Garden of Life Vitamin Code Whole Food Multivitamin for Men - 240 Capsules, Vitamins for Men, Fruit Veggie Blend and Probiotics for Energy, Heart, Prostate Health, Vegetarian Men's Multivitamins

I am giving this product 5 stars simply because the quality of ingredients is superb. LabDoor is a website that provides objective, science-backed analytics of popular supplements, and this specific product was one of the only vitamins (in fact, I believe the only one?) to receive a near-perfect score.However, I want to draw attention to something that may impact some consumers. I began taking this about a year ago, and shortly thereafter I began to experience sudden, overwhelming panic attacks. I've always been somewhat of an anxious person with what you may describe as generalized anxiety, but I never got the flight-or-fight mode sensations that began within the past year. I described it to someone in my family as feeling like my brain wasn't firing right, and I'd get all kinds of screwy, hypochondriac dread and fear out of nowhere. Sometimes it was so bad that it bordered on the feelings of what may be described as depersonalization, but usually the episodes would only last briefly. As such, I'd often end up Googling my symptoms trying to figure out what was causing it, and become convinced that I had all kinds of disorders. At various times I've considered mercury poisoning (as I'm pescatarian and eat a lot of fish), hypoglycemia, food allergies, an evolving intolerance to caffeine, etc.I could get into more detail of my journey with this and how I tried to rule out supplements one by one, but suffice to say I spoke to my doctor about it multiple times (we even discussed an antidepressant at one point to help counter the panic attacks), and tapered off pretty much all the herbs and vitamins I was taking, from magnesium glycine to l-theanine, as well as CBD oil (as I thought perhaps that could be causing rebound anxiety). I cut way back on my coffee. It was to the point where the only things I was taking each morning were fish oil and a couple of these vitamin pills. And I did notice my panic attacks often started about an hour after taking these vitamins, but figured there was no way a multivitamin could induce such palpable anxiety, and my doctor even said I didn't need to be concerned about a multivitamin when I brought it to his attention. I brought the bottle into his office during an appointment a while back and asked him if there was any way it could cause anxiety and he shrugged it off, but in fairness I don't think family doctors always know the ins and outs of these things and may not be up to date on the literature. I think a functional doctor may have been more mindful of the potential for adverse reactions.Well, yesterday I finally stumbled upon some information that appears to explain my panic attacks. Supposedly, some people have a genetic mutation (which is apparently fairly common) that makes them unable to properly handle methylated forms of vitamin B12. I don't understand the exact science behind it, but if you Google "anxiety from methylated b12" you'll find tons of articles and discussions about it. Someone on Reddit's Supplements subreddit suggested to me that it could be this specific form of vitamin b12 causing my issues. He asked me if I was taking anything that contained methylated folate or b12, and when I turned over the label on the Garden of Life Raw Men's Vitamin Code bottle to check the breakdown of nutrients, my stomach sank when I saw it contains both folate and Vitamin B12 from Methylcobalamin.Today, I did not take my multivitamin as I normally do with my morning cup of coffee to gauge it and see if it made any impact... and wow. No panic attack. No feeling of anxiety or worry. It's bizarre that something that's been impacting my daily life for months could have been caused by something so seemingly trivial / harmless.I just wanted to provide this review to warn others of the *potential* of this happening, so that you can at least be cognizant of it if you choose to try this vitamin. I think it's a great product, so I'm not going to "ding" it or criticize it for something that my body has an adverse reaction to. It would be like having a peanut allergy and bashing a peanut butter brand made with quality, organic ingredients. It's not the product -- it's me.So, if you're taking this and have seen an uptick in anxiety recently, perhaps try switching to a brand that uses a non-methylated form of b12. I used to use the Opti-Men Nutrition vitamin, which also scores fairly high on LabDoor, and they do NOT use a methylated form, so I will probably go back to them. I never experienced any adverse reactions from their product.I know this all may sound kind of pseudo-sciencey, but I just thought I'd share my experience in case anyone is considering this supplement and isn't aware of the potentially adverse reactions. Again, just do a Google search for anxiety from methylated B12 if you want to learn more about the science behind it and see first-hand accounts from others who had similar negative experiences.Bottom line, this is a fantastic, high quality multivitamin, but just as some people have food allergies, apparently some forms of vitamins can also cause adverse reactions in certain people, so just a heads up to anyone out there if they are considering any vitamin that contains methylated B12.

For roughly 7 months now I've taken 2-4 capsules daily, depending on the amount of vitamins and nutrients I feel I'm getting naturally through food. I consider this product a key component of my improved health over this last year, other aspects being increased exercise and a much healthier diet.I began taking them after reading about how the more processed vitamins end up losing much of their bio-availability through the ways in which they are created, processes generally using extreme heat that likely destroys any beneficial properties. Not to mention that the binding substances used to hold "normal" vitamins in tablet form tend to be so strong that the body cannot dissolve or digest it, causing the tablet to pass right through us. The multivitamins I had been taking prior to these were one of the standard popular tablet brands and I didn't notice much of a difference with or without them. These vitamins on the other hand use nutritional yeast to create the vitamins and provide them in powdered capsule form, far different from the solid brick tablets I was used to. Some people report issues with Candida when taking yeast based multivitamins but my family and I have been taking these for years and have not had any issues so far. You can even easily open the gel capsules and pour the vitamins into a shake if you'd prefer to consume them that way. In comparison to the vitamins I had been taking I feel I can rest assured that these are actually being absorbed by my body.Edited February 2016 to reflect changes in my understanding of how these vitamins are made.Ironically what sold me on these vitamins was running out of them. I had not been sick once since I started taking them, then in mid-November I ran out and was without them for a little under two weeks. During this time the lack of this multivitamin was the only real significant change in my diet/lifestyle. I feel that without it my immune system was compromised, because a few days in I became ill and the sickness lasted for days. I was beginning to clear up and feel better by the time my vitamins were delivered, but I don't think I would have become ill in the first place had I not run out. Since that time I have made sure not to run out, and I've felt perfectly healthy.

Excelente

big pills, but have what i want in a multivitamin. i take them daily and if i need other nutrients, i take other stuff.. this is exactly what is as described. no complaints other than the taste! lol

I have used the Garden of Life vitamins for men for several years. I was originally turned on to them after reading an article where a consumer agency bought a number of name brand vitamins and sent them to an independent lab to have the vitamins tested to see if they actually contained the advertised amounts of vitamins and minerals. Garden of Life was one of two(?) vitamin manufactures that not only met the amounts that were stated on the label, but actually exceeded the amounts advertised!That is what initially sold me on them. After having taken them for several years, this is what I've experienced. First I seem to have more energy and faster recovery times when I'm regularly taking them. I also, weirdly, remember my dreams much more when I regularly take them. I'm not sure what is involved with a person's ability to remember their dreams, but when I take these vitamins, I remember them far more.Finally, as anyone who takes vitamins know, it can affect the color of your urine. I find that cheap vitamins produce an almost neon yellow color whereas these vitamins produce a more normal color. As I understand it, the vitamin B2 is what usually does that, but i like the fact that taking these vitamins doesn't seem to create any odd or unusual byproducts as my body digests them.These are definitely my full spectrum vitamin/mineral supplement of choice over the many I have tried through the years.

Great Product!

The media could not be loaded. Great value for the quality of ingredients! I love the easy open bottle and size of the pills.