Early in my career, I remember telling my patients who were set on taking supplements to just take the cheapest ones they could find. The reason I made this comment was that I really did not believe that supplements had any value anyway, so why not just buy the cheapest ones? At least, they would not cost my patients too much money. In contrast, now that I realize all of the health benefits my patients can receive by taking supplements, I want to be sure that they receive high-quality products. One of the greatest frustrations in becoming a specialist in nutritional medicine is that I work with such an unregulated market. The FDA looks at nutritional supplements the same way it looks at foods. This entire industry is really not regulated, and a nutritional company can pretty much put any amount of nutrients in their tablets. In other words, the amount stated on the label is not necessarily what is in the tablet. Unless a nutritional company voluntarily produces its nutritional supplements in a pharmaceutical-grade method, the consumer has no assurance that what is on the label is in the tablet. Why sell your health to the lowest bidder? Taking high-quality, complete and balanced nutritional are the least expensive health insurance policy you will ever purchase.
2 comments:
As a supplement investigator and author of a book on this topic I agree that supplements are basically the wild, wild west. But paying more doesn't always mean getting the best. people tend to think expensive means better quality but thats not always true.
Also the reserch on some supplements was based on research done on food (eg lycopene).
I also wonder about the "prooxidant" properties of some high potency antioxidants
After 12 years of investigating supplements, I think the best foundation is eating fruits/veggies each day.
Joe Cannon, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
my website: www.Joe-Cannon.com
Hi Joe
Is this you is just googled?
"..Joe Cannon, MS is an exercise physiologist, personal trainer, author and lecturer who resides in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.."
Wow! Thanks for dropping a note. Yes, I do agree that we are not guaranteed with the best supplements by choosing the expensive ones, especially if they are FDA food standard. But by choosing a pharmaceutical grade which is more regulated and promises what they claim in the ingredients, at aleast we are more assured of quality.
Thanks Joe! I will be visiting your website soon.
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