Supplements have been used for years to help people get their required daily nutrients.
They are a great way to get the nutrients we need.
Supplements are available in many forms, such as pills, powders, or liquids that you mix with water and drink.
However, not all supplements are created equal. The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t regulate supplements. This means that any manufacturer’s claims may not be scientifically proven through a systematic review of research studies.
Below are some ways to tell if your supplements work and things to consider when choosing a supplement.
Does the supplement use the most absorbable form of the ingredient?
A supplement may have a high dose of a nutrient, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your body can actually use and absorb it.
Something worth discussing here is bioavailability, which is the amount of a supplement’s active ingredient that makes it into your bloodstream. The body does not fully absorb some supplements, so you should always read labels carefully.
When choosing supplements, you should make sure the manufacturer formulates their products in clinically significant doses of the most bioavailable form to ensure that they will actually work.
For example, a lot of omega 3 supplements contain a form called ALA, which is a lot less effective and absorbable than other forms such as EPA and DHA.
Does the supplement use the purest form of the ingredient?
You can find the ingredients of a supplement in many places. But the most important thing to look for when choosing a supplement is where they source it from.
Many supplements use a variety of ingredients in order to produce the desired result. The quality and purity of these ingredients can vary greatly depending on what company is producing them. This could then affect how effective the supplement is.
For example, a recent report by Labdoor found that many common omega 3 supplements are rancid. Labdoor is an independent company that tests dietary supplements based on parameters such as label accuracy, purity, and nutritional value, among others.
Their research found that the rancidity levels in fish oil supplements are a lot higher than the suggested limits. This plays a major role in the effects of these products and could have some adverse health effects.
When choosing supplements, be sure to pick ones that use the purest form of the ingredient.
Furthermore, saw palmetto can be an effective supplement for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). But where you source your saw palmetto can make a big difference in the quality and effectiveness of the final product you buy.
Valensa’s Saw Palmetto is the industry standard for quality. It is the first and only prostate health product in the world to be verified for purity, potency, and consistency by the United States Pharmacopeia.
Since Ben’s Natural Health is a supplement company that strives to provide high-quality supplements that work, we use the world’s best Saw Palmetto supplier – Valensa.
Every year they collect their ripe saw palmetto berries in the wild and dry them at their facility located in Florida. They then test the extract for its ability to inhibit 5-alpha reductase.
The quality is managed from berry sourcing through to testing and certification of the finished product.
Saw palmetto only grows in the Southeastern portion of the USA and is harvested primarily in Florida, USA. Therefore, anyone claiming that their product comes from Southern Asia is not selling you genuine saw palmetto extract. Instead, it is likely a mislabeled ingredient.
Adulterated or fake saw palmetto supplied from China won’t benefit men with urinary tract symptoms, and these products have no credible science for support to prostate health.
So as you can see, when it comes to choosing a supplement, where the ingredients themselves are sourced is pivotal.
Where is your saw palmetto sourced?
To learn more about what makes Valensa’s Saw Palmetto the highest quality and to discuss the problem with Saw Palmetto supplied from China, watch our video below with Dr. Margaret H. Dohnalek.
Dr. Margaret H. Dohnalek, Ph.D., is the Chief Scientific Officer and Sr. Vice President for Valensa International. Margaret holds a doctorate in food chemistry and toxicology and has 33 years of professional experience in the food and nutraceutical industry segments.
Do the ingredients interact?
When taking supplements, it’s important to consider whether the ingredients interact with each other or with any other supplements you take.
For example, if you’re taking a fish oil supplement, it’s best not to take any other supplements that contain fat or cholesterol as these ingredients can interact with each other and result in negative side effects.
Furthermore, taking some ingredients together can increase the effectiveness. For example, if you choose to take a turmeric supplement, be sure to choose one with piperine, the active ingredient in black pepper. Piperine boosts the bioavailability of turmeric by 2000%.
Ben’s Natural Health Supplements
Ben’s Natural Health is the world’s first high-quality, all-natural, scientifically proven clinical supplement company.
We are committed to sourcing our products and choosing our partners in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way.
We maintain visibility at every stage of our supply chain. All our ingredients are sourced in the US and Europe, and we do all our manufacturing in FDA audited and cGMP compliant USA-based facilities.
We also work with the GEMS supply chain excellence program to ensure we can track every vitamin, mineral, and nutrient in our product back to its point of origin.
Moreover, at Ben’s Natural Health, we have four rules for all our supplements:
- We only use the highest quality ingredients.
- We only use them if they have been proven to work in independent, peer-reviewed double-blind studies.
- With all our supplements, we find a way to get every ingredient into a single bottle.
- We always formulate them in clinically significant doses of the most bioavailable form.
Conclusion
Dietary supplements can be a helpful addition to a healthy lifestyle. They can offer vitamins, minerals, and other ingredients that can support your overall health.
The steps we mentioned in this article can help you make sure you’re taking the right supplements that will work, and ensure that you are getting the proper nutrients.
Before taking a new supplement, it’s best to discuss it with your healthcare provider. That way you can ensure safe and coordinated care.
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