How do you pick good vitamins?

I am taking several vitamin supplements. I hear all the time about how there are a lot of bad vitamins out there, but I really don't know for sure how to make sure I am taking good quality ones. What do you look for to make sure you are buying quality supplements? Is time release a good thing or does it not matter?

I take a multi-vitamin mineral and a separate calcium supplement that are trader Joe's brand. I take MSM powder from a company called "Trimedica." I got them at a place called the vitamin store. I have switched between brands of Glucosamine chondroitin. I was taking a time release from Trader Joe's, but just bought a chewable brand from the vitamin store. I thought the chewable one might get more absorption. I always buy brands that say no yeast, dyes etc. I figure thats good.

Any and all advice on supplement selection would be greatly appreciated.

__________________
I must not fear.Fear is the mind-killer.Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.I will face my fear.I will permit it to pass over me & through me.& when it has gone I will turn to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.Only I will remain.F.Herbert

Timed release is good.

With good product there's no need to go chewable over soluble.

Supplementing optimally is extremely complex - some things require more of another to absorb so you need to supplement the other too, for example. Outside stuff like glucosamine chrondratin and the big doses of vitamin b/c you are probably best with a quality multi supplement where some one else did all the science.

Getting what you are paying for is the tricky bit. Your supplier could source wholesale from the cheapest manufacturer and then package. They might buy packaged from a rep and he might not be as honest as he could be. It's tricky enough with prescription medicine and supplements are tougher. Your best bet is a known brand that has a vested interest in supplying quality and publicising any fakes and a local chemist that needs your long term business - and there are no guarantees you won't be taking flour and colouring even then.

If you want to keep up with the science you would need to subscribe to the journals and frankly most of the medical ones have very little time for supplements although they publish most of the studies either way.

__________________
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you
High mountains are a feeling
I don't need to sell my soul, he's already in me

“	With good product there's no need to go chewable over soluble.	”

ok, I thought maybe it would enter the stomach in powdered form and therefore be absorbed more.

“	Supplementing optimally is extremely complex - some things require more of another to absorb so you need to supplement the other too, for example.	”

Yeah, I have to take extra calcium because (as I previously mentioned in another thread) I have to take a shot that can cause bone density issues sometimes, but the other choice is surgery. And there are all sorts of issues like you mention with absorption with calcium supplements. I think I am finally getting a handle on that though.


Thanks for all the info.

__________________
I must not fear.Fear is the mind-killer.Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.I will face my fear.I will permit it to pass over me & through me.& when it has gone I will turn to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.Only I will remain.F.Herbert

personally I look for low daily percentages since I eat a good bit of salads and and a lot of fruit. I personally am only trying to take supplements to cover any possible gaps.

I find brand lines which meet my needs, without a lot of additives. I don't generally know about relative absorption quality. Am cautious about mega dosing. There's so much controversy. Time released is excellent.
I take a moderate multivitamin, and a couple of additional supplements.

Vitamin D-3 is the new darling. They're saying that D-3 is absorbed better than D-2. If one takes Calcium with D in there too, and a hefty multivitamin, it's good to check the amounts. I picked up a separate Vit D supplement and later realized that Vit A was included too. All added together, turned out okay. That's something you don't want to overdo.
There are tidbits I pick up from reading or asking around. Some Calcium pills have magnesium (mag. is better taken with Calcium). I don't want to go over 500mg of mag/day, or 1000-1200 mg of Calcium/day. Was told by doc that body can't absorb more than 500mg of Calcium supplement at a time, so one megadose pill is ridiculous unless there is a prescribed purpose for it. Megadose Vit D and Calcium can add up to kidney stones.

It's a nutritional jungle out there, lol.

__________________
"....if the mind stops with the sword with which a man is going to strike you, there will be an interval, and your own action will be lost." (Takuan Soho)
"I'm so proud, I've got tears flying out off my butt" (chief108)

SISU is my favorite. (Finnish word for inner strength)

__________________
"I say, if you want to find out where the road goes, get in the fast lane and hit the gas." Calvin and Hobbes

Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements
This book is the bomb.

__________________
"It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought the fool, than to open it and prove it so." KungFuTze
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." T. Geisel