Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Are all supplements created equal? Are you wasting your money?


I have spent the last 5 years focusing on improving my own health. I was having heavy menstrual cycles with severe bleeding, mid cycle spotting, low energy, fatigue, pale face with dark circles around my eyes, discomfort in my uterus and bladder and urge incontinence - just to name a few symptoms.

I tried everything! Eating whole foods, eliminating dairy, sugar and alcohol, eating organic, removing gluten and starchy carbs, many many different supplements and nothing seemed to help. I had blood tests and ultrasounds and according to Western Medicine all tests were "normal".

Last April I was confused and frustrated about my health. While I realized eating healthy and eliminating sugar/gluten helped, it just wasn't enough. I was introduced to USANA Health Sciences by Julia Indichova, author of Inconceivable and The Fertile Female. When I realized Dr Christiane Northrup, OB-gyn and author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, had been using USANA nutritional supplements with her patients for over a decade, I decided to give them a try.

I began with the RESET cleanse to eliminate my sugar/carb cravings. While I was off sugar I still found myself craving it, but refusing to give into the cravings. During the 5 day cleanse I felt more energy and my sugar cravings disappeared and to this day I still have no sugar cravings. I continued on the Essentials which is a multi-mineral and antioxidant. I have taken multivitamins my entire life and never really noticed a difference before but I knew I needed them so I took them anyway. After just 4 weeks of taking the Essentials I felt 60% better. I had more energy, my menstrual cycle was better, I actually felt that I was receiving nutrients right down to the level of my cells.

As I continued on the Essentials along with an Iron Supplement, my health completed changed in about 6 months. I could feel the difference they were making and I was seeing measurable improvements in my overall health. I was feeling stronger with more energy everyday. So why did these supplements make such a difference compared to the hundreds I have tried before? I tried plant based ones, organic ones, whole food based ones, expensive ones, cheap ones and nothing made a difference compared to what I noticed with the Essentials.

I was shocked to learn that most nutritional supplements are poorly regulated and many are full of additives, fillers and cheap low quality ingredients. They have great marketing campaigns so I guess that is where most of their money goes. You can't even trust that what is written on the label is what actually what is in the bottle because it is not regulated. Many different brands also use the same manufacturing plant. Recently I read about a manufacturing plant that was randomly inspected and they found rat urine and feces all over the place. While the label may look good can we really guarantee what we are buying?

USANA Health Sciences was founded by Dr Myron Wentz who is an expert in cellular health. They voluntarily adhere to Pharmaceutical Good Manufacturing Practices. This is the same manufacturing practice required by pharmaceutical companies so they guarantee what is on the label is what is in the bottle. They are regularily inspected and have a high quality control as well as their own in house manufacturing facility. Their standards exceed all others. I have done my research and the more I learn about USANA the more I believe that they are the best supplement on the market today. Even many Olympic Athletes use and trust them!

I have so much more to say but for now I will leave you with this document to help you understand that not all supplements are created equal. It talks about the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements by Canadian biochemist and author Lyle MacWilliam. He compares over 1500 supplements on the market today and found USANA's Essentials to be #1. To give you an example, USANA scores the highest at 96.1% while Centrum scores 5.1%. It also explains the difference between using individual supplements versus a synergistic blend. I believe the blend USANA uses is what has made the most difference on my health and the health of many of my clients.

Click here to read more.

1 comment:

  1. I had a great time reading your article and I found it interesting. This is such a beautiful topic that me and my friends are talking about. Thanks for this blog, we are enlightened.

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