| Choosing a vitamin or supplement to help maintain or | | | | wasn't aware of until just recently. The FDA (Food |
| increase health and wellness is becoming an act more | | | | and Drug Administration) does not regulate the |
| and more people are taking each and every day. But | | | | vitamin and supplement industry. That means that |
| with all the different products and claims, how do | | | | what is written on the label of a vitamin bottle might |
| you know which supplement is the right one for you. | | | | be true but also might be just a scam trying to make |
| How do you find the best supplement available that | | | | the supplement look better than it is. |
| will actually help and not harm your health? Here is a | | | | There is no one regulating what can or cannot be |
| guide to get you started down the right path. | | | | said about the effectiveness of the supplement. This |
| So many choices and so many claims - How do you | | | | also means that there are no laws regulating the |
| choose? | | | | serving size or amount of vitamin and/or mineral |
| Here's a guide to help you choose the best | | | | contained in each tablet or capsule you are ingesting. |
| supplement for you. | | | | No one to make sure it is a dosage your body needs |
| More and more people are turning to nutritional, | | | | or can use to maintain health. |
| dietary and herbal supplements to prevent diseases | | | | Many vitamins work together in your body and if the |
| and promote general good health. | | | | proper amounts of each are not ingested together |
| Taking steps towards improving my health lead me in | | | | they might as well not be ingested at all. They could |
| the direction of nutritional supplementation or more | | | | actually do more harm than good. |
| simply put - Vitamins. Growing numbers of people | | | | Another important thing I learned during my |
| (including me) feel that modern medicine is failing to | | | | supplement research is that many of the vitamins |
| address the issues that are important. The huge cost | | | | available use fillers and artificial ingredients in their |
| of medical care has many of us looking to maintain | | | | products. I always thought if you bought Vitamin C |
| wellness and prevent disease so we can avoid the | | | | then the pill was all Vitamin C. Turns out it might have |
| need to be so dependent on doctors and prescription | | | | things like petroleum in there too. It might even have |
| drugs. | | | | more 'junk' then it does the actual vitamin. |
| Modern lifestyles expose us to processed unnatural | | | | The first step in choosing a vitamin or supplement is |
| foods as well as toxins in the air we breathe and the | | | | choosing a vitamin or supplement company. Look at |
| water we drink. There are many aspects of modern | | | | the label of any vitamin you plan on purchasing and |
| day life that threaten to damage our health and push | | | | see who the company is and check for contact |
| us down a path to poor health. | | | | information. Look them up on the Internet or even |
| Even health conscious people can struggle to get all | | | | call them and find out some of their manufacturing |
| the basic nutritional elements they need. | | | | practices. |
| Nutritional supplements can be the answer for many | | | | - Do they follow and meet with Good Manufacturing |
| people as they provide the essential elements our | | | | Practice (GMP) compliance? |
| bodies need to thrive and achieve the best health | | | | - Are the products they make independently tested |
| possible. | | | | and analyzed for effectiveness? |
| Remember that vitamins and supplements are a | | | | - Does the manufacturer test the supplements for |
| great way to complement your diet, but they are | | | | purity and potency? |
| just that a good complement. They are not a "magic | | | | - What types of ingredients are used? |
| Pill" that gives us the freedom to eat a diet of junk | | | | - Are they natural or synthetic? |
| food while we sit on the couch doing nothing. | | | | - Is the product full of fillers and other artificial |
| The right supplement will definitely improve your | | | | ingredients? Many companies use fillers, binders and |
| health, however eating some fruits and vegetables | | | | coatings in their vitamin tablets. These are usually |
| and getting some exercise gives the body the best | | | | inactive ingredients that are unnecessary for your |
| chance to achieve maximum wellness. | | | | body and can actually do harm. |
| Be sure to choose your supplements wisely! Not all | | | | * Fillers are just that. They fill up space and help form |
| supplements are created equal. Just as there are | | | | the tablet. |
| different levels of quality in the food we eat and the | | | | * Binders help keep everything together. Many times |
| products we buy there are quality levels in | | | | these can actually be harmful and include such things |
| supplements. | | | | as gum, carbopol and povidone. |
| The nutritional health and wellness industry is growing | | | | * Coatings help keep it all together and can contain |
| by leaps and bounds (partly due to the aging baby | | | | artificial flavors to make it taste better. (If you are |
| boomers) and many companies are putting vitamins | | | | trying to cover up petroleum and other nasty things |
| and supplements on the shelves and online. It is | | | | no wonder you need artificial flavors.) |
| becoming increasingly difficult to know if you are | | | | - Are the products bioavailable? Meaning does it |
| getting quality that you can trust. | | | | actually get absorbed and used by the body and not |
| A recent study shows that the likelihood of choosing | | | | just get passed through the system as waste. |
| a non-toxic and effective health supplement from the | | | | - Are your vitamins and supplements a food or a |
| overwhelming array of products that are available is | | | | drug? |
| only 2.5%. In other words, there is a 97.5% chance | | | | All of this information should be available on the |
| that without investigating the reliability of the product | | | | company's website or by contacting their customer |
| yourself you could select a nutritional product that | | | | service representatives. If you are unable to find it or |
| might be hazardous to your health! (I call that a step | | | | if they are unwilling to share this kind of information |
| in the wrong direction). | | | | then it is probably in your best interest to avoid |
| SO.... The question is "Who can you trust and what is | | | | these supplements. |
| actually good for you?" It comes down to making | | | | The second step is to research and educate yourself |
| choices. Research your products and the companies | | | | on how vitamins and supplements affect your body. |
| that make them before you put your health on the | | | | Learn what vitamins work together and why you |
| line. | | | | need a good balance. Taking too much of a vitamin |
| Many of us agonize over what clothes or car or TV | | | | or taking an improper balance of vitamins can actually |
| we should buy but just grab the cheapest vitamin on | | | | do more harm than good. |
| the shelf. It's your body and your life. The choices | | | | This knowledge can help you when it comes to |
| you make now affect your future health and | | | | choosing which supplements to purchase. |
| wellness. | | | | The key is to take a step - DO SOMETHING! Take |
| So how do you choose the right supplement? | | | | an active role in maintaining your health. |
| First let me educate you on some information that I | | | | Think about it! |