|
|
"You are not dressed for the day until you put on a smile" |
|
|
|
||
|
Supplements: |
||
How can you choose a good quality supplement? Are you really getting what you want, or is there a lot of additional ingredients that you cannot even pronounce. Here are some tips that can help you read the labels and improve the likelihood of getting a good quality supplement. The Pills Form: Start by checking the form of the pill. One factor to keep in mind when choosing a supplement is that capsules are usually better than tablets. Capsules generally do not have the binders used to make tablets. Tablets commonly contain flowing agents, lubricants, binders, allergenic fillers, disintegrants, and many times coloring agents. Tablets are formed by compressing the ingredients, which if to much pressure is used, then the tablet can become so hard that the body has a better chance of digesting a rock. Tablets can also have a coating to ease swallowing, mask taste or even enhance its' look. Many of these will be coated with substances like "vegetable protein coating" which usually is a corn protein, or a "glaze" which is basically shellac. I have even seen shellac listed in the ingredients list before. Another problem is if the coating substance is to thick, then the digestive process cannot get through the coating to the ingredients contained within the tablet. Since both capsules and tablets can have their supply of fillers it is important to get a good quality product. When looking for a quality supplement, what you pay for is usually what you get.
Absorbability: The fillers and binders that are mixed into products in most cases adversely effect how much of the supplement your body can absorb. There is a1985 study that shows how much less of an ingredient is available to the body after mixing it with a binder. The study showed that when an ingredient was mixed with magnesium stearate for 10 minutes, the dissolution percentage went from 80-90% with out stearates, down to 25% with magnesium stearate. When mixing times were extended to 28 minutes, less than 20% of the ingredient was available. Magnesium stearate, which is the most commonly used excipient, and stearic acid are an 18-carbon saturated fat. In fact, binding an ingredient to a stearate is how most time-release pills are made, since it takes the body longer to remove the substance from the saturated fat. Hypo-allergenic formulations: Many supplement products contain allergenic fillers or lubricants, but even if they do list "hypo-allergenic" on the label, they may still contain potential allergens. Substances such as lactose, sodium benzoate, BHT, BHA, or hydrogenated oils may still be in these products, because they are FDA-approved food additives and can be used in the manufacturing process or added to the raw materials. Lactose can cause bloating, nausea and diarrhea. Another source of allergens is from cross-contamination. This can occur in two basic ways, first is where the same machine is used to produce different supplements. Even If cleaned there is always still some residue left that then mixes with the new substance. The second way is from dust contamination, which occurs when the machines processing different materials are in the same room or do not have separate ventilation. Look on the label of any product, if it does not say "manufactured by", then it was not made in a facility owned and controlled by the company who markets it. If a company does not produce their own products, they can not control the quality, and may not even know what fillers, lubricants or binders were used or added. You may not know the exact quality of a supplement or how good the company is, but by checking the label you can usually separate a good quality supplement from an inferior and poorly absorbed product. Also be cautious of the marketing department, as it is their job to make the product seem unique and better than the next one. |
||
|
|
||
|
Visit this page often for up-to-date information that can help you live a healthier happier life! |
||
