Choosing Nutritional Supplements

As the world becomes more and more health conscious we are learning that it has become significantly more difficult to receive adequate amounts of vitamins minerals from our foods today than it was even just 20 years ago. This is because the land has become over farmed and overused leaving little vitamins and minerals for plants to absorb and pass on to the end user.

Unfortunately, even the knowledge of how to eat a more healthy diet has not led to individuals who choose to eat a healthier diet. Families don\’t often take the time to plan meals or to the necessary tasks required in order to purchase healthy foods and cook them. It is become much too easy to go to a drive up window or grab a processed meal at the grocery store.

Adding nutritional and dietary supplements to your daily regimen are meant to only augments your diet and not replace a healthy diet. The body is an incredible machine designed to function appropriately when fed well. In other words, we really are what we eat. You have to help the body along by providing it with a natural vitamins and minerals from raw fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

Nutritional supplements from vitamin and mineral pills can assist the body in working optimally but the body will always find nutrients from raw food more bioavailable than nutrients from a vitamin produced in the lab. Basically, this means that the body will be able to use the vitamins and minerals from raw food much better than it can a pill.

Multivitamins however are a necessary adjunct to raw foods. So what you need to look for when shopping for a dietary supplements?

The first thing is that these supplements were manufactured in a certified facility that has established quality assurance. Manufacturers should label their products as having third-party certification through National Products Association or National Sanitation Foundation or Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Vitamins should also have been tested and analyzed for purity, effectiveness and potency both in-house and independently by another laboratory. It is also helpful when the company has scientific research which backs up their claims including human trials. Vitamins which use natural ingredients native compounds from all organic sources are often more bioavailable than those which do not.

Look for a supplement that is gender specific because men and women have different overall health needs. You should also look for a supplement that has both morning and evening formulations since our bodies require vitamins and minerals throughout the day in different amounts. Try to purchase supplements in capsule form rather than tablets since capsules don\’t use as much filler and the nutrients are usually more efficiently absorbed.

It will be incredibly difficult in order to find a single products which meets all of these requirements but as a responsible consumer it is up to you to find a supplement which not only meets your specific health needs, but also meets specific quality controls.