How do you tell the quality of your supplements?
The sale of vitamins, minerals, and herbs is big business, and once you know which supplement may help you, buying them is easy. Quality supplements are more likely to be effective. But how do you assess quality?
Gone are the days, when the only place to buy your vitamins, minerals and herbs, was at the local health food shop. Where friendly staff could help you pick out a product. They could tell you which brand used only organic ingredients, and which brands were standardised to ensure consistency of strength.
Nowadays supermarkets and the internet are the main outlet for supplements. For many people, it has become more convenient and often cheaper to buy them in this way.
If you’re not buying your supplements at the local health food shop, how do you determine if they are a quality product?
1/Check the ingredients
Maria Holzamer, is a medical herbalist from Bio Health; a firm who sell herbal supplements that are ‘pure fill’, meaning the only ingredient is the pure herb. She says;
“Read the labels, and check there are no unnecessary ingredients, such as sugar, artificial colours, and flavours. These are not necessary.”
When shopping on the internet, if the company you are looking at does not list all the ingredients of their products, it is probably best to look at another company that does.
2/Be sceptical about Quality statements
Manufacturers do not have to prove the quality of their products. It is easy for supplement providers to say that their products are, ‘high quality’. However if they offer no evidence, to back this up, then this is just an unsubstantiated claim.
If however a Quality statement tells you how their product is produced, how they pick their ingredients, and what standards they expect, then the bets are they are serious about providing a good quality supplement.
3/Look for supporting information on products
Taking your time, to look around the site of a potential supplement supplier, is always worth doing. The more information a supplement supplier provides about their products the better. Look out for information on:
· Ingredients
· Safety, such as possible contraindications with other medicines.
· Recommended daily amounts.
4/Is there access to any research on the supplement?
If a supplement provider has links to research about their products, or better still they do their own research, or they have experts you can contact, then this would suggest they are concerned with providing an effective product.
5/Look at the price of the supplements.
Paul Chamberlain, Technical director at Solgar says:
“Ultimately you get what you pay for. Price is a good barometer when looking for quality products.”
If you can get a years supply of a supplement for £1.99, then the quality of that product is likely to be dubious.
Gone are the days, when the only place to buy your vitamins, minerals and herbs, was at the local health food shop. Where friendly staff could help you pick out a product. They could tell you which brand used only organic ingredients, and which brands were standardised to ensure consistency of strength.
Nowadays supermarkets and the internet are the main outlet for supplements. For many people, it has become more convenient and often cheaper to buy them in this way.
If you’re not buying your supplements at the local health food shop, how do you determine if they are a quality product?
1/Check the ingredients
Maria Holzamer, is a medical herbalist from Bio Health; a firm who sell herbal supplements that are ‘pure fill’, meaning the only ingredient is the pure herb. She says;
“Read the labels, and check there are no unnecessary ingredients, such as sugar, artificial colours, and flavours. These are not necessary.”
When shopping on the internet, if the company you are looking at does not list all the ingredients of their products, it is probably best to look at another company that does.
2/Be sceptical about Quality statements
Manufacturers do not have to prove the quality of their products. It is easy for supplement providers to say that their products are, ‘high quality’. However if they offer no evidence, to back this up, then this is just an unsubstantiated claim.
If however a Quality statement tells you how their product is produced, how they pick their ingredients, and what standards they expect, then the bets are they are serious about providing a good quality supplement.
3/Look for supporting information on products
Taking your time, to look around the site of a potential supplement supplier, is always worth doing. The more information a supplement supplier provides about their products the better. Look out for information on:
· Ingredients
· Safety, such as possible contraindications with other medicines.
· Recommended daily amounts.
4/Is there access to any research on the supplement?
If a supplement provider has links to research about their products, or better still they do their own research, or they have experts you can contact, then this would suggest they are concerned with providing an effective product.
5/Look at the price of the supplements.
Paul Chamberlain, Technical director at Solgar says:
“Ultimately you get what you pay for. Price is a good barometer when looking for quality products.”
If you can get a years supply of a supplement for £1.99, then the quality of that product is likely to be dubious.
Ensuring the quality of your supplements is likely to take a little time and effort. Through researching different providers, you can check ingredients, compare products, ask questions, and determine the best one you can afford.
This article was published in Vitality Matters, a free Cornish Health and Wellbeing magazine in May 2007.
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