How to choose broadspectrum nutritional supplements

September 10, 11:50 PMSeattle Natural Health ExaminerLilian Mavridara

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With a plethora of multivitamin supplements in the market and many new products emerging every day, how can you determine which one is good and will actually deliver what it promises?

Here are a few guidelines to consider when choosing a high quality broadspectrum (multivitamin/mineral blend) supplement:

• Company follows current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP): this means that the products are made according to strict standards for manufacturing safety and product quality. 
• Company follows pharmaceutical-grade versus food-grade GMPs.  Similar to guidelines in many other countries, pharmaceutical GMP are federally mandated guidelines for the production of over-the-counter drugs; they are considerably stricter than the food GMP followed by many United States supplement manufacturers. Pharmaceutical GMPs cover virtually every aspect of drug manufacturing, including facility design and maintenance, raw material specification and control, supplier validation, product design and testing, employee training, process control, finished product release, and complaint handling.

In other words, when you take a supplement manufactured by a company following pharmaceutical GMPs, you are assured that what is on the label is in every tablet in the amounts listed, and is guaranteed for quality, potency and bioavailability.

• Product is approved by the NSF International Dietary Supplement verification process. Specifically in that all the ingredients listed on the label are actually in each and every tablet. NSF is an independent, not-for-profit organization that helps protect consumers by certifying products and writing standards for food, water, air and consumer goods.
• Products are manufactured and monitored in a facility that has been certified to be in compliance with GMP requirements set forth in NSF/ANSI Standard 173-2006, Dietary Supplements by NSF International. 
• Product is certified by the NSF International Certified for Sport™ program.  This program was created to meet the growing demands of athletes, coaches and all those concerned about banned substances in sports supplements.
• Product is rated highly in the NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements, available in bookstores and health food outlets. This guide covers over 1,500 US and Canadian supplements scientifically rated and compared based on 18 critical Health Support Criteria required to evaluate supplements.

Use these guidelines as you do your research to find a high quality product; your health deserves the best.

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