There are a few details one should know about Vitamins. Many people do not understand that they are not regualated by the FDA. There are no "label" laws meaning there is no regulation requiring supplements to have what is on the label is in each tablet. How can this be you think? Well, vitamins are regulated as food. It is like comparing pizza with penicillin. If you buy a frozen pepperoni pizza at your favorite store or from your favorite pizza place you are not overly concerned with the number of slices of pepperoni on your pizza. If it didn't contain any or just a very few slices you may be concerned. If your penicillin did not have the same dose in each and every tablet you may not get well or have other complications. Supplements are treated like your pepperoni pizza. Food grade vitamin manufacturing must have the products made under sanitary conditions and not cause food poisioning. Not much more than that.
On the other hand if your vitamins were manufactured under the more strict guidelines of medication you would be guaranteed to get what is on the label in each and every tablet each and every time. Sound better? Don't you think you should get what you pay for?
So the first criteria in purchasing a quality supplement is that it is manufactured under GMPs or Good Manufacturing Practices for Medication. Not required but quality supplement companies will pay for an outside agency to come in and certify them to these GMPs for drug standards.
Going hand in hand is the second criteria of offering a written guarantee of potency and purity. What is on the label is in each and every bottle and each and every tablet. Also just as important is that this means that nothing that is NOT on the label will get into the products either. Extremly important for all of us and especially for the elite athlete that is concerned about testing positive for any one of the over 75 banned substances that will ban their ability to compete in their sport or event. Call the customer service department for your vitamin company and ask them if they will provide you a written statement that they guarantee potency and purity. If yours will not no matter what the excuse, find a company that will. They ARE out there. Get yourself a copy of the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements. (See previous blog posting for further information) Find the companies that manufacture vitamins you can trust. One such company can be researched at http://www.pamdunwald.com/
Next you want to be a little savvy on the nutrients that are contained in the vitamin. We here about the dangers of taking too much of certain nutrients. What if the dose is higher than the RDA (Recommended daily allowances). One comment on the RDA levels is that they are designed to prevent nutrient deficient diseases such as Rickets, Scurvy, and Pelegra. In my 26 years of nursing I have never taken care of a patient suffering from any of these diseases. We have done a great job to eliminate these but there is a lot of research which I will also begin sharing on this blog that shows certain nutrients at optimal levels can assist the body's defense mechanisms to help prevent chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, Asthma, Multiple Sclerosis, Adult Onset Diabetes, and many more.
There are some nutrients that you need to be careful of. One is Iron. Iron should be taken under the supervision of your doctor as you can have toxicity due to too much iron in your system. Select a vitamin without iron unless directed otherwise by your physician.
Another nutrient that can cause problems is Vitamin A which can be very harmful especially if taken in too high a dose in pregnant women. A quality vitamin company will not have any Vitamin A in their products they will have Vitamin A in the form of Beta Carotene. Some companies can save money by offering a combination of Vitamin A and Beta Carotene but we prefer a vitamin that does not have ANY Vitamin A. Beta Carotene is transformed into Vitamin A by your body and what you don't need is eliminated so you do not have the chance of accumulating too much vitamin A.
Does you vitamin dissolve? If your vitamin does not dissolve in a glass of water within 20-30 minutes chances are it is not dissolving in your stomach. Obviously if the vitamin does not dissolve your body cannot absorb it and use the nutrients. This is one of the reasons physicians have not had great faith in supplements and called them "expensive urine" because the quality has not been there in most over the counter products. Again, because they don't have to. Look for a quality company that is concerned. Again in the Comparative Guide, dissolution or how the vitamin dissolves, is one of the criteria that must be passed and is included in their grading system which helps to determine how highly a particular vitamin is scored.
Look for a company that manufactures it's own products. What many people don't know is that about 80 vitamin companies manufacture 100s of products and puts different labels on them depending on the direction of the company selling the products. By manufacturing their own products they can keep tighter control on the quality including the use of raw materials and making sure none are tainted with impurities or other substances we would not want in our supplements.
What is the background of the company? Is it a science based nutritional company? Do they do their own research? Do they manufacture and sell everything from A-Z? What are the qualifications of the scientists and researchers? Do they evey employ their own scientists? Many companies do not. They contract them out now and then to do reformulations or make new products. Look for a company that has a team of scientists employed by them and have a team that researches the nutritional and supplement scientific studies that are out there to make sure their products are of top quality.
I will give you some details from a lecture I attended by Lyle MacWilliams, the author of the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements.
- 75% of the people living today will die of a chronic degenerative disease. Anyone born after the year 2000 will have a 1 out of 3 chance to develop Diabetes in their lifetime and if they are African American or Hispanic the chance goes up to 1 out of every 2 people.
- We have no cures for chronic degenerative disease but the good news is that 60-70% of heart disease is preventable, 60-70% of cancer is preventable, and 90% of type II or Adult onsent diabetes is preventable.
- The answer may lie in proper nutritions, exercise, and the use of a quality multiple vitamin supplement with a wide variety of anti-oxidants. Look for a product with 15-20 different antioxidants.
- 1.5 Trillion dollars is spent on health care with 98% of that going to treatment leaving only 2% for prevention.
- The U.S. rated the #27 country in the world for health tied with Cuba. The sad thing is that we spend 25 times more on health care than Cuba.
The American Medical Association has published a statement stating that all adults would be prudent to take a mutiple vitamin supplement to help fight chronic degenerative disease.
Do your homework, investigate the supplement product you take. Find a quality company and product. Eat a well balanced diet full of at least 9 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, watch your high glycemic foods such as white rice, potatoes, bread, etc, get at least 30 minutes of exercise (at least a brisk walk) 4-5 times per week, and take your vitamins!
Pam Dunwald is an R.N. of 26 years that has specialized in wellness for the past 4. Look to this blog often for more articles on health topics and ways to improve your health. Find out Pam's supplement of choice and why at http://www.pamdunwald.com/
Or http://www.bionutrition.org
Or http://www.releasingfat.com Discount code: 111958
You can reach Pam at: pam_dunwald@usana.com
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