In a perfect world, we would get all the nutrients we need from our food. Unfortunately, we don’t even come close.
Most of us don’t even meet our daily requirements for essential vitamins and minerals from vegetables and fruits intake. Supplements are a practical way to make sure we get the nutrients we need to help promote total-body wellness. But the real struggle is how to know which supplements we should actually be taking and which ones are just costly empty promises.
WE HAVE TO READ LABELS
The front of the package is like a dating profile in Tinder! It is trying to woo you with all of its best attributes. Turn it over to see what it ISN’T saying on the front.
Not all supplements or vitamins are created equally! Some supplements contain ingredients (additives) to help preserve their appearance and effectiveness. They aren’t all unhealthy, but we don’t need them either.
INGREDIENTS TO AVOID
The most common additives you DON’T want to see in your ingredient list:
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Silicon Dioxide (anti-caking agent)
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Potassium Sorbate (preservative)
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Titanium Dioxide (whitening agent)
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Artificial Colors and Flavors
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Binders and Fillers - such as rice flour, lactose, sucrose, malitol, sorbitol, xylitol - (used to hold ingredients together or add bulk to products)
JUST GOOGLE IT
A lot of people are just grabbing stuff off the shelf because they heard about it on TV or because a famous uploaded on Instagram.
But that’s not enough…
If it lists any ingredient you don’t know, research them to make sure it’s not an unnecessary additive. Poor-quality supplements can be full of additives that block your body from absorbing the active ingredient (the nutrients you paid for).
We are living in the information age - Take advantage of it!
LOOK FOR INGREDIENTS PROVEN TO WORK!
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You want to know the reason why every single ingredient is inside your supplement.
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You want to know whether it has been clinically proven to support health.
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You want to know if you’re getting exactly what you expect and what you paid for.