Are you disappointed with the health supplements that you bought? You’re not the only one. Millions of consumers are being duped and suckered into buying health supplements that don’t deliver any of their promises or ingredients. In addition, they may bring harm to your health and a huge loss of weight from your wallet. Stop being the supposedly helpless victim and learn the smart way to choose quality supplements.
Buy from someone you trust. The preceding statement is pretty much straight to the point. Make sure that the store or reseller you’re buying your supplements from knows the meaning of genuine quality. Don’t experiment when it comes to your health. Trust can never be bought or overshadowed by cheap prices and fancy promos. Trust is earned.
How do you know that you’re buying from a trusted reseller or seller? Let’s look at an example, you’re buying Garcinia cambogia from an online health store. You might have seen their ad on Facebook or somewhere else. You then go to their website and try to buy one. Do they have an actual support line, you can really call? I am not talking about so-called live chat online. What I’m referring to is an actual phone conversation where you can ask questions about their product over the phone. Websites which offer only email or chat are very difficult to trust. Nothing fairs better than a live human voice when buying online.
Do they have professionals on staff who can answer your questions? Let’s go back to Garcinia cambogia. Maybe you want to ask about its side effects. Of course you want more than just the traditional answer of “It has no side effects”. Who does that? Someone you can’t trust of course. A qualified naturopath on staff should be able to address your questions or concerns, and take the time to explain to you what you’re actually getting when you buy from their website.
Ideally the online health store will have years of experience supplying quality health supplements. Testimonials posted on their site or facebook fan page may also help you decide.
Examine the ingredients on the labels of their products or on their websites. If they don’t display the ingredients on their website, think twice about trusting them. Does the product have exactly what you’re looking for? How much of it? How does the amount of the active ingredient compare with the others? It’s also important to concentrate on the products with the least amount of excipients. Pharmacologically speaking, excipients are simply inactive substances included in the manufacturing process of your health supplements. Also called inert or inactive ingredients, these may include tabletting aids, binders, fillers, colours, flavours and others. However not all inactive ingredients are harmful, some are simply natural food compounds so do your research if you come across one you don’t recognise.
Ideally, excipients shouldn’t interfere with the pharmacologic action of the supplement. They may act as binding materials or they may facilitate the delivery of the active ingredient into your system. It’s also wise to check out the excipients in your supplement because you may be allergic to them. Still the best action would be to locate the supplement with the least amount of excipients.
If you’re allergic to any of the above listed excipients, make sure they’re not in the supplement you’re buying.
Do the research, especially on the active ingredient of the supplement you’re looking for. Nowadays, it’s very easy to go online and do some research.
A little time spent researching the product will prove valuable to help you buy the best one. The active ingredient is responsible for producing the desired effect of your supplement.
In our example, Garcinia cambogia, the active ingredient to look out for is hydroxycitric acid (HCA). When you buy your supplement,
make sure that it contains the highest dose possible per serving so that you’ll experience the desired effect/s. Most of the quality health supplements out there have undergone quality assurance testing so the consumer knows that he is getting the same amount of the active ingredient from batch to batch.
What’s the use of a health supplement if you can’t absorb it? Look for the most absorbable form of the supplement or nutrient you’re after. Powders and liquids are great because they don’t require much breaking down by your digestion. Also, the form the nutrient is in may have a big impact on how well your body can use it. Going back to Garcinia cambogia, the active ingredient can be found mixed with other active ingredients or simply the pure Garcinia cambogia extract.
Know how the active ingredient or nutrient you’re after is measured. Look for this on the label when you’re about to buy yours. For example some nutrients are measured in milligrams (mg) or micrograms (mcg) while others are measured in international units (IU) or their own individual unit like many enzymes. We have an article on systemic enzyme measurements you might want to look into. Many impatient consumers get confused when it comes to the measurements used on systemic enzymes.
Generally speaking, the more scientific details they put on the label, the more reliable the supplement is. Careful with the word scientific though, you should be able to discriminate between flowery and scientific. Google is pretty much available 24/7 to decipher every scientific (or flowery) word they place on the label. Get your fingers moving soldier!
Burns, Marie A. Pharmacotherapy Principles & Practice. New York: McGraw-Hill Medical, 2013. Print.
Katzung, Bertram G., Susan B. Masters, and Anthony J. Trevor. Basic & Clinical Pharmacology. New York London: McGraw-Hill Medical McGraw-Hill distributor, 2009. Print.
Are you disappointed with the health supplements that you bought? You’re not the only one. Millions of consumers are being duped and suckered into buying health supplements that don’t deliver any of their promises or ingredients. In addition, they may bring harm to your health and a huge loss of weight from your wallet. Stop being the supposedly helpless victim and learn the smart way to choose quality supplements.
Ideally, excipients shouldn’t interfere with the pharmacologic action of the supplement. They may act as binding materials or they may facilitate the delivery of the active ingredient into your system. It’s also wise to check out the excipients in your supplement because you may be allergic to them. Still the best action would be to locate the supplement with the least amount of excipients.
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