How To Choose When There Are A 1000 Brands Out ThereSep 10 '00 Write an essay on this topic.Recent surveys have shown that over 55% of North America's population has tried some sort of dietary supplementation one time or another. It is a billion dollar industry with everyone from large multinationals to your mom and pops backyard garage operation getting into the marketplace. I have numerous contacts in this industry and to be straight up, over 50% of the product in the market is ineffective and of poor quality. Choosing a brand is just as important as choosing the type of supplement that you will be taking. The following is a general guide to successfully choose a ethical and effective supplement. Before I begin my opinion on how to choose a brand, I must stress the following point : Consult your doctor (general practitioner or naturopath) before taking any supplements. Dietary supplements such as herbs, vitamins, minerals and specialty products such as glucosamine, MSM, chondroitin, St. John's Wort, Echinacea, Ginkgo, CoQ10, Pycnogenol, etc. do have contraindications when taken in combinations, and are not to be taken if you are pregnant/lactating, or when you are on other types of medications. The dosage levels are also different for kids than they are for adults. Also, in most cases, a healthy diet and maintaining a happy and low-stress lifestyle is more than enough in providing your body with all the nutrients that it requires. - Decide where you want to purchase supplements from : Drugstore/Pharmacy chain (Walmart, Rite-Aid) or at a Health Food Store (GNC, Trader Joe's). Regardless of where you choose to purchase your supplements, make sure the return policies of these retailers are to your satisfaction. You want to choose a retailer than has good turn-over for the product. You don't want to buy something that has been sitting on the shelf for 2 years. Check the expiry date. If it is expiring soon, you have to question if the store has low turnover or if the product is not selling well (perhaps meaning consumer don't buy it cause it doesn't work). You want a customer service friendly retailer : meaning if you have cracked tablets, clumpy powder product, or allergic reaction to the product, you can return it for your money back. - Decide what you are willing to spend (price range) and what you are trying to achieve (general multivitamin supplement, lose weight, increase muscle mass, fighting disease or disease prevention). Obviously, if fighting a disease, one would spend more money (up to $50 per bottle for CoQ10/Pycnogenol for heart problems) than for a multivitamin supplement ($6 for Centrum). Drugstore/Pharmacies tend to carry mass market brands (Centrum) as well as their own store brands. There prices tend to be less expensive than brands carried at Health Food Stores. There are several reasons for the price differences (marketing, profit margins, cost of raw materials and production run sizes). - Do your homework on what the products do and how they work in your body. Price shop and compare the prices of the various brands...there are probably a thousand different brands in North America. If 10 brands are selling Vitamin E at $10/bottle and the 11th company is selling at $3, stay away from the cheaper brand. One rule to remember "If its too cheap or too good of a deal, it is probably not effective or there is a serious quality problem." - Within the different brands there is always going to be price variations. This is due to numerous reasons : Some companies have higher operating cost, faster machinery, purchase higher quality of raw materials. Most raw materials come from China or India (these are the most cheapest in price and quality). Raw materials can also come from Europe, USA and Canada (these tend to be higher in cost). Finished product costs are affected also by the amount of quality control and lab testing that a company does. Lab tests can costs several thousands of dollars per product which could add up to a few extra dollars when on the retailers shelf. - You want a brand that does quality control tests. Raw material tests - its comforting to know that the company verifies and tests their raw materials for Identification (its really echinacea and not grass clippings), Purity (that it is not contaminated with heavy metals such as mercury, lead that were picked up from contaminated soil) and Potency (that it is not 50% echinacea and 50% grass clippings). You want a brand that does Finish Product Test and Stability Test. If it says there is 500 mg Vitamin C in the capsule, you want to make sure the company has tested for the label claim and not by calculations. You want a brand company that tests their products after a year or two to ensure it is still potent and efficacious. Most companies have websites or have a contact number on the bottle. Call the brand company up and ask them what quality control tests they perform. - Choose a brand that works for you but be fair and give it some time for its effects to work. Depending on what type of supplement it is, it may work immediately (echinacea, MSM, St. John's Wort, Kava) or it may take a few months (Glucosamine, CoQ10). If you are getting negative allergic reactions or if the product is not doing what it is supposed to do after a sufficient amount of time, try another brand. As I mentioned before, over 50% of the products on the market are ineffective due to poor quality control. If it is not helping your problem or objective, stop taking it and try another brand. If that doesn't work, get consultation from a professional health care practitioner. - Choose a brand that meets government regulations as well as good manufacturing practices. Choose a brand that has legible labels, front panel with the name and quantity of the product, side panel with the ingredients and nutritional labeling information, contact address of the manufacturer, lot number, expiry date and instructions. Try to choose a brand that lists out the quantity of the ingredients and not just an ingredient list. - Choose a brand that the retailers love to talk about (in an educated manner). It is a sign of how much education and comittment that brand has on its retailers and customers. Choose a brand that has lots of informational leaflets available to consumers, ones that have conducted clinical studies on their products or have cited credible references to their raw materials. Hopefully the above has provided some direction in how to choose the right brand of dietary supplements that is right for you. I am a general user of dietary supplements and I know for a fact that the right ones work (high quality and not the low-ball dirt cheap priced ones). If you were to ask me which brands I trust, I will only name a few because I don't get paid to endorse brands...hehehe. Canada : SISU, Natural Factors, Quest Vitamins USA : Enzymatic Therapy, Nature's Way, NF Formulas Sports Nutrition : SISU, EAS Raw Material Brand Names : Ester C, Indena Phytosomes  |
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