Sunday, December 30, 2007

Comparative Guide To Nutritional Supplements

I walked into the health food store one day looking for some dietary supplements and my eyes glazed over. There were so many bottles and varieties to choose from. I was like a deer caught in the headlights. How do you know what is best for you? Does it really work and how much should I take? Can I take this with my current medications?

Consumerlab.com, a U.S.-based testing facility for dietary supplements, recently completed a study of 47 nutritional supplements and found that eleven U.S. multivitamin products—almost 25% of the products tested—failed their quality control tests. A number of the products were significantly short in the amount of important vitamins or minerals. Some contained too much lead and another failed to break apart properly for absorption. To review this report, log on to http://www.consumerlab.com/.

Finally, there is an authoritative guide to help consumers navigate the maze of nutritional products on the market today. It is the result of several years of effort by Biochemist Lyle MacWilliam. Mr. MacWilliam is a trained biochemist and kinesiologist and a contributing author to leading health publications. He has served, at the behest of Canada’s Minister of Health, on an expert advisory team for natural health products, which developed a new regulatory framework to ensure Canadians have access to safe, effective and high quality nutritional products. His wide-ranging consulting experience includes work for the British Columbia Science Council, Environment Canada, Human Resources Development Canada, and Health Canada. He has been invited by companies, organizations and individuals around the world to speak on nutrition and lifestyle issues, including presentations on adults’ and children’s supplementation needs, the prevention of degenerative disease, and the need for lifestyle change to promote optimal health.





Neither the author, Lyle MacWilliam, MacWilliam Communications Inc., nor NutriSearch Corporation have any fiduciary ties to any of the companies or products listed in the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements or its sister publications; nor do they profit in any way from the sale of nutritional products listed in the guide. In addition, production of the guide is not funded by any nutritional manufacturer or other public or private interest.

NutriSearch Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements starts at the beginning and leads you through a complex world where vitamins, minerals and antioxidants take center stage: your body.

Throughout our lives, normal processes within our cells create free radicals, or oxidants, which can damage the cells and the underlying DNA. Outside factors, including solar radiation, electrical currents, pollution, cleaning products and many other sources of oxidants also contribute oxidants to our systems. Over time, the damage created by these oxidants has been implicated in degenerative disease—cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and many others. It's this oxidative stress that lies at the heart of the aging process itself.

The guide starts with a detailed discussion of the current scientific evidence surrounding aging and supplementation, followed by a description of the criteria used to examine nutritional supplements and a summary of what constitutes a high-quality supplement.





The final section is devoted to full-color, detailed graphs of each product examined, along with their scores and five-star rating against our Blended Standard, created from the published recommendations of seven recognized nutritional authorities.

  • Over 1,500 US and Canadian supplements scientifically rated and compared


  • 18 critical Health supports Criteria required to evaluate supplements


  • 300 full-colour graphs so you can easily compare top-rated products


  • Scientific evidence that shows supplements can optimize health and retard the aging process.


  • Helps you to determine which supplement is best for you and your family, using a scientifically-based approach. After evaluating 2,000 different products, only 33 of them earned the NutriSearch five-star rating. Taking each product at face value was not good enough for the author. He wanted the manufacturers to prove that their labeled content was accurate. So each company was invited to prove their compliance through independent 3rd party analysis. Out of those, only 4 companies chose to step up to the plate for this final hurdle. Only 4 stand-alone products received the NutriSearch Gold Medal of Achievement.










  • Creating Wellness Alliance is sold through Chiropractic offices and cost $64


  • TrueStar Health is a Canadian company that markets through fitness centers $47


  • Douglas Laboratories markets through doctors offices and cost $57


  • Usana Health Sciences markets through independent distributors at $40

The top three combination products to receive the NutriSearch God Medal of Achievement are also listed below.



Usana Rated #1 Supplement In North America By Independent Lab




Usana Products are in the Physicians Desk Reference (for drugs)


Usana has been certified by the NSF and also received Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Registration through NSF International Dietary Supplements Certification Program. Click here to see the copy of the NSF/ANSI certificate. Click here to see GMP certificate.




Founded in 1992, USANA Health Sciences is a science-based company that develops advanced nutritional, personal care, and weight management products, which are distributed in 13 international markets through network marketing. The name “USANA” derives from Greek and Latin and means “true health.”
Usana's Commitment to Quality Assurance & Good Manufacturing Practices


About Usana and the NSF

It doesn't stop there. Usana products are also certified by independent labs like Consumer Lab, Natural Products Association (NPA), True-Label Program, USP Dietary Supplements Verification Program, NHPD (Canada's version of FDA), Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA - Australia's version of the FDA) and Independent ISO 17025 verification.


















Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements, Australia-New Zealand Edition



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Natural Nutrition are the best. There is no doubt of that.

usana vitamins said...

This is a valuable book

Unknown said...

Useful information, many thanks to the author. It is puzzling to me now, but in general, the usefulness and significance is overwhelming. Very much thanks again and best of luck!
canadian supplements are something to be careful with, since they can have drug-like effects but are not regulated the same way as drugs are.