Where should I buy my vitamins/supplements?
June 28th, 2014Many patients bring in bottles of vitamins and supplements on their office visits and ask me for advice on whether they should take them. Here are some tips to make sure you are getting what your body needs and nothing else.
- Make sure the vitamins or supplements are made by a reputable manufacturer. I would trust vitamins that are made by a major pharmaceutical company that also makes medications that are FDA approved.
- Do not buy from a place or manufacturer that also sells “body building supplements” such as creatine. Many of these tend to be made by small factories where the quality may be inconsistent. Some studies have shown that the pills may contain too little or too much of the nutrient they claim on the label.
- For supplements made from plants or animals, such as fish oil, make sure they are from organic sources. For example, some people with high cholesterol take fish oil supplements, but many of them are made from fish which may contain mercury. By ingesting excess mercury, you could be doing more harm to your body as mercury is a known to be toxic to the nervous system. Herbal supplements are like concentrated versions of the natural plants. If any of them were grown with pesticides and fertilizers, you will have an exponential amount of those dangerous chemicals in your body as well.
- Check with your primary care provider or herbal medicine practitioner before you start any vitamins or supplement. Your healthcare provider may be aware of drug interactions with the medications you’re taking. They can also help you identify potential allergic reactions, or ingredients that may be dangerous. I recall one time when a patient brought in a bottle of an herbal supplement that she had been taking and says she developed heartburn around the same time as when she started. I researched the supplement and found the main ingredient was derived from the poison ivy! After she stopped the supplement, the heartburn went away immediately.
