What's a good brand for vitamin supplements? (pill, calcium, weight)
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When it comes to vitamins I really believe it's something you get what you pay for, and you can get cheap vitamins but your better off just flushing your money down the toilet going that route. Bottom line though is do what's best for you and your budget, you can get a fairly good quality at your health food store that I think you'll be satisfied with. Just stay away from the big brand names like Centrum, One-A-Day, etc.
Not according to testing done by Consumer Reports. See my post above.
Do a google search for the brand STANDARD PROCESS. They are organic in nature and of high quality. Most vitamins are synthetic and man made. Your body doesnt absorb then naturally so they simply get passed through the body. Organic vitamins made from actually plants, herbs, etc are natural to your system and thus are completely digested for the purpose they were intended. This brand is highly recognized within the medical community as a quality product. I take their multi vitaman called "Catalyn". Google the difference between organic and synthetic vitamans.
Standard Process (http://www.standardprocess.com/display/StandardProcessCatalog.spi?ID=34 - broken link)
In other words, a whole lot of 'beef byproducts" that usually go into pet food (which, curiously enough, Standard Process also makes.) And the recommended dose is three per day, which would cost about 6 times what the Costco Kirkland brand would cost and contains fewer vitamins and no minerals.
By the way, your body cannot tell the difference between a vitamin extracted from food and a vitamin created in a factory. Doesn't happen. And the Catalyn lists several ingredients that apparently "synthetic."
There are a lot of quality brands of vitamins. The first few I thought of are Life Extension,New Chapter and Jarrow. There are specialty manufacturers like Nordic Naturals for fish oil. There are hundreds of different brands out there . My favorite place to buy vitamins is online at iherb.com,with wholesale prices and free shipping on larger orders.
I have been very happy with "Life Extension" I do watch for their sales as they can be a bit pricey on some products.
I prefer Krill over Fish Oil-Less Mercury
I happen to know some great supplement brands. I'm not a big fan of synthetic vitamins, I much prefer whole-food based supplements, or actually in all honesty, I prefer green food supplements the most.
Purium Health Products has the best green products I came across (I'm also partial because we are distributors), but you can google them on your own. They have mixed greens called "Best of Greens" and also "More Greens", they have different ingredients, but both great. They come in the powder and they are deep green color. Not everyone can stomach them, but it's the best way to take (besides the fresh cut grass).
You can take the greens individually. They have individual Spirulina, individual Cracked-cell Chlorella, individual Barley grass.
They have fruit based supplement called Bio-fruit which is great. They have great montmorency cherry concentrate which is filled with antioxidants. And many more great products. Master Amino Complex for men is great.
Another great company is Waiora. If you are looking for a multi-vitamin, their Essentail Daily Nutrients is a very good choice. It's in the liquid form and it is called "high-five" because it has vitamins, minerals, polyphenols and herbs in a whole-food fruit base of Goji, Acai and other exotic fruits.
Dose is 2 teaspoons per day. A 5.3 ounce container is 60 servings (30 days worth) and costs about $28.
Claims like this are the reason supplements should be better regulated:
"These green plants are rich in chlorophyll, which delivers magnesium to the body, helps the blood carry oxygen to tissues and cells, and chelates heavy metals. They are high in plant enzymes that contribute to digestive function and immune response. They are an excellent source of the trace minerals often lacking in the modern diet. Highly alkalizing, they help balance the body’s pH. In addition, they contain polypeptides (free-form amino acids) that help create lean muscle and boost the immune system."
Chlorophyll does not help the blood carry oxygen. I can find nothing scientific on chlorophyll and heavy metals. Chlorophyll may inhibit enzymes in the cytochrome P450 system, which is responsible for metabolism of many medications and could alter blood levels of those meds. You do not have to do anything to balance the body's pH. If you are healthy, the pH is tightly controlled. it is not diet dependent.
What the heck is a "free-form amino acid"?
Chlorophyll may help decrease the risk of liver cancer associated with aflatoxin, but if you are not exposed to certain moldy grains --- unlikely in this country --- you do not have to worry about it.
Shaklee vitamins are fantastic. They run numerous tests to make sure there vitamins/supplements are free of pesticides/chemichals. Very high quality control. They are not cheap but you get what you pay for.
I've heard so many different answers to this. I finally went with my former doctors advice. He was a 60+ fitness buff who looked 50, ran marathons, climbed mountains, etc. He told me to take any multi-vitamin b'c they all work the same. Is he right? Who knows. He says he's done it all his life and he's in better shape than most 40 year olds I've known.
Recently, the University of California at Berkley did a long-term (20 year) study of the effectiveness of supplements.
The scientists who conducted this research are the leaders in their field.
Probably the most striking result of the study is that persons who used no nutritional supplementation at all were actually healthier than the persons who used the one capsule a day products made by pharmaceutical companies.
(One-A-Day)
Bayer Schering Pharma AG Headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany
Centrum
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Headquartered in Madison, NJ)
The persons who used a broad spectrum of high quality naturally sourced nutritional supplements (Shaklee) over a long period of time were much less at risk for disease than non supplement users and the “one capsule a day” users.
I read the article. It was financed by Shaklee. The participants were recruited from "a convenience sample of long-term users of multiple dietary supplements manufactured by Shaklee Corporation."
They were compared to an entirely different group of people. Some of the Shaklee users underwent physical exams at a meeting for Shaklee consumers.
"Significant differences by user group were found for sex, age, BMI, education, and household income (Table (Table2).2). The proportion female increased with increasing degree of supplement use. The two supplement user groups were older than the No Supp users, and had lower BMI. Multiple Supp users were well-educated with 86% having greater than a high school education compared to approximately 55% in the other two user groups. The proportion with annual household incomes less than $30,000 was 19.7% and 17.3% in the No Supp and Single Supp users respectively, and 2.5% in the Multiple Supp group. Participants were predominately White because of the racial composition of the Multiple Supp users and the fact that Single Supp and No Supp users were matched to Multiple Supp users on race."
In other words, the Shaklee users were older, better educated, and wealthier. Their diets were probably healthier, too.
I am amazed that this "study" actually got published. it certainly does not prove that Shaklee products are better. No head to head comparison with other products was done.
Eat whole foods and you don't have to worry about supplements.
Supplement vitamins are not bioavailable, so I have no idea why people take them. They pass right through the body, and some, like iron, can lead to toxicity.
If you're eating properly, vitamins aren't necessary.
Yes, the vitamins in supplements are bioavailable. Do you have proof otherwise?
Any input you hav on Life Extension Products would be appreciated. I appreciate your posts and believe you have a pretty good handle on this subject.
Thanks!
Life Extension seems to be a distributor, not a manufacturer. Any particular product that you have a question about?
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