What brands of vitamins are "better"?

[one l michele]

I'm overwhelmed at the options.

[RoughCollie]

I was overwhelmed by the choices, so I joined Consumer Labs:

www.consumerlabs.com

[Baseballmom]

My Naturopathic Doctor recommends mostly Standard Process Inc. It really depends on which vitamins you're taking. For example, for Pantothenic Acid he recommends NOW. Not all vitamins are created equal!

[Janna]

In general, I would say you need to look at the label. For starters, look at the vitamin E - how is it listed? If it's dl-tocopherols (note the "l" after the "d"), then it's synthetic. It should be only a "d" (d-tocopherols). Also, look at your calcium percentage - well really, look at all the percentages. Calcium is a cheap vitamin, so it usually has a high percentage amount (which will also make the tablet big because calcium is a bulky vitamin), while more expensive vitamins, such as Biotin, are usually very small in their percentages. If you look at a vitamin label where the percentages are very different - high amounts like 500% for something and then small amounts of say, 30% of something, then it's not a very good vitamin. Generally speaking, to have a vitamin with a fairly equal amount requires you take more than one pill a day because otherwise the size of the pill is just too big.

Look at the additional ingred. on the label - if it's full of binders and fillers, than it's not a very good vitamin either. One way to tell this is by taking a vitamin and baking it in the oven for about 10 min (or less). If you see black stuff coming out of the vitamin, it's binders and fillers. Another way would be to drop the vitamin into a mixture of vinegar and water (to best represent your stomach acid). It should dissolve in no longer than 20 min. If it takes longer than there are too many fillers and binders and the vitamin isn't water soluable (gets into your blood stream quickly). For the most part, vitamins like these are going to be found at the grocery store -Centrum and the like. But even some of the vitamins at the health food store can be full of stuff besides vitamins too. Esp. watch for added sugar or colors in children's vitamins.

Those would be the basics. Beyond that, you could look into "whole food" vitamins (which I prefer) because they are made with actual food, thus dissolving quickly and your body accepts them better. There are other processes you could look into, but I would do that only once you've narrowed down the kind of vitamins you want and the amount you want to spend.

I hope that helps you some!

~Janna

[Karen sn]

Ezymatic Therapy, Soloray, Rainbow Light, Carlson's (especially for fish oils).....these are a few I trust.
Also - the vitamin E wording that someone mentioned is right on. If you see dl-alpha tocopherol think L for LOUSY.

[Marie in Oh]

are supposed to be really good. They have their own website. I think I am going to switch when I am out of my Rainbows.

[Ellie]

distributed only by Amway/Quixtar. Nutrilite is the only company that owns its own farms, employs its own workers, makes its own products from start to finish, and distributes them, which makes the quality control the best.

[Janice Lyn]

You can check out some of the best on www.needs.com (http://www.needs.com). I use mostly Thorne, as I am chemically sensitive and am intolerant and/allergic to most fillers. They are expensive, but this site gives a discount.

Hope that helps,
Janice

[Mom2GirlsTX]

I was overwhelmed by the choices, so I joined Consumer Labs:

www.consumerlabs.com


In total agreement with this! consumer labs is so well worth the membership price, I have learned brands I thought excellent weren't, and some I thought would be okay were very good. And even within brand names, certain products can be very good and others almost dangerous (high cadium or lead levels).

[Tracey in TX]

distributed only by Amway/Quixtar. Nutrilite is the only company that owns its own farms, employs its own workers, makes its own products from start to finish, and distributes them, which makes the quality control the best.

They are the BEST! I've used them for years and would never use and OTC synthetic brand after Nutrilite.