The digital world can provide easy access to vitamins you need if you know how to find reliable stores. Here are tips for safely buying vitamins online.
The number of dieters looking to lose weight or stay healthy is rising. In 2018 alone, the percentage of dieting Americans increased by 22%.
5 Tips for Safely Buying Vitamins Online for Your Diet
With more and more people cutting out food groups, supplementing essential missing vitamins and minerals is more important than ever.
Buying vitamins online may be the easiest way to avoid a deficiency, but it’s not always the safest. That’s why we’re bringing you this guide.
Keep reading to learn our top tips for safe supplement shopping online.
1. Choose a Well-Known Brand
Brands that stand the test of time can assure you that the product you’re getting is safe. Not only do other consumers approve of it, but also regulating bodies haven’t run it off the market.
When searching for well-known brands online, a useful review is your best friend. Search for forums, articles, and review sites for information about supplement brands. If others sing its praises, odds are the brand will be safe for you, too.
2. Evaluate the Website
If you choose a respected brand, you should find yourself on a transparent and easy-to-navigate website. All health claims should be referenced, and references should be current. Most importantly, the brand should have easily-accessible contact information should a problem occur with the supplement.
Some questionable brands can slip through the cracks. In these cases, avoid brands making promises that sound too good to be true. Because odds are, they are!
3. Scour the Label
Labels contain valuable information for consumers like you. The FDA requires supplement companies to provide accurate information. Still, they don’t actively monitor supplements for safety or effectiveness once they’re on shelves.
Avoid falling for absurd health claims and review the nutritional facts instead. These facts should be listed on the back of the bottle. A good brand will print daily dosing recommendations and all ingredients.
4. Choose Simple Ingredients
Some supplements come with added ingredients to “boost” the effects of your supplement. We recommend always choosing the supplement with the simplest ingredients.
The more ingredients, the more likely you are to have a reaction. Keep yourself safe and only purchase the pure vitamin or mineral your doctor recommended. Follow the link to get to know more about multivitamins and the ones that may be right for you.
5. Pick Verified Products
If you want the creme de la creme of supplements, you must choose a product that’s third-party verified by one of the following supplement regulating bodies:
- The NSF International
- US Pharmacopeia
- Underwriters Lab
- Consumer Lab Seal
These institutions work to ensure the ingredients on a supplement’s label are accurate. Even better, they ensure the product is, in fact, safe and free of any ingredients that could cause long-term harm.
The Bottom Line on Buying Vitamins Online
Buying vitamins online doesn’t have to be scary. As long as you follow our top five online supplement shopping tips, you’ll be on the road toward better health in no time.