Supplements are made to enhance our lives. They help many individuals obtain the proper nutrients necessary for optimal health and wellbeing.

In fact, over 50% of the American population take daily dietary supplements. And surprisingly, by 2022 the world supplement market is predicted to generate a whopping 220 billion U.S. dollars.

Yet, supplements face a lot of skepticism and doubt.

Reliable and trusted sources tell us they’re good for you and that they work. Equally reliable and trusted sources tell us that they don’t work. So, who’s right? And do you actually know what goes into the supplements you take?

The effectiveness of any supplement essentially comes down to 2 things:
the Quality and the Formula. Let’s take a closer look.

Quality Determines Results

Do you know where the ingredients in the supplements you take are coming from? Not all ingredients are created equal. If you put premium gas in a car, it performs better. The same concept applies to supplements (and the food you eat).

Unfortunately, many supplements are made with synthetic ingredients. In other words, they are chemically and artificially processed. These ingredients are anything but premium quality. Our bodies don’t process them the same as they process natural ingredients.

The best and most effective supplements come from more natural resources, such as plants. However, it’s always a good idea to do a thorough read over of the label before assuming it is, in fact, natural. Further, diving in and doing your own research can help you gather an idea as to where your supplements are actually coming from. For example, did you know that some fish oils are made from leftover over fish guts after processing that may contain mercury and PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls, which are industrial chemicals) contamination? This screams lower quality and may not exactly appeal to most consumers.

A major problem with the market today is a lack of regulation. Products that claim to be made with ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ ingredients sneak by containing many synthetic ingredients — meaning they aren’t as they claim to be.

While a product may claim to have a higher amount of a certain vitamin, more doesn’t necessarily mean better — which is where quality comes in. If fillers, mixers, and other ingredients are present in the product, it may significantly decrease the bioavailability. This means your body isn’t absorbing all of the vitamins that the product claims to contain. In contrast, higher-quality supplements don’t contain these fillers or mixers that get in the way of absorption — meaning your body takes up more of that vitamin.

Think of it as similar to calorie counting. You can count your calories, but not all calories are created equal. A salad bowl containing chicken, avocado, spinach, chickpeas, and other fresh veggies might have the same amount of calories as a McDonald’s Big Mac. Yet, the 2 couldn’t be farther apart in terms of quality. The salad bowl is evidently going to have more nutrients in it when compared to the nutrient-less Big Mac — meaning the salad bowl is a higher quality food.

In terms of supplements, the biggest quality offenders are weight loss, muscle building, and sexual enhancement supplements. For example, many sexual enhancement supplements contained active ingredients, vardenafil, sildenafil, and tadalafil. And these are the same active ingredients found in prescribed erectile dysfunction medications — which come with their own array of cautions and warnings. Erectile dysfunction medications impact blood vessels. Consequently, they can pose huge risks for those with heart issues or for those taking other prescribed medication.

The popular muscle building supplements also offer varying degrees of risk. They frequently include anabolic steroids, which are synthetically-made substances mimicking the hormone testosterone. While they may help build muscle, anabolic steroids have major risks, including liver cancer and cardiovascular problems.

Global natural supplements are no better. Traditional Chinese Medicine supplements contain traces of heavy metals over 10 times the considered acceptable limit. 92% of these supplements further had varying forms of contamination.

Basically, it’s tough to know what is good for you and what isn’t. But determining the quality is a good starting point. Find out what goes into the supplements before you put them in your body. Conducting your own research is crucial to protect your health — and to avoid purchasing potentially harmful products.

The Formula Used is Critical

Formulating a supplement is an art form. Think of it like a highly-trained Michelin chef making a meal versus you making a meal. The Michelin chef carefully crafts the meal creating a masterpiece with the right synergy and proper ingredient ratios. The result? A to-die-for combination of flavors, textures, colors, and more — it’s top quality and everything you would want in a meal.

Yet, taking a bunch of popular or trendy ingredients, throwing them together, and calling it a meal isn’t the same. For supplements, it’s necessary to determine the minimal amount of quality ingredients that provide maximum results. The ingredients need to create a synergy when combined together. The proper ratios of ingredients are required to make the nutrients, vitamins, or minerals more bioavailable — again, meaning your body absorbs the amount that the label claims that the supplement contains. They need to produce results, while not creating harmful consequences that would diminish the desired outcome.

It’s like when you forget to add that pinch of spice to make the flavor really pop. It can make your food taste bland — not exactly what you’re going for when cooking up a meal, and it’s not even close to the meal produced by top chefs. These chefs go through years of training and have years of experience that contribute to their first-class meals. They create masterful dishes with a number of almost undetectable flavors that make it like no other — and the same goes for supplements.

For supplements, the careful selection of ingredients is necessary. Doctors and experts in these areas know best. They’ve had real-life experiences with patients whose lives depend on ‘getting it right.’ For this exact reason, our team at Innovative Medicine took over 2 years to formulate Nadovim. We had experienced physicians leading the entire process. And in reality, this is how it should be.

Creating a Supplement is a Craft

Supplements require precision and expertise. It’s about creating something that is more than just a sum of their parts.

If you can pay for high quality and well-formulated supplements, you should — these are frequently more beneficial, safer and better-formulated products. Professional violinists pay top dollars for high-quality Stradivarius instruments. Why? Because many people have the ability to create these instruments from wood and other materials, but the premium brands have an edge that you can’t qualify. Like supplements, it’s a unique art to create the perfect and highest quality violin.

In other words and as mentioned above, make sure to do your own research before spending your hard-earned money on a specific supplement. Find quality products produced by experts in their fields and that are used by physicians and medical professionals.

Make sure the supplements you take are top in quality and that the company took care when creating their formula. These 2 things will ensure you are getting the most out of your purchase and your life. You are in charge of your health. So, take charge and know what you are putting in your body.