Are all natural supplements created equal?

BY: DR. MELINA ROBERTS

No.

At this point in time there is no regulatory body that regulates what companies put on the label is what they put in the product.  This means that a product can have a really nice label but we cannot be 100% certain that what companies put on the label is what goes into the product.

Professional brand products do quality assurance testing on their products which means that what they say is on the label is what is in the product.  This is done with third party evaluations of the products.  This means that they are put together with the same precision as pharmaceuticals.

It is also important to us that the ingredients used in supplements are of the highest quality.  This means that the ingredients are from natural sources and has a high percentage of active ingredients.  For example, a supplement can say Vitamin C on the label, but is that vitamin C from a natural source or is it from a synthetic source?  Vitamin C from a natural source will be more bioavailable to the body, easier to metabolize and therefore achieve more reliable results.

At Advanced Naturopathic Medical Centre we recommend professional brand products that do quality assurance testing, use the highest quality ingredients in the most bioavailable forms.  This ensures better, more reliable results.