Visit our store to purchase supplements now
High Quality Supplements Make All the Difference |
|
Below are some basic guidelines for choosing effective supplements, regardless of your reasons for taking them:
1. First ensure the manufacturer is reputable. Health care providers who prescribe vitamins and supplements regularly in their practice can be a good source of information about this. Pharmacy and nutrition chains on the other hand tend to be far better at selling supplements than providing reliable information. The products sold at our store meet our standards. Use these or something better.
2. Do not buy products that contain stearates, stearins, sterols, palmitates or similar vegetable based fatty acids. These are found listed in the "Other Ingredients" section of a product label, though they are sometimes included in the main list of ingredients. These fatty acids are safe but undesirable, added to keep the powders from clumping in automated pill‑making equipment. These fatty acids are often present in large amounts, and have been shown to decrease absorption of the active water soluble components of the product by 80% or more. Better manufacturers know this, and do not include these additives in their products. (See Samyn, JC and Jung, WY, In Vitro Dissolution from Several Experimental Capsule Formulations, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vol.59, No.2, February 1970)
3. Absorption is everything. Liquid products are best absorbed. Capsules have the second best rate of absorption, provided they are manufactured without added stearates or other fatty acids (see above). The body has most trouble absorbing pressed tablets, and so these should be avoided all together. Substandard ingredients and poor manufacturing methods can result in products that are never absorbed out of the intestinal tract. In addition, an unhealthy digestive system can also seriously impair absorption.
4. Confirm that the manufacturer has used high quality ingredients. Assessing the quality of ingredients in a supplement does require some knowledge of chemical terminology, and knowledge of where in the world the raw materials have come from. If the products and the raw materials they are made from are manufactured in the United States, Canada or Europe, they are likely safe and of high quality. Once you have learned what to look for, either by consulting a physician or nutritional specialist, or researching the supplements you intend to take on your own, you should invariably find important information on the label of a supplement. For example, vitamin E should be in the form of d‑alpha tocopherol. Taurine should only be present in the form of L‑taurine. Glucosamine should only be in the form of glucosamine sulfate. Glutathione must be in the form of reduced glutathione to be absorbed. Without paying close attention to the chemical form of your supplements, you may be pouring your money down the drain.
5. Do not buy products that contain artificial colors, artificial flavors, or artificial anything. These additives have no place in a quality vitamin or supplement, especially those containing water soluble ingredients.
6. Quality supplements are balanced to maximize absorption and minimize negative side effects. For example, zinc containing multivitamins should also have copper and manganese; calcium supplements should also have magnesium. Working with an experienced practitioner will help insure that your supplements are balanced.
7. If a product makes wild claims, ensure adequate research has been performed to substantiate those claims. If a manufacturer provides 20 testimonials about a product and tells you that there are 100,000 bottles being sold a month, ask how the other 99,980 people are doing!
8. In Dr. Miller's opinion, most one-a-day multivitamin and mineral products such as Centrum Silver are inadequate for people with serious degenerative conditions. They do not contain adequate amounts of the antioxidants and raw materials needed to repair the eye, and again such multivitamins use additives such as stearates which decrease absorption. This applies to many of the products marketed to people with eye disease, such as Ocuvite. He has worked with people who have been taking these supplements and vitamins for years who do better once they begin taking the better quality supplements.
9. Always keep in mind that much of the business of vitamins and supplements is centered on profits. To ensure quality in your nutritional supplements, you must proactively research them and manufacturers' claims about them.
Visit our store to purchase supplements now
|
