Did you know that about 90 percent of Americans have some kind of nutritional deficiency?
Taking dietary supplements such as vitamins and minerals is an effective way to prevent and correct nutritional deficiencies and support your immune system, brain function, muscle and bone strength, and much more.
But when you’re choosing what supplements to buy, it’s very important to understand what makes a high quality supplement. Unfortunately, many of the supplements on the market, particularly from generic brands, are low quality, rendering them much less effective and wasting the money you spend on them.
Plus, anytime you put something into your body, you should ideally want to ensure that it’s safe for you to consume and that it actually works, right?
Luckily, there are a few helpful guidelines you can use to determine the quality of a vitamin or supplement you’re planning on purchasing. At PALM Health, all of the supplements we sell check these three boxes:
1. They are highly bioavailable and absorbable.
Every substance, including vitamins, minerals, and supplements, has a level of bioavailability, which is the proportion or concentration of the substance that actually enters your bloodstream when taken into the body. The higher the amount that’s absorbed into your circulation, the more active the effect of the supplement will be.
Thus, you want your vitamins and supplements to be highly bioavailable, so you’re getting the greatest effect.
Unfortunately, many generic-brand supplements do not absorb well due to low bioavailability, and therefore don’t work as well as higher-quality supplements.
At PALM Health, our supplements are known for their high bioavailability and additional attributes that make them much more effectively absorbed by the body. For example, our PALM Active B is a B-complex vitamin that comes in an already activated form (since B vitamins have to be activated after digestion in order to be properly used by your body), which allows your body to absorb these vitamins more quickly and easily.
Some of our supplement brands at PALM Health also produce the vitamins with a special coating on the pills that regulate an accurate time-release. This means that the supplement is formulated to break down and be absorbed in the body when and where it needs to be for the best possible effect.
Without this mechanism, most generic-brand supplements are simply broken down in the stomach, where they are not useful or properly absorbed.
2. They are made with good quality raw ingredients.
Another thing to look for in the vitamins and supplements you buy is the quality of the raw ingredients. Many generic brand supplements contain a high percentage of artificial fillers and other low quality ingredients, which prevents you from getting the highest benefit from them.
For example, check the label of your vitamin bottle. If mineral ingredients like magnesium, zinc, or copper are listed in an oxide form (“magnesium oxide,” “zinc oxide,” etc.), it’s a safe bet that they are lower quality. This is because the oxide forms of these minerals are less expensive for manufacturers, but you won’t get nearly as much benefit from them as you would from the non-oxide form.
Similarly, many generic fish oil supplements are not purified, which means the supplement can contain heavy metals and pesticides. The best fish oils, such as the options we have at PALM, should be purified.
3. They are tested and approved by a third party.
You always want to look for vitamins, minerals, and supplements that have been third-party tested. This means that the vendor who created the supplement sent the supplement off to a third party for testing and analysis to ensure that it truly lives up to the quality standards that the vendor claims it does.
Some generic brands do their own quality control testing without sending it to a third party, but these results can be easily manipulated or tweaked when coming from the brand itself. So, some products may not be as high-quality as they claim to be.
At PALM, all of our vitamins and supplements have multiple third-party quality control checks throughout their formulation process.
Not only that, but many of our supplement vendors and suppliers go far above and beyond the requirements of third-party testers in order to provide the highest quality product possible.
In short, vitamins and supplements that are highly bioavailable, made with good quality raw ingredients, and undergo rigorous testing are always the best options. Not only are they better for your health by keeping you from taking in artificial ingredients and toxins, but they also ensure the most effective results.
Spending money on generic-brand supplements that are likely low quality won’t get you any health benefits, so it’s always worthwhile to invest in brands that are proven to work best.
To browse our wide array of high-quality supplements, vitamins, and minerals, check out our online store or come explore our options on site.
PALM Health is an innovative, whole-person medical and wellness company that helps people reach and maintain well-being. Our experts in medicine and wellness empower people to transform their health, become more resilient, and feel their personal best in mind and body.
