Nutritional Supplement Buying Guide
The nutritional supplement industry is confusing, overwhelming, and sometimes fraudulent. Use this short guide to help you make good decisions about supplements for you and your family.
There are indisputable factors that affect the quality and value of the supplements you take:
- Science behind the ingredients and the overall formulation
- Quality of the raw ingredients and the way the formula is manufactured
- The marketing strategy used to bring the products to the consumer
Here is more information about each of these factors.
Science behind the ingredients and the overall formulation
Companies will tell you that their products work for various reasons. Sometimes, there is an exotic story behind an ingredient that may go back to an ancient medicinal practice. Quite often, companies provide testimonials to demonstrate effectiveness. In other cases, companies claim to have invented something brand new that no one else has. And some companies run dubious “clinical studies” to substantiate effectiveness.
Do not be fooled by those kinds of tactics. You can put confidence in a product only if there is real science behind it. By real science, we mean multiple independent studies that substantiate the benefits. There are thousands of studies that support the use of various raw ingredients used in supplements. A little research on high quality websites will help you make better decisions.
Quality of the raw ingredients and the way the formula is manufactured
No one can deny that there are differences in quality in supplements. Even a basic supplement like calcium will vary in quality from one company to the next. The sourcing of the raw ingredients is very important. There are good raw ingredient manufacturers and bad ones. The bad ones will have less quality control and may have purity or potency problems.
Good supplement manufacturers source high quality raw ingredients and process them in a high quality way. Every step of the manufacturing process must ensure that the purity and potency of the product is preserved.
Do not rely on the government to regulate supplements. The FDA does provide some oversight over the manufacturing facilities, but has little input on raw ingredient sourcing and how raw ingredients are processed.
The marketing strategy used to bring the products to the consumer
It is common to see a supplement sold for $10 under one brand and $50 under another brand. What is the difference? While higher quality products tend to cost a bit more, the dramatic differences in pricing you see are most likely a result of differing marketing strategies.
If you purchase through an infomercial, the actual product cost is anywhere between 5-10% of the retail price. If you purchase products through a MLM (multi-level or network marketing company), you can expect that the actual product cost is from 15% to 20% of the retail price. If you purchase from a local store, the actual product cost is anywhere from 25% to 35%. And if you order from a catalog store or internet retailer, the product cost is probably between 35% and 50%.
What this means is that a supplement that costs $5 to make will sell for as low as $10 or as high as $100 depending on the marketing model used. If you want value, avoid MLM companies and avoid infomercial products.
When you purchase supplements online or from infomercials, be wary of shady billing practices. Many companies will ship you additional automatic shipments without your permission. Others will charge you for add-on products without your permission. Make sure that the refund policy is solid.
Watching out for these three factors will help you choose supplements wisely. We wish you and your family the best in good health.