The best supplements: which ones and how to choose.
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In recent years the consumption of food supplements and energy supplements has grown enormously in all industrialised countries, including Italy.
Very often consumers, especially when buying a product for the first time, need to make a choice, and with such a wide range on offer this becomes difficult.
The question is always the same: which are the best supplements and how do you choose them?
It is hard to give a single answer, because there are several factors to consider and first and foremost it is important to understand the needs of the individual.
What we want to offer in this article are some guidelines to help consumers make their own choice.
Let's look at them together:
1) check on the label that the supplement is authorised by the Ministry of Health: it may seem obvious, but supplements of dubious origin are still on sale today without the required authorisation, which should be granted by tacit approval within 3 months of the product being placed on the market. Why does it matter? Because it guarantees safety standards both in the manufacture of the product we are about to buy and in the ingredients used, all of which must be authorised in the European Community.
2) check who makes the supplement you want to buy: again on the label, our handbook for analysing a product: look at who makes it. You will find the name and address of the operator responsible for placing it on the market, which, if Italian, must be registered with the local health authority (ULSS). Anyone who manufactures the product as well as selling it must hold a special authorisation issued by the Ministry of Health.
3) always read the nutrition table and the ingredients: remember not to be misled by names, slogans and phrases used to grab your attention and designed to make you buy the product. A grand-sounding name does not mean a more effective product. The real effectiveness of a supplement comes from its composition and ingredients, which you will always find on the label under both “Ingredients” and the “Nutrition Table”. Ingredients must be listed in descending order of quantity. Advertising often highlights an ingredient that appears near the end of the list, so it pays to look at the ingredients that come first, which are not advertised but are present in the product in greater quantities.
4) what claims are: they are the statements used to describe the properties and physiological effects of a product. Claims can be used in a distorted way to attract the consumer's attention, sometimes even misleadingly (e.g. 100% Protein: this suggests that the product contains only protein, when perhaps the protein content is only 70-80% and the remaining 20-30% is made up of carbohydrates and fibre). In Europe, health claims must be authorised by the European Commission, which confirms their accuracy on the basis of a body of verified and approved scientific studies.
5) a larger amount is not always more effective: when choosing a supplement, people often think that the higher the amount of the active ingredient, the greater the effectiveness. That is not the case! First of all, you need to follow the directions for use. Then you need to bear in mind that our body can only metabolise limited amounts of nutrients, normally corresponding to 0.3-3 times the nutrient reference values (30-300% NRV). The rest is eliminated in the faeces or urine, placing a considerable workload on the kidneys and liver and wasting money. For example, supplementing with maximum doses of vitamins, which have nothing to do with the daily reference intake (NRV), can only lead to their massive elimination rather than greater effectiveness, not least because vitamins work together in many physiological reactions in well-defined ratios, where the vitamin present in relatively smaller amounts limits the usable amount of the others.
6) the purity of the product: The higher it is, the higher the quality of the supplement. This applies, for example, to protein, where percentages on the market can vary widely, but also to amino acids. From the percentage content column in the nutrition table we can easily establish the purity of the product. Another useful indicator is the absence of artificial additives, hydrogenated fats and preservatives.
7) price should not be the first deciding factor: let's be careful not to base our choice solely on price. Saving money is important, of course, but let's always remember that these are products we swallow and that can therefore affect our health. The lowest price often goes hand in hand with lower quality, which may depend on the choice of raw materials or on the purity of the product itself. The warning that the cheapest foods, such as extra virgin olive oil or wine, tend to be poorer-quality products can be extended to supplements too.
8) a further guarantee: they are not mandatory, but there are bodies that certify a company and its products. These bodies certainly represent a further guarantee (e.g. ISO 22000 etc.).
These are some tips based on our experience that we rely on when formulating a product. They are not meant to be exhaustive, but we hope they can help by offering some food for thought.
In recent years the consumption of food supplements and energy supplements has grown enormously in all industrialised countries, including Italy.
Very often consumers, especially when buying a product for the first time, need to make a choice, and with such a wide range on offer this becomes difficult.
The question is always the same: which are the best supplements and how do you choose them?
It is hard to give a single answer, because there are several factors to consider and first and foremost it is important to understand the needs of the individual.
What we want to offer in this article are some guidelines to help consumers make their own choice.
Let's look at them together:
1) check on the label that the supplement is authorised by the Ministry of Health: it may seem obvious, but supplements of dubious origin are still on sale today without the required authorisation, which should be granted by tacit approval within 3 months of the product being placed on the market. Why does it matter? Because it guarantees safety standards both in the manufacture of the product we are about to buy and in the ingredients used, all of which must be authorised in the European Community.
2) check who makes the supplement you want to buy: again on the label, our handbook for analysing a product: look at who makes it. You will find the name and address of the operator responsible for placing it on the market, which, if Italian, must be registered with the local health authority (ULSS). Anyone who manufactures the product as well as selling it must hold a special authorisation issued by the Ministry of Health.
3) always read the nutrition table and the ingredients: remember not to be misled by names, slogans and phrases used to grab your attention and designed to make you buy the product. A grand-sounding name does not mean a more effective product. The real effectiveness of a supplement comes from its composition and ingredients, which you will always find on the label under both “Ingredients” and the “Nutrition Table”. Ingredients must be listed in descending order of quantity. Advertising often highlights an ingredient that appears near the end of the list, so it pays to look at the ingredients that come first, which are not advertised but are present in the product in greater quantities.
4) what claims are: they are the statements used to describe the properties and physiological effects of a product. Claims can be used in a distorted way to attract the consumer's attention, sometimes even misleadingly (e.g. 100% Protein: this suggests that the product contains only protein, when perhaps the protein content is only 70-80% and the remaining 20-30% is made up of carbohydrates and fibre). In Europe, health claims must be authorised by the European Commission, which confirms their accuracy on the basis of a body of verified and approved scientific studies.
5) a larger amount is not always more effective: when choosing a supplement, people often think that the higher the amount of the active ingredient, the greater the effectiveness. That is not the case! First of all, you need to follow the directions for use. Then you need to bear in mind that our body can only metabolise limited amounts of nutrients, normally corresponding to 0.3-3 times the nutrient reference values (30-300% NRV). The rest is eliminated in the faeces or urine, placing a considerable workload on the kidneys and liver and wasting money. For example, supplementing with maximum doses of vitamins, which have nothing to do with the daily reference intake (NRV), can only lead to their massive elimination rather than greater effectiveness, not least because vitamins work together in many physiological reactions in well-defined ratios, where the vitamin present in relatively smaller amounts limits the usable amount of the others.
6) the purity of the product: The higher it is, the higher the quality of the supplement. This applies, for example, to protein, where percentages on the market can vary widely, but also to amino acids. From the percentage content column in the nutrition table we can easily establish the purity of the product. Another useful indicator is the absence of artificial additives, hydrogenated fats and preservatives.
7) price should not be the first deciding factor: let's be careful not to base our choice solely on price. Saving money is important, of course, but let's always remember that these are products we swallow and that can therefore affect our health. The lowest price often goes hand in hand with lower quality, which may depend on the choice of raw materials or on the purity of the product itself. The warning that the cheapest foods, such as extra virgin olive oil or wine, tend to be poorer-quality products can be extended to supplements too.
8) a further guarantee: they are not mandatory, but there are bodies that certify a company and its products. These bodies certainly represent a further guarantee (e.g. ISO 22000 etc.).
These are some tips based on our experience that we rely on when formulating a product. They are not meant to be exhaustive, but we hope they can help by offering some food for thought.
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