How to Check if your Vitamins and Supplements are Safe

If you’re one of those certified fitness fanatics, then chances are you’ll be up to date on the latest vitamins and supplements available in the market. But then, even if you are taking the best and most effective supplements known to man, are you absolutely sure that they are safe and right for you? As with anything that can pose as a major risk to your health and quite possibly your life, the vitamins and supplements you take will need to undergo careful scrutinization and thorough evaluation.

To start, you need to determine why you need supplements to begin with and what health benefits it can give you. While the health benefits of supplements can range from providing your body with vitamins and minerals to aid in weight loss to keeping you energized and hydrated, you will still need to check if there is pertinent research backing up the supplement’s health claims, the recommended doses for it, how long you need to take it, its side effects (if any) and if you need to stop taking it in the event of surgery. You will also need to ask yourself what best form of vitamins to take and what are the best brands to buy in terms of product safety, quality and effectiveness.

Once you know why you need supplements, it’s now time to see what form of vitamins and supplements is best. As you may already know, supplements are available in pills, capsules, liquids and powders. They are rated according to how fast they are absorbed by the body and how quickly they take effect. If you’re after weight loss supplements for example, you can try out D-Fine8, a supplement in powder form that you mix with water and take twice a day – once in the morning before you exercise and once in the afternoon before dinner. The best thing about supplements like these is that they come in a variety of flavors like grape, pina colada, mango and watermelon which make them easier to ingest. Also, since it is in powder form, the nutrients are easily absorbed by the body and thus, help reduce your appetite, increase your metabolism and help keep you energized.

Powdered supplements are also considered most effective by body builders and judging from the amount of protein powders that abound in the market these days, you can tell just how effective they are in terms of building muscle. The three most common protein powders body builders take are in the form of whey, soy and casein. Body builders prefer brands like Dymatize because the amount of BCAA’s or Branched Chain Amino Acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine) that they get per serving of these protein powders helps maintain their muscle mass and prevent muscle breakdown during training.

However, this is not to say that pills, capsules and liquids are not as effective. Pills have been known to be ineffective and even potentially life-threatening if exposed to stomach acids. You also need to take supplements in liquid form if you have difficulty swallowing pills or capsules. While the FDA does regulate supplements, it treats them more like food than drugs. A supplement can only be considered unsafe and removed from the market only if there have been proved adverse effects which are usually not evident after a few years of use.

The bottom line here is simple: use supplements only after doing research and exercising caution. If you eat a diet of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, the safest supplements are multivitamins with no more than 100% of the daily value of most vitamins and minerals. Avoid high doses as high doses of supplements can disrupt our biochemical pathways especially if you are taking any form of Vitamin A, D, E and K since they build up your body and can become toxic. Always consult a qualified doctor, pharmacist and registered dietician before you take any supplements for the first time or when changing your supplements. Find out more about safe supplements you can take and remember that it’s always better to be safe than sorry.