How to Buy Effective Supplements

Unfortunately, the nutritional supplements we buy often fail to make the significant improvements in our health that we're hoping for. Does that mean vitamin B12 and Echinacea and tyrosine don’t work? Not necessarily. All supplements are definitely not created equal. Not only do you have to make sure you’re taking the right ingredients for your body, you also have to choose the right formulation and brand of supplements to get results.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Note the amount of an ingredient your supplement actually contains. Some nutrients come in multiple formulas. For example, you can get calcium as calcium carbonate, citrate, lactate or gluconate. You need to know the amount of elemental calcium in your supplement, not the total weight in milligrams of each tablet. The Nutrition Facts label can tell you this, if you research in advance what the Daily Value is for a nutrient. Look at the column labeled Percent Daily Value and do the math to see the amount of elemental calcium contained in a product. Compare products using this figure.

2. Check the serving size! Don’t assume it’s 1 tablet or capsule. If the serving size is 6 capsules per day, mistakenly taking only one won’t give you what you need.

3. Pick the most bio-available form of the nutrients you need. For example, the body needs less acid to process calcium citrate than some other forms. You’ll need to do your research before you go shopping to see if there are differences among formulas.

4. Take all the nutrients you need. Some nutrients are only effective in the presence of certain other “helper” nutrients. Make sure your supplementation is complete.

5. Look for standardized herbal supplements. The U.S. Pharmacopeia’s “USP Dietary Supplement Verified” seal means certain standards have been met by the product for quality, purity, uniformity and product delivery. Other groups that certify herbal supplements include ConsumerLab.com, Good Housekeeping and NSF International.

6. Avoid cheaper alternatives. Some manufacturers shop for ingredients based on the sticker price they want to charge. The way to drastically lower supplement prices is to lower the price of the ingredients. Cheaper ingredients make for less effective supplements, so this isn’t an area in which the generic is as good as the brand product. Spending less on supplements is often a complete waste of money.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy your supplements at a health food store or other specialty locale and ask the staff for recommendations on brand and quality.
• Consider liquid formulations. They cost more but are easier for some people to absorb and use. Minerals, particularly, are better in liquid form.
• Be very cautious of supplements manufactured outside the United States and Europe, where there are quality regulations in place. Placebos and toxic ingredients have been found in some supplements manufactured in other countries.
• Beware of supplement claims that sound too good to be true. There is no regulatory body in the United States evaluating health claims of supplements.
• Inferior ingredients and delivery systems can result in only 10 to 15 percent of the active ingredients making it into your blood stream, where they can work for you.