How can you make sure the supplement you choose is of high quality? (sleep, fish oil)
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I buy only from quality companies and I know who they are. I don't buy CVS, Rite Aid etc brands and not even Costco, but who knows. A friend is sold on a costco antioxidant for about 8 yrs now and it's gotten her off pharma drug for the neuropathy she's lived with.
I buy quality brands and most of the time not from the drugstore. The USP brands contain what they say they contain but more often than not I've found that they don't contain a good quality product.
We've talked about this before. Some brands are tested and there's a list that was posted somewhere on here--I think it's by Consumer Reports. Some brands can't afford the $$$$$$$$ to get tested but they are still highly reliable products. I stick with the same brands that I know and trust.
There's a site called Consumer Lab that provides reviews and recommendations to subscribers.
Unfortunately I'm not a subscriber. But I use Carlson's fish oil--and it turned out to be highly rated when I was able to check a reliable source. I'm not going to go to a drug store or Walmart for supplements that have been sitting there or are of poor quality from contaminated waters. Oils can go rancid.
The other supplements I take are highly rated brands too. At one time I was able to get into one of those sites and the supplements I was taking were rated among the best.
Here are some of the top brands that different groups of people recommend. It's not as reliable as what's actually been tested but until we can get into Consumer Labs for ourselves, it may be better than nothing:
There's a free page on Consumer Lab of reputable mail order vitamin and supplement firms. Generally, Vitacost, Puritan Pride, and others are investigated by the FDA because of the high volume of sales. So their store brands may be reputable. It's another question which formulation is effective and Consumer Lab has reviews on which brand is preferred.
In addition to Consumer Labs, some companies do their own purity testing to assure quality. Nature's Way does its own testing. California Gold Nutrition (iHerb's brand) publishes its testing on its product pages.
I generally buy only from established health food store brands, mostly companies that have been around for decades that have stood the test of time. But brand isn't the only thing I look at.
I think in many cases the chemical composition of the supplement has more of an impact on the efficacy of a supplement.
For example, the most common form of magnesium is oxide. It is cheap but not very absorbable. A more absorbable form is mag citrate, or mag malate. Other forms help with different issues, such as mag glycinate for sleep.
The most common form of calcium is carbonate, but again it's not very absorbable. More bio-available forms are citrate and hydroxypatite. Someone with osteoporosis might take a product marketed as a "bone supplement" that contains cal carbonate. They might not get good results and conclude that it wasn't a "quality" supplement, when in reality they just chose an ineffective form. A better form would be calcium hydroxapatite, which is shown in studies to increase bone density.
Also, taking supporting nutrients is vital. Nature does not work in a vacuum. Taking calcium alone won't necessarily increase bone density. Other nutrients such as manganese, vitamins D & K, boron, and zinc, also play a part.
In addition to Consumer Labs, some companies do their own purity testing to assure quality. Nature's Way does its own testing. California Gold Nutrition (iHerb's brand) publishes its testing on its product pages.
I generally buy only from established health food store brands, mostly companies that have been around for decades that have stood the test of time. But brand isn't the only thing I look at.
I think in many cases the chemical composition of the supplement has more of an impact on the efficacy of a supplement.
For example, the most common form of magnesium is oxide. It is cheap but not very absorbable. A more absorbable form is mag citrate, or mag malate. Other forms help with different issues, such as mag glycinate for sleep.
The most common form of calcium is carbonate, but again it's not very absorbable. More bio-available forms are citrate and hydroxypatite. Someone with osteoporosis might take a product marketed as a "bone supplement" that contains cal carbonate. They might not get good results and conclude that it wasn't a "quality" supplement, when in reality they just chose an ineffective form. A better form would be calcium hydroxapatite, which is shown in studies to increase bone density.
Also, taking supporting nutrients is vital. Nature does not work in a vacuum. Taking calcium alone won't necessarily increase bone density. Other nutrients such as manganese, vitamins D & K, boron, and zinc, also play a part.
So true. A lot of those cheap drug store brands may be what they are said to be but you wouldn't want to take them. We've talked about it before: the ubiquitous calcium carbonate instead of something that really gets absorbed like calcium citrate or (never heard of hydroxypatite.) Who cares if it's USP certified to be calcium carbonate when calcium carbonate is practically useless anyway?
And we've had a lot of discussions on magnesium. So what if it's USP cheap magnesium oxide if it doesn't work?
I have had trouble lately finding a multi that would supply the necessary nutrients for support. They all seem to fall short in one way or another--although I do have separate manganese, K2, zinc, and fish oil.
Back to Vitacost to see if they have anything new. I'm older so I know I need to supplement. Older people don't usually absorb nutrients as well as we used to.
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