Brands Of Nutritional And Mineral Supplements Articles & Resources

Just the same, dietary supplements are an effective, convenient way to correct nutritional weaknesses, support athletic performance and

prevent age-related diseases in some cases. Once you've decided that a supplement is right for you, get a list of brands that contain the active ingredient you're interested in, and check with your doctor or pharmacist to make sure it won't interact with any existing medications you may be taking. It may also be important to know how the active ingredient affects pregnancy (in case it happens), health conditions, specific allergies, the clotting time of your blood (if you have surgery planned or are taking aspirin or Motrin IB), and any children in your environment if they have access to your supplements.

GREEN LIGHT NO. 2: UNDERSTANDING THE LABEL

The second positive sign is if the supplement lists the active ingredient you want, along with the amount. For herbs, we recommend products that give the species name in the ingredients. The most well-tested forms of echinecea, for example, are Echinacea purpurea, Echinacea angustifolia and Echinacea pallida, in that order; other species may or may not be as useful. The label should also mention from which part of the plant the active ingredient is extracted. For echinacea, the roots are most commonly used, but other parts of the plant can successfully provide active ingredients as well. Most important, the label should give both the name and amount of each active ingredient. For example, a standardized echinacea extract that reads "4% echinosides (10 mg)" per 250 mg capsule gives both the active ingredient (echinosides) and how much is there (10 mg). Even for crude herb preparations, it's nice to know how much active ingredient you're getting.

The same is true for minerals; examples of clear language include "magnesium 100 mg," "100 mg magnesium (as aspartate)" and "100 mg magnesium from aspartate." In all three cases, it's obvious that 100 mg of actual magnesium is present.

On the other hand, "100 mg magnesium aspartate" would be confusing, as it's not clear whether you're getting 100 mg of actual mineral or 15 mg of mineral plus 85 mg of aspartate. In fact, the last interpretation is correct. That's because 85% of the weight of this particular compound is the aspartate, which is much heavier than magnesium. Because most people would assume they were getting 100 mg of the mineral itself, no green lights for products where the amount of active ingredient is hard to figure out.

Choosing vitamins is less complicated than choosing herbs and even minerals. That's because nearly all of the world's vitamins come from several multinational drug companies that provide extremely high-quality products to supplement manufacturers at low cost. Although vitamins can be extracted from food or other natural material, doing so is prohibitively expensive, which is why supplement companies sell synthetic varieties almost exclusively. One exception is Vitamin E, of which a natural-source version can be made using a byproduct of the vegetable oil industry. Natural-source Vitamin E appears in the ingredients as d-alpha tocopherol (acetate or succinate), while synthetic Vitamin E is dl-alpha tocopherol (acetate or succinate). Both forms of the vitamin are safe and effective against free radicals, with the natural form being more potent and the synthetic form being less expensive.

GREEN LIGHT NO. 3: PILLS THAT DISSOLVE

To be absorbed, a supplement must first dissolve in the gut. To ensure that the pill's contents are both released and well-dispersed for absorption, most supplement companies do disintegration and dissolution testing on their products. This helps companies avoid creating "bedpan pills," or tablets that pass through consumers' bodies intact and unabsorbed. Although listing the dissolution time on the label isn't essential (especially for capsules and powders for which dissolution isn't as great of an issue), it's nice to have, especially for tablets that might be harder to dissolve. These include those that have "pharmaceutical glaze," "food glaze," "ethyl cellulose" or "enteric coating" mentioned on the label, as well as those containing binders like cellulose.

If you have doubts about a coated tablet's ability to dissolve in time for digestion, look for a statement such as "laboratory-tested to dissolve within 60 minutes or meets USP <2040> disintegration" on the label. Barring that, you can ask for the product's dissolution time; an educated response from a company on this topic serves the same purpose. (Often, bottles will list a toll-free number you can call with this sort of question.) Either method will reassure you that the company does dissolution and disintegration testing on its products; this will generally be the case for large, well-known supplement companies, even if they sell hard tablets containing the above binders or coatings. Assuming they're well-equipped, the company can improve the breakdown of hard pills using disintegrants or other means.

GREEN LIGHT NO. 4: TIMED-RELEASE TECHNOLOGY (USEFUL FOR SOME)

Some supplement labels say "timed-release," which means the product releases its contents more slowly or more uniformly than would otherwise be possible. A more even flux of nutrients into the blood can sometimes improve their absorption or uptake into tissues and extend the duration of short-lived supplements such as melatonin and Vitamin C. Controlled-release melatonin more closely mimics your body's release pattern, whereas regular melatonin acts so briefly in the body that it can cause reawakening four hours later when the sedative effect wears off. With timed-release B vitamins, you have the advantage of fewer daily doses.

Whether timed release is an advantage for you depends on the supplement and what you're using it for. If you have trouble falling asleep but nothing wakes you up once you're asleep, a sustained-release supplement for insomnia might not be right for you, especially if it makes you groggy in the morning. Timed-release supplements also cost extra, although they can be worth it for brief-action supplements like water-soluble vitamins. Timed-release technology can delay the release of Vitamin C and other fast-acting supplements by as much as several hours; more than that, and the pill would be lost from the body due to the inevitable passage of food through the intestines.

GREEN LIGHT NO. 5: CONSIDER ALLERGIES OR SENSITIVITIES

To find a product that meets your needs, consider any sensitivities you might have. If you're allergic to nuts, it's a good idea to find out if the company uses nuts anywhere in its manufacturing process, even for other products. If they make nutritional bars that contain nuts, for example, trace amounts of nut antigens may be present in the product you're interested in.

Gluten, a protein from wheat, can cause problems for people suffering from celiac disease, and a small minority is allergic to certain foods. As a result, many supplement labels say "hypoallergenic" or specify that the product contains no wheat, gluten, com or dairy, for example, all of which are common allergens. Even if you aren't allergic, it's nice to know that friends, family or guests who may have a food allergy won't suffer a reaction if they take your supplement by mistake. Although you can't avoid milk antigens in whey protein or salmon antigens in fish oil, it's good to have at least some of this type of information on the label.

A milk sugar called lactose has been largely removed from dairy-based supplements, including whey- and casein-containing protein powders as well as colostrum. Although lactose doesn't cause allergic reactions, it can cause diarrhea and gas in some people, so check for lactose in health drinks if you have this problem.

GREEN LIGHT NO. 6: ABSENCE OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS AND TESTING

Supplements that are suitable for vegetarians will generally say, contains no animal products" or "kosher vegetarian" on the label (kosher also indicates the supplement conforms to Jewish dietary laws). Because capsule gelatin originates from the beef industry, it itself is an animal product and supplements that contain it should be viewed as animal-derived. Companies that sell products containing gelatin list it either in the ingredients or under the heading "Other Ingredients."

Pharmaceutical, supplement and cosmetic companies often test their formulations on animals to rule out sensitivities or allergic reactions in their human customers. To find out if a product has been animal-tested, check the label for a disclaimer, check the company's website or contact a company spokesperson. Not all products are tested, especially those containing well-known or low-risk ingredients.

GREEN LIGHT NO. 7: NO ARTIFICIAL COLORING/FLAVORING

Because modem food colorings are so safe, concerns over artificial coloring are mostly theoretical. Allergic reactions or hypersensitivity to FDA-approved coloring agents in use by the supplement industry are rare to nonexistent, and all colorants have been screened for cancer-causing effects. In addition, most artificial coloring in the American diet comes from food and soft drinks, with amounts from dietary supplements being generally small by comparison. Just the same, you might be more comfortable seeing "no artificial colors or flavors" on the label. Removal of these additives certainly can't hurt, and does display the supplement industry's willingness to respond to customer concerns.

GREEN LIGHT NO. 8: LONG SHELF LIFE

One ingredient found in almost all tablet or capsule containers is a desiccant -- cotton batten or a small canister containing a harmless, water-absorbing compound. The desiccant is there to take up moisture from the air inside the container and hence keep it away from the pills (dry pills have a longer shelf life). After opening the supplement container, chuck the cotton batten or desiccant canister; it has served its purpose and can't hold much more moisture anyway. We don't recommend adding rice granules, which adds microorganisms and starch to the container. In fact, many companies exclude starch and sugar sources from non-coated products to help them resist spoilage under moist conditions.

The absence of unnecessary oils can also help ensure a long shelf life for some products. Oily supplements may become rancid or peroxidized unless stabilized in some way. For example, companies bond an acetate or succinate molecule to Vitamin E to stabilize it. Supplement companies may also include a common food preservative or two in their supplements from time to time, but usually not. Light-sensitive supplements like SAMe and melatonin need to be in an opaque container; the best SAMe manufacturers even wrap the tablets in individual foil casings.

Check the label for any storage instructions from the manufacturer. Often, they'll read, "keep tightly closed in a cool, dry place." That means keeping your supplements away from any heat sources, as heat will almost always reduce shelf life. Common heat sources include refrigerators and other household appliances, toaster ovens and personal computers. As for moisture, you can avoid it by storing your supplements in a watertight medicine cabinet and ensuring that all bottle tops are screwed on tightly. Otherwise, keep them out of the bathroom or any rooms where a vaporizer is used regularly.

Some supplements will nonetheless need to be stored under special conditions. For example, oily or food-derived supplements such as flaxseed oil or fish oil may or may not need to be refrigerated -- check the label. Adding drops of Vitamin E won't improve storage times, as the antioxidant action of commonly sold Vitamin E (acetate and succinate) must first be switched on by human digestive enzymes; otherwise it can't fight free radicals. Supplements containing live bacterial colonies may need to be refrigerated.

Because all of the above factors affect shelf life, the most straightforward way to tell how long a product will keep is to find its expiration date. Companies usually print the expiration date in credit-card format (for example, 03/04) on the bottom of the container or near the lower edge of the label, sometimes vertically. It may or may not be heralded by the words "Best By:" "Exp.:" or "Best Before:" and will generally appear next to a longer string of characters called the lot number, which companies use to trace any quality control concerns. A readable expiration date and lot number gives you a clear-cut way to feel more confident that the product is fresh and has a good shelf life. Supplement companies we know of invariably provide this information, so products with no lot number or expiration date are of uncertain origin and shouldn't be used.

REFERENCES

The United States Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, Dietary Supplements. Tips for the savvy supplement user: making informed decisions and evaluating information. January 2002, .gov/~dms/basic and ./~dms/.

O'Neil, ., Smith. A. (eds.) The Merck index: an encyclopedia of chemicals, drugs & biologicals (13th ed). Whitehouse Station, NJ: Merck & Co., 2001.

Berkow, R. (ed.) The Merck manual of medical information. New York. NY: Pocket Books, Simon & Schuster. 1997.

Brian Rowley has a bachelor's degree in dietetics, a master's in neuromuscular physiology and pharmacology, and has done doctoral work in biochemistry.