Advice on supplements is springing up like mushrooms, so we all rush to the local drugstore and stock up on all sorts of jars. Because, if it doesn't help, it doesn't hurt. Right?
Unfortunately! Taking the wrong or poor-quality supplements can indeed damage your health.
If you go to a drugstore or pharmacy, you'll find a wide range of nutritional supplements. Prices range from a few euros to expensive. While it can be tempting to just grab a jar, "just to see if it does anything," there's little chance it will work. In fact, it can even be counterproductive. Low-quality supplements can contain many harmful substances that actually lead to imbalance. But how do you distinguish good products from bad ones?
Natural vs. Synthetic
Nutritional supplements that are synthetic are produced artificially. The nutrients do not come directly from their original, natural source (such as herbs and plants) but are factory-replicated. This is much cheaper than producing natural supplements, which is why about 90 percent of all supplements you find in stores are synthetic.
Inorganic vs. Organic
Another important indicator of high-quality nutritional supplements is how minerals are bound in the supplements. Plants absorb minerals from the soil and convert them into a highly absorbable, organic form. Scientists can replicate this process, which is called ActiVmins. This is more labor-intensive and therefore more expensive than adding inorganic minerals to a supplement. Inorganic literally means 'not organic,' or 'not belonging to the plant or animal kingdom.' In short, the artificial version. We digest this form much less effectively, and therefore it works less well.
You can recognize inorganic compounds on a label by the terms oxide, sulfate, and carbonate.
You can recognize organic compounds on a label by the terms amino acid chelate, citrate, gluconate, or plant-bound ActiVmins.
Emulsions
In the case of fat-soluble vitamins, it is important that the supplement is an emulsion. Because our blood is a watery fluid, and you cannot mix water with fat, fat-soluble vitamins are not easily absorbed. To enable absorption, an emulsion is created. The advantage of an emulsion is that the substances are well absorbed without burdening the liver and bile. This also makes them efficient and safe for people with, for example, a weak digestive system.
Natural emulsifier
An emulsion is obtained when you mix two substances that would not normally mix well with the help of an emulsifier. And with that emulsifier, it's important to look at which form has been used. There are natural emulsifiers, such as gum arabic. And there are synthetic emulsifiers, such as polysorbate 80. These are harmful to your health and should preferably be avoided.
Synergy
I briefly explained what synergy stands for earlier. It means that a specific combination of certain nutrients and herbs is better absorbed together than when all ingredients are taken separately. Sometimes a specific nutrient cannot be absorbed at all without its synergistic ingredient, also known as a co-factor.
A high-quality supplement will therefore always aim for synergistic combinations to develop a product that has the strongest possible effect and is absorbed as easily as possible.
Some common synergistic collaborations include:
Collagen & vitamin C
Turmeric & black pepper
Vitamin D3 & vitamin K2
Elemental amounts
The elemental quantity of a mineral is the effective amount of the mineral, without the excipient to which it is bound. Thus, there is a difference between something that contains 500 grams of zinc and 500 grams of pure zinc. In the first form, the substance to which zinc is bound is likely also counted, and the amount of zinc you ingest will be lower.
Also, ensure that the main ingredient is not diluted with fillers, such as fish oil with sunflower or olive oil. A high-quality fish oil contains only one hundred percent fish oil.
Labels
The label of nutritional supplements contains many signals that can indicate whether a product is of high or low quality. You can pay attention to these points:
· Make sure the product is free of excipients (E-numbers). These include sugar, lactose, soy, and chemical colorings, fragrances, and flavorings.
· Make sure there are no unhealthy fillers in the product. Healthy fillers are peas, lentils, and rice, which you can recognize by the names Pisum sativum, Lens esculenta, and Natural Nu-Flow.
· Make sure the product is free of ballast substances such as nickel, tin (titanium dioxide), and fluoride.
· Pay attention to the dosage: you often have to take much more of a low-quality supplement than a high-quality one.
· Check if there is a lot number or batch number on the packaging. Reliable companies use these to trace their product.
· Make sure allergens are indicated on the packaging.
· In the case of fish oil: check if it has been extensively tested for the presence of plastics, toxic substances, and heavy metals. The total TOTOX value (oxidation value) should be as low as possible (lower than 26).
