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Knowledge – The key to good health

Still got some questions about how Centrum’s range of multivitamins and minerals can help you live life at 100%? Well, we’ve tried to answer the most common ones. 

  • With today’s hectic lifestyle, poor food choices or skipping meals, eating a well-balanced diet may not always be possible. Certain lifestyle choices, stress, excessive exercise, alcohol consumption, smoking and even taking certain medications, all impact on our nutrient levels. Also, the quality and quantity of vitamins in food are affected by the nutrient content of soil; processing of foods and irradiation of crops; storage of foods for convenience (ie. refrigeration) and the loss of nutrients through cooking and reheating. So day-to-day, you may not be getting enough of the nutrients you need to maintain good health. This is where a daily multivitamin such as Centrum can help.

    The purpose of a multivitamin and mineral supplement is to supplement the diet, not replace it. A multivitamin and mineral supplement is convenient and it provides peace of mind that together with your diet you are achieving the nutrient reference values of essential vitamins and minerals every day.

    Vitamins and minerals assist with your body’s natural processes. E.g. Energy conversion and muscle contraction.

    A healthy varied and balanced diet is important as there are components in food which cannot be replaced by supplements – such as carbohydrate, fat, protein and fibre.

    Importantly, it must be remembered that vitamins and minerals don’t provide energy, healthy food does.

  • YES. Centrum and Centrum Select 50+ are suitable for both men and women. They are multivitamin supplements suitable for men and women, and help to fill the nutritional gaps that may result from various factors such as an inadequate diet resulting from a busy lifestyle.

  • Centrum Select 50+ varies from Centrum in that it has been specifically formulated to meet the changing nutritional needs of men and women aged 50 years and over. It contains 30 essential vitamins and minerals specially adjusted to help meet your body’s nutritional needs. Compared with Centrum, Centrum Select has higher levels of some B group vitamins to meet increased energy requirements and increased levels of the antioxidants vitamins C and E to help support immunity activity.

    Due to the higher levels of vitamins and minerals, Centrum Select 50+ is also suitable for individuals with an increased demand for nutrients, such as athletes, stressed individuals and dieters.

  • Centrum is available from major retail outlets and pharmacies nationwide.

  • Centrum is available in 16’s, 30’s, 60's (2 month supply) and 90's (value pack). Whereas Centrum Select is available in 30’s, 60’s (2 month supply) and 90's (value pack).

    Centrum Active is available in a 30's pack size (1 month supply).

    Centrum Kids is available in a 30’s and 60’s pack size.

  • The Centrum range of multivitamin tablets in South Africa currently contain small amounts of hydrolysed bovine, poultry and porcine gelatin as part of the raw material composition and subsequent formulation. The gelatin in the South Africa Centrum product line is a stabilizing agent used in the production of some of the active ingredients, such as vitamins A, D and E, beta-carotene and lutein. This agent results in stable active ingredients, which can be then manufactured into solid dosage forms such as tablets. The animal source of gelatin used varies and may include porcine, poultry or bovine gelatin.

  • NO. The expiry dating on the product reflects the stability of the active ingredients in Centrum. So, we do not recommend use of an expired product.

  • You can cut the tablet in half along the bisect line. Try to cut the tablet evenly as the sharp ends may be difficult to swallow.

  • Centrum products are safe to consume on a long-term basis. Centrum is a multivitamin product intended to supplement the diet and help fill any nutritional gaps. All ingredient levels are below the Upper Safe Level as recommended by the Department of Health.

  • Multivitamins are intended to ensure that you get all the essential vitamins and minerals daily for optimal health. You may not feel any effect, nevertheless the vitamins and minerals play an essential role in your body.

  • The majority of Centrum vitamins are derived from synthetic source ingredients. Vitamin and mineral supplements can be "synthetic," derived through chemical processes or "natural," derived directly from plants or other materials. There is no evidence that the body absorbs vitamins and minerals derived from natural sources more effectively than synthetic vitamins and minerals. In fact, the synthetic form of folate, known as folic acid, is actually better absorbed by the body than its natural counterpart.