If you already take nutritional supplements or are considering
starting then you're no doubt well aware of the seemingly
endless array of products and choices in the market.
Supplement consumers face a paradox of choice and they know
only too well that the quality, safety and efficacy of the
thousands of various brands out there are far from equal!
Physicians Management Journal backs this up by reporting that
one in three dollars spent on nutritional supplements is
WASTED!
Because nutritional supplements in the US are currently
regulated under 'food GMP' (and these do not address the unique
aspects of supplement manufacturing) the market has become
flooded with supplements lacking product integrity and making
fanciful performance claims.
Supermarket shelves and on-line stores are filled with
supplements put together by marketers or other unqualified
people trying to cash in on the popularity of the latest
'in-vogue' nutrients and on consumers lack of nutritional
science knowledge.
The majority of people putting together supplements for sale
have little idea of the complex bio-chemistry involved when
ingredients are combined or which metabolic pathways they
follow when assimilated into the body.
So the need to evaluate supplements is clear. Consumers need a
reliable way to evaluate and compare supplements in order to
find products that are safe, effective and which offer the best
value for money. More on this below.
Different Categories of Supplements - Evaluate Them All
Cheap and 'middle of the road' multi vitamin supplements are
currently the most popular category choice for the majority of
supplement users.
Consumers however need to consider the limited health benefits
offered by these types of supplements and that most do not
offer good value for money. They contain large amounts of cheap
vitamins and minerals and excessive amounts of non-active
ingredients (excipients).
While these types of supplements help to 'top-up' deficient
levels of essential micro-nutrients, they are in reality
missing, or deficient in, expensive, key ingredients such as
high potency phytonutrients, standardized herbal extracts and
male and female 'support' nutrients, which are needed to
optimize wellness throughout the body.
At the top end of the market is a small category of the best
vitamin supplements based on synergistic and nutritionally
complete formulas. They have been formulated by highly
qualified bio-scientists using the latest research in
bio-cellular chemistry and nutritional science.
These broad spectrum multi ingredient supplements target all
organs and systems in the body, including the brain, and offer
the strongest of health benefits. They do far more than just
'top-up' nutrient deficiencies but rather take a holistic
approach to wellness by treating the body as a whole.
The consumption of this category of supplement is trending up
worldwide. This is being driven by the aging baby boomers
generation who use them as a form of preventative health-care
to achieve their aim of "staying young and beautiful" as well
as allying their fear of chronic illness, particularly cancer.
Now here is a key point:
The markets' best science-based supplements are not all equal.
There are always varying degrees of efficacy and value for
money.
This is primarily due to factors such as organizational
structure, shareholder pressure and the marketing model(s) and
distribution method(s) of supplement companies. These factors
impact on the type and number of ingredients that manufacturers
can afford to include in their products as well as the potencies
and dose amounts - all of which are key variables when comparing
supplements.
Consumers should always keep in mind that almost all
supplements are manufactured to a price!
So regardless of which price category a supplement falls in it
should be evaluated and then compared to its competitors. This
applies even more for the up market multiples because value for
money varies more-so.
Criteria for Evaluating Nutritional Supplements
A supplement can be broken apart and evaluated by examining it
through 6 criteria. These were taught to me by a bio-scientist
working in the supplement industry.
1. The Formula
2. Ingredient Quality
3. Bio-availability
4. Synergy
5. Manufacturing Standards and Protocols
6. Value for money
Consumers can get a feel for the science behind supplements and
target in on the fine details that manufacturers often love to
keep hidden, by learning how to use each criteria. These will
be covered in upcoming articles. This then allows consumers to
competently evaluate and compare nutritional supplements and
make informed purchasing decisions.
The full 6 criteria can be used with multi ingredient products
while less complex or single ingredient supplements can be
evaluated using only 4 or 5.
About The Author: Brett Seagrott is a health researcher and
author of the website
http://www.nutritional-supplement-truths.com The site explains
the 6 criteria for evaluating supplements and how to use them.
There are evaluations and comparisons of the market's leading
multi ingredient nutritional supplements
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