- Tue, 10/13/2020 - 16:19
- Choosing the right vitamins and minerals for you
- by IMI health
How to find a quality supplement
When buying a vitamin or mineral supplement, you're right to be picky. When browsing the shelves of drug stores, many questions will arise for the avid health enthusiast.
Does this product contain the ingredients it claims to? How well has it been packaged? Are the ingredients of high quality? Will it help resolve my ails?
Essentially, all of these questions boil down to one: How can I trust this product?
Generic, off the shelf supplements often do not provide vitamins and minerals in their bio-available form, therefore even if a tablet contains 1000IU of vitamin D, you may only absorb a small percentage of it. Cheaper supplements may contain additives and other contaminants that could damage your health, like mercury in poorly produced fish oils. Fillers are also included in order to increase the bulk of the supplement and decrease manufacturing costs- therefore resulting in a cheaper (and less effective) supplement. When it comes to vitamins and minerals, price and quality are often synonymous.
The key to finding a high quality product to fulfil your needs is to ensure that you're buying your supplements from a trusted brand and manufacturer. By investing a little more in brands you can trust, you can ensure that you're getting the nutrition you need, and not throwing your money away on cheap, ineffective alternatives.
But aside from buying from a trusted manufacturer, what should you consider?
- Your health history and goals
- High quality ingredients
- Professional endorsement by practitioners
- Evidence from studies
- The effectiveness of packaging
- Air-controlled shipping and storage
In our clinic, we stock vitamins and minerals we know produce therapeutic results- having seen them make meaningful changes to our clients' lives. Our two favourite types of vitamins and minerals are Whole-food and Functional Synthetics. Both types have their benefits, and depending on your needs, could be ideal for your requirements.
Whole-Food Vitamins and Minerals
These supplements speak for themselves; derived from real fruits and vegetables, they are safe and efficient, as they are already in a format (food) which our body recognises, making it easier for us to absorb the bio-available nutrients.
Studies have shown that the absorption of whole food vitamin and mineral supplements is 135-260% more effective than those that are inorganic.
Certain vitamins and minerals also benefit from the addition of natural compounds. For example, a vitamin C formula is much more potent when it also contains flavonoids- an antioxidant phytonutrient readily available in fruits like oranges. Vitamin A is another nutrient to look out for in whole-food form as researchers have also confirmed it is more effective than other kinds.
Functional Synthetic Vitamins and Minerals
Though buying whole food supplements is key when it comes to vitamins C and A, there are instances when a synthetic vitamin is better than the whole food alternative.
Put simply, functional synthetics make nutrition readily available for all. Whether you have a food allergy, or a genetic predisposition which makes it harder for you to absorb nutrients (they're more common than you think) these vitamins and minerals provide nutrients in their active, bioavailable forms.
These supplements may be of pharmaceutical grade standard- offering higher dosages and more therapeutic results when compared to off the shelf supplements.
When you’re looking to remedy a specific deficiencies or boost your levels of key nutrients, functional synthetics are your go-to.
Our Promise
Whether you're buying whole food or functional synthetics, you can trust that our chosen brands will deliver therapeutic results. Over 30 years of helping people heal, our practitioners have selected their five favourite brands they know will give you the results you need.
Innate Response Formulas are either derived from, or inspired by real food. This USA company advocates for 'wholistic health' and uses food as their foundation, ensuring each of their supplements is readily absorbed and easily tolerated.
Medlab uses innovative technology in order to deliver potent, bioavailable doses of vitamins and minerals. Their researchers work tirelessly to bring you the best, most therapeutic products possible. A blend of both whole food and functional synthetics, Medlab's got it all.
Vital Nutrients is our go-to for functional synthetics. Made in the USA, their facility has been personally inspected by IMI's founder, Graeme Bradshaw in order to ensure their commitment to quality control. Vital Nutrients thoroughly interrogate their products' integrity, testing for DNA accuracy, so you can be sure that their products really do contain what their ingredients labels claim. Their hypoallergenic range is also rigorously tested for pesticide residues and microbial contaminants. All products are tested by a third party in order to ensure purity, potency and dosage accuracy.
Designs for Health offer a combination of whole food and functional synthetics, uniting premium ingredients and innovative research in order to optimise your wellbeing. Their guiding principle is 'Science First', allowing them to prioritise the things that matter when it comes to a vitamin and mineral supplement: ingredients, evidence and packaging. Their supplements have been thoroughly researched so that you yield the best therapeutic results.
When you're buying from respected brands such as these, you can be sure you're getting exactly what it says on the label. Finding good quality vitamins and minerals can be a bit of a minefield, so we're hoping we can make things a little bit simpler. Whether you're buying the brands listed above, or any other on our website, we promise that you'll never find a product that contains fillers, additives or any other questionable ingredients.
We take pride in providing you with access to good, honest nutrition that delivers what it promises. Click to explore our entire range of vitamins and minerals.
