Calcium	1000 mg	1000 mg	16	21
Iodine	150 µg	150 µg	100	-
Magnesium	400 mg	420 mg	25	30
Zinc	15 mg	11 mg	100	100
Selenium	70 µg	55 µg	100	150
Copper	2 mg	900 µg	100	100
Manganese	2 mg	2.3 mg	200	100
Chronium	120 µg	35 µg	100	100
Molybdenum	75 µg	45 µg	100	-
Potassium	4.7 g	4.7 g	-	3
Lycopene (no RDA)	650 µg			600 mcg (no DV)

So what did I learn after making this analysis (remember, I Ain't No Doctor)?

1. The USDA (2002) and the supplement manufacturers don't always agree on RDA [Recommended Dietary Allowances];
2. The Nature Made product is better in 10 categories;
3. The Bayer product is better in 5 categories;
4. Not all categories should be weighted equally (Vitamin C is more important than Molybdenum?)

Bottom line decision? I'll buy whichever is on sale.