Your Guide to Vitamin Supplements

What are vitamin supplements anyway? Are they necessary? After all, if you eat a proper diet, aren't you supposed to be getting all the nutrients you need? Well, sure, if you are following that nutrition pyramid down to the last block every day. But how many of you are really eating five servings of fruit and vegetables each and every day? And even if you are intaking the servings, are you really storing and preparing the foods properly enough to ensure that you're getting the full nutritional complement?

Chances are that you are not. Which is where vitamin supplements come in. Multivitamin supplements may-and I cannot emphasize enough that word "may-help boost your immunity system, help fight depression, lower high blood pressure, and protect against both heart attacks and strokes. In addition, supplements may-there's that word again-speed up the recovery process of patients with an illness or injury that prevents them from getting proper nutrition, and improve the health of pregnant women. Contrary to some myths and urban legends you may have come across on the internet, vitamin supplements have not been proven effective in treating schizophrenia or hyperactivity.

So what should you look for when shopping for supplements? First be aware that as long as the Republicans are in power, there isn't going to be any attempt to regulate supplements. So take what's on the label with a grain of salt. Many times in tests vitamins have proven to contain far less nutritional value than what is promised. And you certainly can't go by the price tag. Vitamins aren't like cars; you can't assume that the most expensive ones are the best. (Not that this applies to all cars, but let's face it, a Mercedes is probably going to be better than a Yugo.) Much like prescription drugs, generic is just as good as brand name when it comes to supplements. If you really want to get the skinny on lab analysis of supplements your best bet is to go to ConsumerLab.com where you can get access to lab results and other tests.