Choosing the Right Vitamins

Shop Carefully

Because there is no independent guarantee of purity or potency, it’s your responsibility to select brands with a reputation for quality.

Choose the Brand

If you’re accustomed to taking a ‘one-a-day’ type of supplement, you may be surprised to learn that a high-potency formula (with vitamins and minerals at higher levels) may require taking more than one pill a day. In fact, with some brands you’ll need to consume anywhere from two to six capsules daily. Be sure to read the ingredients and serving size on any label carefully to calculate how many tablets are necessary to obtain the nutrient levels right for you.

When you are evaluating different brands, don't worry if you can't find a supplement that exactly matches the amounts you are aiming for. Unlike drugs dosages, where exactness can be crucial, vitamin and mineral intakes need not be precise, because nutrients work far more gradually than drugs do. Also, these supplemental nutrients are interacting with and building upon the nutrients you obtain from food. Simply try to choose a supplement with dosages close to what your doctor recommends.

Go Natural

Choose natural versions, rather than chemically synthesized versions, when buying fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and beta-carotene.

Avoid Additives

Avoid additives like coal tars, artificial coloring, preservatives, sugars, starch, and other ingredients that you simply don’t need with your vitamin.

Don’t Worry About Chelated Minerals

Chelation means the minerals have an added protein to enhance absorption. But they’re often more expensive, and the studies on whether they really are absorbed faster than nonchelated minerals are sparse.

Don’t Go for Time-Release Formulations

Don’t worry about time-release formulations. These supplements may actually take longer to be absorbed and provide you with lower blood levels of the vitamin or mineral.