The best vitamin supplements must be of high quality in three important ways. Quality in all three areas is important, not just for health, but also for safety. Here are some ways that the best vitamin supplements should stand out:
- The steps used to make vitamins: Companies that make a lot of vitamins may use a ribbon blender to mix the ingredients, which takes only about 20 minutes. This means that substances with a low dose may not be mixed well. It is important how much time goes by between mixing and encapsulating or tableting. Less than two hours between mixing and tableting makes sure that the integrity of the blend stays the same during the manufacturing process. You can only be sure you're getting the best vitamin supplements if you buy them from a place that meets the standards of the pharmaceutical industry.
- The quality of the ingredients. There can be huge differences in the quality and potency of the individual ingredients, as well as in how much they cost. When looking for the best vitamin supplements, you should put quality, potency, and purity at the top of your list. After all, the finished product will only be as good as the raw ingredients that went into it. The maker must have a way to check that the ingredients are what the suppliers say they are.
- How the supplement was made. The word "efficacy" means "to have an effect." When put together in the right way, certain vitamins and minerals can have several times more of an effect on the body. And when things, whether they are natural or made in a lab, are mixed together without a scientific plan, they can make other things that are unwanted or dangerous. When making a complicated formula for the best vitamin supplement, it's important that the people who work on it are qualified professionals.
Do we really need vitamin and mineral supplements? Due to soil depletion, many studies have found that the overall nutritional value of foods has been going down for decades. Also, even the best vitamin pills can't make up for a bad diet. Even if you take vitamins and eat mostly junk food, you won't get as many nutrients as you would from vegetables and fruits. Vitamin supplements should be used in addition to food, not in place of it. For example, the most recent USDA food pyramid says that women should eat 2.5 cups of vegetables a day and men should eat 3 cups a day. Most people don't do this.
One-a-day vitamin supplements can't be the best. Why? One capsule or tablet can't hold everything in the right amounts because it would be too big to swallow. Most likely, one-a-day vitamins are a waste of money. On the other hand, it's easy to end up with a dozen or more different vitamins to take every day. This means you'll need bottles and bottles of vitamins, which is both annoying and expensive.
And finally, women and men need different kinds of vitamins. A supplement for women should have nutrients that have been shown in clinical studies to help keep female hormones in balance before, during, and after menopause. The best vitamin supplements for men should have ingredients that help keep their prostates healthy. The best vitamin supplements for men should have ingredients that have been shown in clinical studies to prevent BPH or an enlarged prostate.
Yes, there are manufacturers that meet or go above and beyond the things listed above. Find out as much as you can about what it really means to find the best vitamin supplements. Before you spend your money, learn as much as you can about the products you will be taking every day.
