The supplement industry is huge, so how do you know what to take? Or should you take anything at all? These are only a couple loaded questions consumers face on the daily when facing the supplement aisles.

The top two things I want you to take away from this are:

1. Know your blood work numbers and talk with your doctor before taking anything
2. Speak with a Registered Dietitian who can recommend a reputable brand with third party studies and science behind it

The scenario is all too familiar: you’re standing in the supplement aisle looking at vitamin D fully knowing that your lab levels are totally fine but yet you throw it in your cart because of a random health article you read. Let’s stop right here and rewind that scenario – if your vitamin D lab levels are fine you probably don’t need that singular supplement. A multivitamin, 3 servings of dairy and about 15-20 minutes of sunshine could do the trick in sustaining a healthy level of vitamin D. So the takeaway here is to know your numbers before you start supplementing. Not only will it help ease your brain and your wallet but it can also help in creating a food first mentality. 

Let’s say you do need to take a supplement and on the shelf there are about 20 different brands, dosages, flavors, and pairings of that singular one you need. How do you choose? Well you can ask a Registered Dietitian (RD) to help find a brand that has 3rd party studies to back up the claims made on the bottle. Since the supplement industry isn’t regulated it’s challenging to weed through the science alone, so if you can’t find a Registered Dietitian head to the company’s website. RD’s can also help you with what to take with (or without) said supplement since it may bind better.

All of that being said, we want you to be an informed consumer! We are here to help you demystify the aisles one by one and help you get the most bang for your buck nutritionally.