What to Look for in Supplements (Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs, etc.)

Do the vast majority of people need supplements?  In my opinion, YES.  Why?  No matter how healthily you eat, the food today isn't what it was 100 years ago.  It may be grown in poor soil, it may have sat on the shelf for days, and you may not be getting the variety you need, especially if you have a poor diet of fast foods and processed foods.  So you need to fill in the gaps with a good multivitamin and perhaps a variety of other supplements to support different parts of your body, such as your joints, heart, circulation, brain, immune system, etc.

There are people who have told me, "why spend money on all those supplements, you're going to die anyway?"  Well, there is a big difference between living healthy and living sick before your time is up, not to mention you can add many years of life to your life by being healthy.  I've mentioned in prior posts the difference it has made in my life (eliminated countless health problems).  Assuming you want the best health, what should you do besides eating an organic whole foods diet?

Take the best supplements you can afford.  The first choice would be food grown vitamins and minerals.  Next would be food-based multivitamins.  And finally, a good general multivitamin.  Make sure you check "other ingredients."  If it contains talc, polysorbate 80, fructose, HFCS, artificial sweeteners, don't buy it - the vitamins and minerals are also likely to be in poor forms that aren't absorbed well.  If vitamin E is listed as dl-alpha ________, don't buy that multi.  It should be d-alpha tocopherol (without the "l").  Mixed tocopherols (alpha, beta, gamma, delta) are better.

If you need calcium, always get it with magnesium, and take vitamin D3 and vitamin K1 and K2-MK7 with it.  Rather than go over every mineral and vitamin form available (for example, there are at least 6 forms of magnesium alone, and each does something a little different).  Some magnesium supplements contain several forms in one.  You can google "magnesium best form" and find the differences between each form.

As for other ingredients, the best other ingredient list is when there are none (in many organic herbal powders), other than perhaps the capsule, or a few other natural ingredients.  No soy, unless it's non-GMO soy.  Only organic herbs, if you take herbs.  I take several in powder form so there are no other ingredients and put them in my smoothie.  And only the L form (never DL, except for DLPA should you need that one) of amino acids, should you take those.  Below are a few supplement forms to look for in a good multi:

For zinc - OptiZinc
For Selenium - Seleno-methionine
For Chromium - Chromate
Vitamin D - as D3
Vitamin E - as D-Alpha (NOT dl-)

If your multi contains the above forms, it will most likely not have bad other ingredients and probably will have good forms of its other vitamins.  I would stay away from drugstore brands.  I  wouldn't get or take Centrum even if they paid me (has artificial color, talc, preservatives (BHT), dl-alpha form of vitamin E, and even Hydrogenated Palm Oil, plus other ingredients that I have no idea what they are in there for).

One of the other supplements I take is MSM.  Best form is OptiMSM (by Doctor's Best).  It has two ingredients - MSM and the capsule.  I take 1000mg for joint support, allergy support, and sometimes in higher doses for pain.

Hope you got some good information here.  Remember to always check ingredients for food or supplements.  Wishing you all best of health and happiness in 2018.