Good vs. bad supplements

The Red or the Blue Pill? Awaking to the truth that not all supplements are created equal

(RenYou) So you have taken that vitamin C tablet to boost your immunity and added a probiotic to lessen your digestive discomfort.  But very little or nothing has happened!  Your immunity is still weak and that bloat and indigestion have not abandoned your midsection.  And so your faith in the natural health approach may have been lost forever.  What your physician has been telling you all along turned out to be true, you think to yourself.  "You don't need supplements and multivitamins," you remember him/her preaching.  "When you have a headache just take pharmaceutical painkillers.  When you have high cholesterol levels take statins (which are cholesterol lowering drugs).  When your face breaks out with acne, just lather it with a facial cream made out from petrochemicals and you'll be just fine!"

Well, if this has ever happened to you then this article was simply written to restore your faith in natural healing.  Fact is, supplements could play an integral role in fortifying your health and alleviating many of today's diseases and conditions.  Certainly, relying on supplements alone while maintaining lousy and unhealthy lifestyle habits would not yield the desired results… hence the name, SUPPLEMENTS!  Supplements do not neutralize the effects of ongoing unhealthy habits.  What they do, however, is help in cleaning up the mess and improving conditions when you finally decide to fix your lifestyle habits and food choices.  And so this is the first point to keep in mind: Supplements are not magic pills. They only help when they are part of a holistic approach to healing.

The second element to keep in mind when it comes to supplements is that they weren’t all created equal.  Of the thousands of supplement brands out there, only a handful have passed the strict standards that I have set for the supplements I would use myself and even give to my 85-year-old grandmother.  Not all companies apply stringent quality control in terms of using only the best ingredients and following strict safety measures to rule out potentially dangerous contaminants.  There are so many issues that could make the difference between a supplement that works safely and effectively and another that creates more harm than good.  Here’s one way I like to look at it: We’re all well aware that all cars have four wheels and they all take us from point A to point B.  But we also know that a Rolls Royce is very different from a Fiat.  There is no room for comparison here.  The same principle applies to the realm of supplements – a vitamin C capsule from a certain brand could be completely and totally different from a vitamin C from another brand.    

You will be constantly reading about my take on the various supplement brands that I highly recommend.  I will be even reviewing specific products and sharing with you my thoughts on their level of effectiveness, mode of use and several other important variables.  While we’re on the topic, I am pleased to announce that RenYou is now an affiliate of Life Extension – one of the largest anti-aging organizations and makers of high grade natural supplements and vitamins.  Stay tuned for constant updates on the latest breakthroughs in the realm of natural supplements.   

Until then, remember the next time you go supplement shopping (or browsing) to ask yourself this very simple question, "Am I shopping for a 'Rolls Royce' or a 'Fiat' today?" 

 

Richard Labaki