Supplements: What to Take and What to Trash
Posted: May 20th, 2011 | Author: CarolineMD | Filed under: Health, Prevention & Wellness, Supplements, Uncategorized | Tags: evidence, fillers, mercury in fish oils, quality, regulation of supplements, supplements | 10 Comments »
Approximately 80% of Americans take over the counter supplements. I recommend calcium, vitamin D3, omega 3 fatty acids and a multivitamin to many of my patients and as a mother, caregiver and health care advocate, I am obligated to check on the quality of products. I subscribe to Consumer labs, www.consumerlabs.com, and for a reasonable fee, they provide lists of products that they have tested for quality. Consistently, 30% of supplements are “not approved” for one of three reasons:
1) Less of the ingredient than claimed
2) Too much of the ingredient (above recommended limit)
3) Contaminated due to poor manufacturing practices or lack of quality controls during production
Third party testing has found lead in calcium, mercury in fish oil, chalk fillers and “bed pan” vitamins. The later name came from the nurses who knew which brands did not stand a chance of being digested.
We are often told that our supplements should not contain fillers, binders or artificial colors. A pharmacist friend told me fillers and binders come under the names rice flour, xanthum gum, corn starch, lactose and other sugars. Coatings and artificial colors may include acrylic resin, (yuck like the nails?), titanium dioxide, and iron oxides.
A do it at home test for bed pan vitamins: get a glass of warm water and add a little vinegar. Drop in your vitamin and if it does not dissolve in 15-30 minutes take it to the trash.
The other source that I use is Nutrisearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements written for health care providers, www.nutrisearch.ca. Warning, this is not an easy read for most. Of course, the limitation to all third-party testing is the number of supplements on the market because they cannot all be tested.
If you have a great resource please share the information with me. This week I am inviting you to clean out your pantry and send me the brand and names of your supplements! I will do your research and let you know what to take and what to trash.
be well,
Caroline Abruzese
Hi Caroline.
It was great meeting you yesterday. We look forward to developing strategic ideas collaboratively!
We really enjoyed your blog on Supplements. We would like to publish it in whole on our blog and would both post it and notify our email distrib list on Monday. Do we have your permission to do so?
Thank you. We’ll talk soon.
Warm Regards,
Angela and Dennis Buttimer
Hi Angela and Dennis,
You are welcome to pass on any of the content on my blog and I look forward to viewing your site,
be well,
Caroline Abruzese
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I have really enjoyed browsing26 your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!…
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That’s really interesting. Thanks for posting all the great information! Had never thought of it all that way before.
Impressive publish! STICK WITH IT!
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Thanks for posting this article. I agree with you! I learned a long time ago that all vitamins are not the same, you get what you pay for, and some vitamins can even contain dangerous ingredients. I have found a company I can trust and have been with them for 15 years. I am sure consumer Labs does some good work, but they do not participate in Consumer Labs studies for the following reasons:
“Consumer Lab charges a fee to have products evaluated. We do not know who funds Consumer Labs research. We don’t know what their testing methods are or their exact rating systems. We do not know if they are truly independent and unbiased. Therefore, we do not participate in their studies at this time.
And, we already have published peer-reviewed scientific and medical
studies that support the efficacy and safety of our products. These
studies appear in such prestigious journals as The New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association, The American Journal of Cardiology, and many others. These clinicals are available in public and medical libraries across the nation. A bibliography of our clinicals is available free on request.
We hope this is helpful information”
I share an article with my clients that outlines what to look for in a quality supplement. http://healthdesigner.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-do-you-select-good-quality.html.
Looking forward to reading more of your posts! Thanks again.
Hi Marty,
Thank you for your input. I agree some of the higher quality supplements cost more, but I don’t believe that a higher price ensures quality.
When supplement companies or representatives of supplement lines question the integrity of consumer labs, I immediately check to see if that supplement company has failed a consumer labs quality test.
It is discouraging that 100% of companies that I look up for this reason have one or more supplements that have failed to be approved by consumer labs. I would prefer that the the company or critic be more upfront and honest with this information.
My job is not to defend consumer labs, but to use science, common sense, and a variety of quality markers to form an educated opinion so that I can offer good advice.
For example, before I even look up a brand on consumer labs, I make sure that the company is GMP certified. I find this to be a useful starting point when determining quality.
Respectfully,
CarolineMD
cool story bro
Wow! Thank you! I continuously wanted to write on my website something like that. Can I take a portion of your post to my blog?
Karleen,
Thank you for your correspondence. Please send me information about your website and I’ll take a look.
CarolineMD