Are Premium Supplement Brands Worth the Price?

I’m frequently asked if the premium supplement brands I carry are really worth the price and why these brands don’t look familiar.

Most of us are wary of brands such as Centrum, but beyond that, we’re generally reliant on advertising and product display.  Doctors don’t usually know the differences between formulas any more than grocery clerks do.

Premium supplement brands rarely sell through retailers.  They’re meant to be sold at natural health clinics that stock the very best:  the best form of the product, the best dose, and the correct combination of ingredients.  If you’re investing in restoring your health, quality in everything matters.

Some premium brands also end up on Amazon – an issue for those of us with online stores who carefully study and select the brands we carry…. I’ve spent hundreds of hours with supplement companies learning the unique chemistry behind their products.  It’s much more complicated than you think!

How to buy supplements?  Find someone you trust – like me – to do the detective work for you! Someone who uses the products clinically and personally.

5 Reasons Why Premium Supplements Are Worth the Price

Here’s a short course in choosing supplements….

1).  All products with the same name are not equal.  

You know the difference between grass-fed beef and feed-lot beef, right?  Supplements are the same way. Most vitamins and minerals can be formulated in different ways – zinc picolinate vs. zinc sulfate for example. They work differently and are sourced and dosed differently.

If a multi just says “zinc”, odds are it’s zinc oxide, a form that is barely digested in the gut and yields only a tiny bit of usable zinc.  Same with calcium…. Most companies use Calcium Carbonate which is basically Limestone and not absorbable.  Calcium Citrate or HydroxyApatite are much more usable. A 200 mg. dose of one may yield 10 times what 200 mg. of the other yields.

The advice to take 1200 mg. of calcium a day can actually be harmful.  If you’re taking calcium carbonate, you might need 1200 mg. to get 150 mg. out of it.  But not with other forms of calcium which are more absorbable.  1200 mg. of Calcium Citrate is too high a dose by itself.

That’s where a really good Multi like my Pure Nutrient 950 with K2 is helpful – it’s got the co-factors needed to prevent that calcium from forming kidney stones, gall stones and hardening of the arteries.

In order to digest calcium, we also need adequate levels of Vitamins D3, A and K2.  Fortunately, I sell a high quality supplement in my wellness store that combines the three.  Find it here.

2).  Premium supplement companies invest in rigorous third party testing.  

They verify the ingredients on the label are actually in there AND still potent (for probiotics).  Studies show popular store brands often don’t contain what they say.

3).  Cheaper brands have more additives.

Nationally advertised brands often contain a lot of fillers and additives such as Magnesium Stearate, corn starch, binders, glues, colors and “flowing agents”.   Premium supplement companies can be pretty strict about avoiding these, and, like Premier Research Labs or Pure Encapsulations, have no ingredient other than the vegetable capsule and the herb or mineral it contains.

4).  Premium brands know how to combine ingredients to get the best effect.  

You’ll see quite a few products from Systemic Formulas in my online store for this reason.  Systemics were created by a master herbalist who actually invented a technology to read the “energy” of a given formula. When he finally got the right combination, the number would soar to infinity!  A pinch of this, a change in that, and the product becomes a proven winner.

To sustain this, many supplement companies use sophisticated testing on EVERY batch of raw material to ensure it’s the correct quality.

5).  The better the product, the better it works.

I’ve seen many cases over the decades where simply changing from one form or supplier of a product to another made all the difference. I see this a lot with the popular “NOW” brand which does not muscle-test well on most people.  It’s cheap and sold everywhere, but if it isn’t going to help you, don’t waste your money.

6).  You can learn a lot on company websites.

If you want to make better choices, study the websites of products I carry.  I buy from over 100 companies, and they all provide free information on topics such as why Co Q 10 as Ubiquinone is the wrong form and Co Q 10 as Ubiquinol is the right form. See what trusted providers carry.  But, beware of privately labelled products. Anyone can buy from NOW or other “mid-rate” companies and put their own labels on.  I don’t do this as I want people to learn the best brands to look for.

I’ve recently added new products to my online store and have started to group others in Multi-Packs at 10% off. Click over and see what’s new! And step away from that Mouse and avoid the discounters if you’re ready to invest in yourself!

Love, Beverly