Supplements can help or harm you – What to look for
Sometimes a client will ask me for a cheaper version of a supplement that I either recommend or that tests well on them during a functional assessment. Why pay practitioner-only prices when you can, for example, buy Vitamin C for a quarter of the price at the chemist or supermarket?
Here’s the thing. Supplements are not all made the same. They can differ widely in terms of potency and effectiveness, and some can even harm your health.
Here are some key considerations when it comes to choosing your supplements
Are the raw ingredients of good quality?
Are they bioavailable to your body?
Does the manufacturing process reduce potency or cause toxicity?
What other ingredients have been added?
Quality
Are the raw ingredients tested for potency, mould, mycotoxins (mould by-products), heavy metals and pesticides? These substances can lead to allergic reactions, put more stress on your body when you’re aiming for support, and even damage your health
Are the raw ingredients derived from food, or are they grown artificially? For example, ascorbic acid, the most common form of Vitamin C, is manufactured by fermenting corn dextrose, artificial and not particularly usable. More about how synthetic supplements can burden your body below
Are the ingredients GMO or not? If so, there’s plenty of research showing that GMO foods damage our (and animals’) gut microbiome
Bioavailability
When supplements are food-derived, your body recognises them and can utilise them easily. We have evolved this way
Most supplements are made from man-made isolates, which are cheap. Apart from burdening the liver, our body has to work hard to identify it and convert it into a useable form. This depletes your body of nutrients and places an additional burden on an already overburdened system from our modern lifestyle
An example is Vitamin B. Co-enzymated Vitamin B is many times more available to your body, meaning it is readily useable. The dose you’ll need can often be lower
Some companies make bio-identical nutrients, which are cheaper and can work well for some people as they are low allergy, while for others, food-sourced ones work best. This might be a good compromise
Also, does the supplement contain the necessary co-factors so your body can use it easily without drawing other nutrients away from key processes? For example, if you take Calcium alone, your body will pull other minerals to make it useable
Manufacturing
Supplement companies that make a broad range of products often don’t have specialised machinery to protect an ingredient from the damage that light, heat and oxygen can do, which can make it toxic. For example, fish oil that gets too hot or is exposed to light can become oxidised and toxic because it now contains free radicals, which are associated with diseases like cancer
Has it been certified gluten, dairy, corn, soy, deadly nightshade and GMO free? Many cheaper supplements aren’t, yet these are common allergens that can damage health
Has testing been conducted during the manufacturing process? Good companies will test the raw ingredient, potency during processing and the end product
Other ingredients – excipients
Manufacturers don’t have to list the additional non-active ingredients they add like fillers, binders, flow agents, disintegrates, coatings and glazes, preservatives, colours and flavours. A large proportion of these are added in to protect processing equipment. Good supplement companies will tell you openly or list what they use. If a company doesn’t, there might be reason for concern
Independent testing shows that label accuracy can vary significantly. You may not even be getting what you pay for so go with a supplement provider that will provide you with their research
Australian supplements
In Australia, supplement manufacturers are not required to reveal which excipients they use or whether their ingredients are GMO
Many supplements made in Australia are synthetic
Contact the manufacturer for these details
The most damaging supplements to avoid
Folic Acid or synthetic B9. In many people it actually blocks your uptake of B9 by binding to receptors. Instead take Folate or Folinic Acid
Oxide forms of minerals as our body simply cannot use them
Fish or other oils that haven’t been rigorously tested for heavy metals and/or processing damage
Cyanocobalamin, a synthetic from of vitamin B12 that is cyanide based
Anything that is NOT certified GMO free
When buying a supplement, you get what you pay for. If in doubt about a product, contact the company and ask them what you want to know. Good ones will be open and happily show you their research. They’re proud of what they do.