Swallowing a pill is easier than following a balanced diet, and that’s where we should start. Only after implementing healthy lifestyle changes, you can think about supporting the body with ready-made preparations. It is also a good idea to perform laboratory tests before implementing supplementation. The order for them can be written by a doctor or it can be done privately. Then we will find out, for example, about the levels of iron, vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B7, B12, C, E, folic acid, magnesium, potassium or sodium. But to the point, what if we have considered the indications and want to supplement, how to choose a good quality supplement so that it is both safe and effective?
Plant-based supplement
Plant preparations should be considered separately due to the distinctiveness and extraordinary complexity of elements that may affect their effectiveness compared to synthetic preparations. In the case of this type of supplements, the type of plant product used is important, and whether it is a whole herb, some part of it, or maybe an extract or oil. The extraction of the active ingredient from plants requires appropriate treatment. The solvent used for extraction (e.g. water, alcohol, glycerol) is also important, although such information is rarely found on the product packaging. However, it should be provided by the manufacturer. The method of harvesting, cultivation and the type of protective products used are also important. It is the responsibility of manufacturers to include on the packaging indications such as DER (although this is not always), country of origin, grinding of the plant. Many herbs also have proven therapeutic effects – they are described in pharmacopoeial monographs or prepared by the Committee for Medicinal Products of Plants of the European Medicines Agency. The dietary supplement is not a medicine, hence it does not contain doses with a therapeutic effect.
DER (Drug Extract Ratio) value – means the ratio of the amount of substance used to the amount of processed product obtained (e.g. DER 8:1 means that 1 gram of extract was obtained from 8 grams of the plant, which means that the higher this ratio is, the value of the obtained extract increases).
As I mentioned earlier, the best quality products are those with a standardized amount of active ingredient in the preparation. However, it is worth remembering that the active substances of plants have a slightly different name than the plant itself, hence, also for turmeric, they are – curcuminoids, for pepper – piperine, for oregano – quartiqueking, for ginkgo biloba – gynoflavonoglycosides. And it is in relation to them that we should check the dosages of the supplement, not to the plant itself.
Composition – food additives
As with food, the best supplements are those that contain the shortest possible composition (unless it is a combination preparation). The easiest way to make a choice is to follow the rule that the fewer names we don’t understand, the better – but pay attention to the active substances I wrote about above. Bulking agents, anti-caking agents, and preservatives are usually unnecessary and only allow manufacturers to save money, but they do not have a beneficial effect on our health.
Daily intake
Make sure you don’t exceed your daily requirement for the ingredient. It is helpful to pay attention to the NRV value and the DER values described above. The demand for nutrients can also be checked on the basis of tables included in the Nutrition Standards for the Polish population – at the moment the latest version is the one from 2020. If in doubt, it is advisable to consult a pharmacist, doctor or dietician.
Pay attention to details. Example: preparation 1: contains 653 g of magnesium citrate including 110 g of magnesium, preparation no. 2: contains 110 g of magnesium citrate including 16 g of magnesium. Think about which of the preparations will provide more magnesium… Preparation no. 2.
NRV – Nutrient Reference Value
NRV (Nutrient Reference Value) is an indicator that shows how much we cover the demand for a given ingredient in a daily portion of the preparation. It has been developed for minerals and vitamins (not for plant extracts) on the basis of adult nutrition standards developed in the European Union, the USA and on the basis of the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO).
This value refers to the average adult and is approximate. Hence, it should also be remembered that every body is different and a lot depends on your lifestyle, so the value should be treated as a guideline, not a specific guideline.
Supplement Form and Packaging
The quality of the supplement is also influenced by the quality of the packaging used. Dark glass bottles will better protect the active substances, especially in liquid form, compared to plastic ones. It’s not that the plastic ones won’t protect the product, but their thickness must be appropriate, which unfortunately cannot be checked with the naked eye and we have to trust the manufacturer’s assurances.
What should I choose: tablets, capsules or liquid form/powder? The answer to this question is not simple. When comparing preparations with the same composition (good composition), it will not matter much which form we choose. You can then choose the one that is simply the most convenient for you to supplement. However, it should be remembered that it is a liquid/powder that will contain the least amount of additives. The capsules will contain “something” that the capsule is made of, the best solutions are lanolin or cellulose or hemicellulose. Tablets, on the other hand, usually have to contain “something” that makes it maintain its compact form, often it is gelatin, starch gruels, gum arabic.
Quality Certifications
At the moment, there is no national or international certificate of quality of supplements, hence all quality certificates issued are on a small scale. You can pay attention to them, but they should not be a determinant of whether to buy or not a given preparation. It is worth paying attention especially to those issued by chemical laboratories unrelated to a given manufacturer.
The company’s position on the market and price
It is not about the recognizability of the company, although it can also indicate the quality of the products, but whether the company checks its supplements and how it represents them. If we hear that a given preparation is a miracle for everything, then unfortunately it will not be like that. The main indicator of quality may be whether the manufacturer also sells medicines. In such cases, it is more likely that they also care about the quality of the supplements.
When it comes to price, either too cheap or horrendously expensive preparations are not worth the money. If a given manufacturer conducts multi-level marketing, it is known that the price will increase. However, this has nothing to do with the quality of the supplement. Companies that spend more money on the quality of preparations than on their marketing are valuable.
In addition, when choosing a supplement, it is worth paying attention to the cost of, for example, monthly supplementation, not the package itself. For example, there are 30 tablets in one package – the manufacturer recommends 1 per day, in the second case the package has 50 tablets, but the recommended daily dose is 3 tablets. Which, in the end, gives a one-month or in the second case a 16-day treatment. Decide for yourself what is more “profitable”.