The Best Supplements

In order to make the most of your supplements, you need to make sure your body can absorb them as easily as possible – and this means buying supplements that are of good quality.

To give you some pointers as to what makes a good supplement, look at the form of the minerals listed on the container. If the minerals are listed as chlorides, sulphates, carbonaes, or oxides (for example, magnesium oxide or calcium carbonate), your body will find these difficult to absorb. This, in turn, means that you will need higher amounts in your supplement in order to get the benefit. If, on the other hand, the minerals are in the forms of citrates, ascorbates, or polynicotinates, your body will absorb them more easily and, as a result, will get better use from them – and you’ll need smaller amounts.

Take capsules instead of tablets. In order to make a tablet, companies use binders and bulking agents. Your body has to break these down (an extremely difficult job in the case of some tablets) in order to obtain the benefits of the supplement. A capsule is usually filled with only the essential nutrients – your body only has to “melt” the capsule in order to release the nutrients. We recommend that you choose vegetable capsules instead of bovine gelatin; and you can get fish oil supplements in fish oil gelatin.

When to take supplements

Generally, it’s an advantage to take your supplements with food so they can be broken down with your food as you eat. Also, if you pick a meal of the day (perhaps breakfast) at which to take supplements, you’re more likely to get into the habit of taking them. However, there are some supplements that should be taken away from meal, or snack times, so always read the label.