Exactly How To Determine The Quality Of Your Vitamins + Supplements

2. Avoid Unnecessary Additives

Examine the label to uncover any hidden inflammatory ingredients such as grains or sugar. Avoid supplements with artificial fillers and colors that can negate the benefits of why you’re taking a supplement in the first place.

You don’t need these extra ingredients to have an effective supplement. The majority of the ingredient list should be made up of the active nutrient(s), and that’s it.

3. Science-Backed Research

Any vitamins and supplements you take should be backed by scientific research. There should be multiple studies readily available for nutrients that promise to target a certain health concern. If listed health benefits sound too good to be true, give those claims extra scrutiny.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates unproven claims, but it’s a slow process. It’s up to us to do our research before taking supplements. A functional healthcare provider can help by offering suggestions on high-quality supplements or navigating product labels.

Note: Due to FTC and FDA regulations around supplements and their marketing, most supplement companies don’t publish scientific research on pages where they sell these products online. They may also use soft wording, even when the science is very strong. You may need to do a little more digging into the evidence-based benefits of supplement ingredients on your own to connect the dots.

4. Look For Third-Party Testing

High-quality brands take evidence-based claims a step further by testing their products through third-party sources to validate those claims. Proprietary blends are great and often trademarked in quality products, but make sure you know where any claims are coming from.

They may also test for quality and purity to ensure their nutritional supplements are free of contaminants that can affect consumers with allergies or worsen existing health conditions.

Keep in mind: Third-party testing is expensive, so many budget-friendly supplements aren’t able to do this. However, they often purchase their supplements from manufacturers who do their own third-party testing.

5. Reward Brand Transparency

You shouldn’t have to go on a wild goose chase to validate a brand’s products. When you look up a brand, they should be completely transparent about every aspect of their supplements.

That includes the quality of their ingredients, where they source them from, and their manufacturing process. That last part is regulated by the FDA, by the way, so if there’s no way to know where a product is made by looking at the label, that’s a huge red flag.

6. Read Relevant Certifications

Since supplements aren’t regulated the same way as prescription medications, some private entities and nonprofit groups have stepped up to offer a layer of brand accountability. Some of these are great, while others may not be as reliable as they seem.

What labels or certifications should you look for when buying vitamins? Certification labels from entities like NSF International, ConsumerLab, or US Pharmacopeia (USP Verified Mark) are fairly common on vitamins and supplements.

They’re not required for products to be considered among high-quality vitamins and supplements, but it does mean a brand met certain requirements to attain that label.

Be wary of supplements that claim to be “all-organic.” While it’s important to avoid potential allergens or food triggers in what you ingest, the word “organic” may not mean what you think it means when you buy a product. It may just mean that the ingredients in that supplement are from organically grown, non-GMO sources.

You’ll still need to read labels closely for trace additives.

7. Ignore The Buzz Words

This is related to overblown claims on supplement labels. Beware of buzz words like “all-natural” or “100% pure.” Supplements shouldn’t be marketed as a cure-all for anything.

First of all, the FDA has forbidden this. Second, a good healthcare professional will tell you supplements are just one piece of the wellness puzzle. A high-quality supplement should address nutritional deficits or get you closer to optimal health in areas that lack it.

It shouldn’t be used as a replacement for good health habits like a balanced diet, regular exercise, and chronic stress management.

It’s also worth mentioning here that any supplement brand turning a profit using multi-level marketing techniques likely isn’t worth your time. A brand should be able to stand on its own based on research-backed efficacy and quality formulas.

LISTEN: Longevity Secrets: Top Foods, Supplements, Mind-Body Practices, Exercises, Biohacking Tools, & Labs (Ask Me Anything!) | Dr. Will Cole

How Do Low-Quality Supplements Get Sold, Anyway?

Unlike prescription drugs, American dietary supplements don’t need FDA approval before they’re sold to the public. However, there’s still some oversight to the process.

Supplements are regulated under a series of conditions passed by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). Under DSHEA, supplement producers can’t make health claims without clinical research.

They also have to follow a series of Current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs or CGMPs) that cover things like sanitary facilities and plant maintenance. Supplement labels have to list all ingredients, dosage recommendations, and contact information for the manufacturers in case of problems.

Since supplements don’t have to be approved before they’re marketed, they can hit retailers much faster than drugs that require a more rigorous process. This can be good for consumers, as it encourages competition and can make supplements more affordable.

But it can also drive down the quality of supplements by brands who rush products to boost sales. That can make the supplement landscape more challenging to navigate, especially when it can take the FDA years to uncover overstated claims in the supplement industry. (3)

Where To Buy The Highest-Quality Vitamins

Finding high-quality brands that suit your needs is more important than where you buy your supplements, whether that’s a bigger retailer or an online shop. A plus of store-brand vitamins and supplements is that they’re likely restocked frequently.

I have to plug my own shop here if you want supplements from a trusted source. The manufacturing process and sourcing of ingredients are unparalleled, and I designed the blends myself to get you the nutrients you need most efficiently.

Which Supplements Do You Need?

There is no one-size-fits-all for supplements. While I see that many of my patients are lacking in magnesium or vitamin D, that doesn’t mean you are. Ultimately, everyone’s biochemistry is unique, and there are a few things I always consider before recommending supplements.

1. Learn Your Deficiencies

The first step in finding out which supplements are right for you is to identify any nutrient deficiencies. (4) Blood work is the most effective way to identify what you need. Any existing symptoms can help guide the right testing.

You should consider your health goals here, too. Some supplements target gut dysfunction or hormonal imbalances. (5) Others support mental health. You may not be in the deficient range on a nutrient but low enough in something that it’s affecting how you feel.