Quality Supplements: 3 Tips to Get the Most of What You Buy and What to Avoid

Supplement pricing and quality come in a wide range. If you are supplementing, it makes sense to make your money and efforts count. Here's a quick list to help you navigate.

What

If you ever look at the “other ingredients” or “inactive ingredients” in the fine print, even higher-end brands are using a lot of fillers. Typically, they put these in so their pills on the production line can go faster through machines. For some folks with sensitive guts, inflammation or other issues, these might cancel out or mute down the benefits of the supplement. Some folks might even react to their supplements and it's not always the supplement but rather the fillers in them. Some common fillers:

• Maltodextrin

• Citric acid (which now often comes from mold (because it’s cheaper than actual citrus) (which means mold/candida/fungal/yeast patients might want to be aware)

• Gluten

• Soy

• Corn

• Carageenan

• Starch

• Coloring

• Magnesium stearate (not the kind of mag you want!)

Lower-end products will also contain undisclosed fillers and deliver a low-grade version of what you are hoping to gain, which means it's less therapeutic, and potentially harder for the body to assimilate which means you are simply getting less than what you want. They also might not even contain the potency they advertise, which has been caught by the FDA in the past when tested.

Brands

Better brands get 3rd party testing which better ensures you are taking what you intend.

Here's a list of some brands that will have higher grade versions of what you want, and typically (not always) less fillers:

• Pure Encapsulations

• Designs for Health

• Quicksilver Scientific

• KAL

• Integrative Therapeutics

• Gaia

• Vital Nutrients

Where

I could retire if I gotta dime for each person who told me they got their supplements on Amazon. Or, when they ask me if they should “just get this on Amazon”. Amazon is notorious for selling fake knock-offs or storing in no-temp-controlled warehouses. Even Amazon itself has issued warnings in the past about this.

So my response to this is a 4 letter word: Nooo.

Don’t chase the cheap here. This is your health!

Other places such as typical grocery stores, Walmart, Walgreens, Target, don’t carry high-quality supplements which means they will have more fillers and less reliable products. Aside from perhaps a very occasional product (I hear the liquid (topical) vitamin E from Rite Aid brand is pretty pure) it’s best to spend the extra pennies on better brands.

Support local! Get vitamins and supplements at your local natural grocery store. Most on this BRAND list however are tightly controlled for product protection because they expect their products to be cared for from their lab to your door. They go the extra mile and dollar with fewer fillers, better control, and 3rd party testing so they don't want to get involved risking fake versions, incorrect recommendations in stores, or poor warehouse storage on massive shopping platforms. That means they are only available through providers or their accounts. Check in with your trusted provider or cruise on my account with some trusted favorites to get you started, and 20% off site- wide.

Stay healthy!

https://redaspenwellness.com/search-supplements/

Sources:

https://gettespo.com/blog/vitamins-contain-additives/

https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/beware-fraudulent-dietary-supplements

https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/12/health/tainted-dietary-supplements-fda-study/index.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-warns-customers-that-supplements-on-its-site-are-fake-2019-7