BARIATRIC ADVANTAGE VS. OPTISOURCE

I am wondering what does everyone think?  I am 6 months out and am starting to
worry about my vitamin intake.  I KNOW I AM NOT TAKING ENOUGH!!!!  I have been
on both websites, and both vitamins seem good, but both have more and less of
different vitamins.  Also, I have read about 'dry' vitamins. being the best options, is that
true and do both brands fall into that category?? Any opinions would be greatly
appreciated..

I have tried both brands and I prefer the Optisource they taste better, the BA burned my tongue and tasted awful but everyone is different. There are also many other options for vitamins out there, I just personally take the optisource and I like them they were recommended by my nut over all other bariatric vitamins.

Multi-Vitamin Comparison	Optisource Chewable	Bariatric Advantage Chewable
Serving Size	1	1
Total Needed per Day	4	2
Calories	5	0
Total Calories/Day	20	0
Sugars	1 g	0
Vitamin A	1875 IU	5000 IU
Vitamin C	15 mg	60 mg
Vitamin D	100 IU	300 IU
Vitamin E	125 IU	250 IU
Vitamin K	40 mcg	60 mcg
Thiamin (B1)	0.38 mg	3 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	425 mcg	1.7 mg
Niacin (B3)	5 mg	25 mg
Vitamin B6	0.5 mg	2 mg
Folic Acid	200 mcg	400 mcg
Vitamin B12	0	150 mcg
Biotin	75 mcg	150 mcg
Pantothenic acid	2.5 mg	5 mg
Calcium	250 mg	50 mg
Calcium Source	carbonate	citrate
Iron	7.5 mg	0
Phosphorus	50 mg	0
Iodine	37.5 mcg	0
Magnesium	100 mg	25 mg
Zinc	7.5 mg	7.5 mg
Selenium	17.5 mcg	67 mcg
Copper	0.5 mg	0.5 mg
Manganese	0.5 mg	1 mg
Chromium	30 mcg	50 mcg
Molybdenum	18.75 mcg	37.5 mcg
Potassium	0	0
Sodium	5 mg	0
Price	$27 / 120 ct.	$37 / 180 ct
Price Per Unit	0.23	0.21
Location	Walgreens	Vitalady

Here's a side-by-side comparison of the two brands.  Here's the original post on my blog with the full spreadsheet comparing various vitamins. 
http://pamtremble.blogspot.com/2008/01/mulit-vitamin-compari son.html

There's also another thread asking about Optisource that you might want to check out -- I posted my opinion of that brand.

Pam

Thanks for the side by side comparison Pam.

I am not overly fond of the BA taste, but hey...taking two compared to four wins out any pill day for me!

-D

You know I am starting to think that too although you would have to take a separate calcium and iron pill. Not sure about potassium though someone else will have to ring on on that one.

I don't even count the calcium or iron intake from my multi-vits and supplement with others throughout the day to get the recommended amount.  I could be wrong, but I think I saw mention somewhere that potassium can come from food, I need to read up more on that.

I also want to compare the BA vitamins with Bariatric Fusion ones...but haven't done it yet since I still have about of month of the BA left.

-D

I have tried the Bariatric fusion as well and they had a bad taste but I am sure there are ways to get past that. I gave mine to a friend though.

Heh, I won't even post how I get around the taste of the BA vits--the flammage could probably be seen half way around the world, if I were to.

(Not saying you would of course, but others...might.)

-D

Thank you for doing the side by side comparison. I've bee thinking of switching vitamin Brands and wanted to know which is better. It's hard to tell since they both have mor or less of certain vitamins & minerals. I guess it depends what each person needs more of based on what their lab work says. 

"Dry" is simply a term that means the formula is made of a powder substance rather than a oily substance encased in a gel cap.  So all chewable multi-vitamins would be consider dry.  After RNY we tend to malabsorb the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) because that portion of our intestines are bypassed.  That doesn't mean that oily-based vitamins are not absorbed at all, just that sometimes dry works better for some people. 

I'm taking an oil-based Rx Vitamin D and my levels are coming up.  If I were having problems getting my D levels up, then I would switch to a dry-forumla to see if that did the trick.