Comparison updated 2 September 2026 · compositions verified on official sources on that date · next re-check: March 2027
Centrum vs base One: what the ingredient list reveals
Centrum is the world's best-selling multivitamin: the one on supermarket shelves and in family cabinets. «From A to Zinc», says the slogan. We did what few people do: read its Swiss ingredient list, line by line. Verdict first, proof after.
Our verdict
Our winner: base One. It is our product, plainly said. Centrum is the best answer to «as cheap as possible»; base One answers another question: «what does my body actually use?». Two different questions: we own answering only the second : and everything is below to prove us wrong.
The detail few people notice: in a Centrum tablet, iron and zinc travel together : and the magnesium is oxide. The proof, line by line, below.
Availability
Centrum
everywhere, supermarket to pharmacy
What the body absorbs
base One
citrates and active forms vs oxides
Formula coherence
base One
no iron mixed with zinc
- Centrum if ease of access is the absolute priority and the alternative would be taking nothing at all.
- base One if you want what the label says to actually reach your cells.
- Neither one if a symptom persists or settles in: that is your doctor's job, not a supplement's.
29 nutrients in active forms · one glass a day · reviews published unfiltered
The proof, line by line, below ↓
Not all vitamins are equal. The same vitamin exists in several chemical versions: its “forms”. Some are active forms: the ones your body uses as-is; others must first be converted, with losses along the way. Systematically choosing active forms, at useful doses, is the orthomolecular approach: the discipline taught by David Giovenco, formulator of base One and president of the International Francophone Academy of Orthomolecular Medicine. Keep this key: the whole comparison reads with it.
Entry-level general coverage: one tablet a day, the widest spectrum at the lowest cost, available everywhere. A stated brief: maximum label lines at minimum price.
The daily base: covering the essentials every day : 29 vitamins, minerals and amino acids : in active forms (the versions your body uses without converting them), in one pomegranate-flavoured glass. Not a one-off cure: the foundation, day after day.
The comparator, line by line
Green = a form the body uses as-is, or a strength. Amber = a version that must first be converted, or a partial point. Each line says what the nutrient is for.
The amino acids, systematically active forms, and zero colourants: what the minimum-price brief cannot afford.
The shelf's widest A-to-Zinc spectrum (chromium, molybdenum, iodine, manganese included) and unmatched worldwide availability.
The textbook case of our articles
Centrum's ingredient list illustrates, better than any course, the cost-per-line logic: magnesium and zinc as oxides (the cheapest, least absorbed forms), B12 as cyanocobalamin, synthetic folate : and the iron in the same tablet as the zinc, two minerals fighting for the same gut door. Every line fills the label; what reaches your cells is another story.
base One costs more than a Centrum, and this page explains exactly why: every form here is chosen for absorption, not for cost per kilo.
What Centrum does well : and its limits, in plain words
Its strengths. Absolute accessibility, a giant's industrial consistency, the widest spectrum on the shelf. And honesty requires it: for someone who would otherwise take nothing, a Centrum beats nothing.
Its limits. The market's cheapest forms at every decisive line (oxides, cyanocobalamin, folic acid), iron and zinc hindering each other in one intake, colourants and preservatives with no nutritional role.
base One in practice: for whom, when, and what to expect
Who it is for. Adults who want the essentials covered daily without stacking boxes : and especially those who have taken vitamins before and “felt nothing”: often the sign of forms the body used poorly. After 50 or on a plant-based diet, the active B12 in the formula counts double.
When. One glass a day, at the moment that becomes your ritual: morning, or the 5 p.m. alcohol-free apéro. The 90-day course follows the body's own rhythm: skin renews in a month, blood in four.
What to expect, honestly. We promise nothing : here is what biology says. If your diet left gaps : common for magnesium and the B vitamins, which contribute to reducing fatigue : the difference may be felt within weeks. If your intake was already good, base One works silently: it is background coverage, not a stimulant. The honest check-in is at 90 days : and you judge.
What base One does not contain : and why
An honest comparison also lists our absences. They are deliberate:
- No iron. Iron and zinc use the same entry door of the gut: putting them together makes them hinder each other. A real iron deficiency is measured (ferritin) and corrected in a targeted way. The full explanation.
- No vitamin D. The right dose depends on your blood status and the season: it varies tenfold between people. One dose for everyone would be either useless or insufficient. Our dedicated article.
Why these choices? base One follows the orthomolecular approach: giving the body molecules it already knows, at useful doses : rather than cheap synthetic versions at minimal doses. It is the discipline practised and taught by David Giovenco, president of the International Francophone Academy of Orthomolecular and Integrative Medicine.
Your questions
Is Centrum bad?
No: it is consistent with its brief, the price. Its forms are simply the ones that brief imposes.
Why is iron + zinc together questionable?
Both use the same intestinal transporter: taken simultaneously they mutually reduce absorption : documented, and why base One excludes iron.
Does magnesium oxide not work at all?
It provides magnesium, but its measured absorption is among the weakest (Walker 2003). At equal stated dose, a citrate delivers clearly more.
Ready to try the daily base?
29 nutrients in active forms, one glass a day, made in Switzerland : and 5 CHF welcome credit on your first order, applied automatically with your e-mail.
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Sources
[1] Centrum ingredient list (Switzerland), recorded 02.09.2026 · [2] Walker 2003 · [3] Wegmüller 2014 · [4] base One product page, nuho.ch
This content is published for information purposes and does not replace medical advice. For any health question, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Compositions recorded on 2 September 2026: report any inaccuracy.