How to Choose Your Supplements
How to choose your supplements:
are all supplements the same in terms of potency, purity and safety?
What you need to know about the quality and potency of various types of vitamins and other nutritional supplements



“Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food”.
- Hippocrates
General guidelines for better supplement use

  • First, check the label. The label will provide you with a list of ingredients and their dosage. Compare the list of ingredients with the Recommended Daily Allowances (RDA) in the U.S. or Canada, or the Dietary Reference Value (DRV) in the UK.

  • Choose products that provide approximately 100% of the RDA.  High dosage products (e.g., 500% of RDA) may potentially pose a risk of toxicity, while dosages that are too low (e.g., 10% of RDA) may bring few benefits.

  • Avoid products with unknown components.

  • Check the expiry date.

  • If you are not certain about the manufacturing quality of a product, you can ask the company about their quality assurance program. Does the company follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)? Are the products certified by national or independent organizations (e.g., does it have “USP” on the label, indicating it has been tested by the U.S. Pharmacopoeia, or is it “NSF” certified?). For this purpose, you may find very useful to consult independent consumer websites such as ConsumerLab.com or use a guide such as the “Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements”, which is a compendium of over 1500 products available in the U.S. and Canada.

  • Beware of unsubstantiated claims. Make judicious use of supplements and follow recommendations. Some supplements may have side effects or may interfere with prescribed drugs. If you are suffering from or suspect any illness or health condition, always consult with your healthcare provider before using any health related products.

  • Finally, keep your supplements in a safe place, out of the reach of children.


Problems with some dietary supplements

In the U.S., dietary supplements are currently regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as foods.

According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, “Manufacturers do not have to provide the FDA with evidence that dietary supplements are effective or safe; however, they are not permitted to market unsafe or ineffective products. Once a dietary supplement is marketed, the FDA has to prove that the product is not safe in order to restrict its use or remove it from the market. In contrast, before being allowed to market a drug product, manufacturers must obtain FDA approval by providing convincing evidence that it is both safe and effective”.

Because of this, many supplement manufacturers have chosen to follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for foods, which are much less strict than pharmaceutical GMP. In addition, the Office of Dietary Supplements also states that “Dietary supplements are not required to be standardized in the United States. In fact, no legal or regulatory definition exists in the United States for standardization as it applies to dietary supplements”.

In the past, some supplements were found to have impurities (e.g., pesticides, some of which have been banned in the U.S.) (Reference).  In an article published in “The Medical Letter”, Vol. 44 (Issue 1140), September 30, 2002, it was concluded that the “main problems with dietary supplements…are that their potency may vary and their purity is suspect… Physicians should tell their patients that we really don’t know what’s in them” (Reference).



Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for pharmaceuticals vs GMP for foods?

In order to address the above-mentioned legitimate concerns, some dietary supplement manufacturers voluntarily follow GMP for pharmaceuticals, meaning that those few companies treat nutritional supplements with the same care that goes into the manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. GMP for pharmaceuticals is much stricter than GMP for foods.

Many “US pharmaceutical firms that have tried to manufacture pharmaceutical-grade dietary supplements that meet the same Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) used to prepare prescription drugs have found that the cost of doing so made their supplements too expensive to compete with much less expensive products already on the market” (Reference). Consequently, only very few dietary supplement manufacturers have been following GMPs for pharmaceuticals.

In an independent review of approximately 1500 products available in the United States and Canada and representing over 300 manufacturers, supplements were classified based on the "Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)" and the quality control practices followed by the manufacturer, as well as on third party verification of the products.  At the top of the list, only four manufacturers have been awarded the “Gold Medal of Achievement”, representing “the best of the best” within their category.
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Reference: Problems with Dietary Supplements in The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics • Vol.44 (Issue 1140), Sep. 30, 2002


I want to learn more:
The NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements, 4th (Professional) edition is a roadmap to understanding the remarkable protective powers of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Packed with the latest findings on inflammation, oxidative stress, and degenerative disease, this guide is the definitive resource for anyone serious about optimal nutrition and anti-aging defence. Inside, over 1,500 US and Canadian supplements are scientifically rated and compared, the 18 critical Health Support Criteria required to evaluate the supplements are fully explained, and 300 colour graphs with which to easily compare above-average products are displayed. Discover recent scientific evidence showing that supplements can optimize health and retard the aging process. Determine which supplement is best for you and your family, using a scientifically-based approach. Now in its 4th edition and representing thousands of hours of research, the (Professional) NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements is an excellent source for consumers and health care practitioners searching for a quality nutritional supplement.
In addition, the Comaparative Guide will show you why manufacturers such as Creating Wellness Alliance, Douglas Laboratory, TrueStar Health and USANA Health Science are among the very few companies that won the “Nutrisearch Gold Medal of Achievement” and had their products at the top of the list of more than 1,500 other products, demonstrating their commitment to the highest standards of quality in the industry.
Standard reference materials for foods and dietary supplements. Sharpless KE, Thomas JB, Christopher SJ, Greenberg RR, Sander LC, Schantz MM, Welch MJ, Wise SA. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2007 Sep;389(1):171-8. Epub 2007 May 30.
[Abstract]


Dietary supplement Standard Reference Materials. Sander LC, Sharpless KE, Wise SA. Life Sci. 2006 Mar 27;78(18):2044-8. Epub 2006 Feb 2.
[Abstract]


Development of the analytical methods and reference materials program for dietary supplements at the National Institutes of Health Saldanha LG, Betz JM, Coates PM.
J AOAC Int. 2004 Jan-Feb;87(1):162-5.
[Abstract]





For the scientist in you:


  • Problems with Dietary Supplements in The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics • Vol.44 (Issue 1140), Sep. 30, 2002


  • Other references
Important Notice:

Although we cannot rule out benefits of supplements, such as improved quality of life, recent studies have raised concerns about their long-term safety and may demonstrate that some vitamins and supplements such as vitamin E, vitamin A, and beta-carotene, can potentially be harmful under certain conditions or in certain populations. In view of those recent findings, it is highly suggested that you consult your physician or health care provider before taking multivitamins or if you have any question about vitamins and other nutritional supplements.