In a 20 billion per year industry, you can expect nutritional supplement is a fierce competition. More competition means more products, which in turn provide you with more choices, and …unfortunately more confusion as well.

Photo courtesy of Chotda

Before you can use nutritional supplement, ask yourself questions like: do you want pill or liquid tea, is there any side effects, and how often your doctor advise you to take them…etc…

Nowadays, you can buy nutritional supplements from drug store, grocery store, super market, or even online. Most of these sources can contain products from the same manufacturers. You may know what herbs to take but how do you know if a certain brand is higher in quality than the other.

Where can you find information about manufacturers?

There are many herbal manufacturers in the market and you need to know where to find those information.

One website that we may suggest is American Botanical Council. This site contains information on major herbal manufacturers in US that you may find useful.

Herbal products can come in 4 forms

Natural supplements are present in the market in 4 forms:

· Bulk herbs – unprocessed herbs is usually sold in bulk. The herbs can be steeped into hot water to make herbal tea. This way of preparation is called infusion.

· Fluid extract- herbs produced in water in 1:1 ratio. That means 1 part of herbs and 1 part of water. The effect is much stronger than tinctures.

· Solid extract- most concentrated herbal product. 5 grams of herbs can only produce 1 gram of solid extract.

· Tinctures- less concentrated herbal product with the 1 part of herb and 5 part of water.

4 rules to help you by safe natural supplements

· You should buy one-herb nutritional supplement instead of combination of different herbs. Why? Because different herbs may react with one another that can cause health problem.

· You should check the expiration date on the bottle. Processed herbs left too long can have mold.

· Check the manufacturers. Do some research on them. Don’t be fooled by the price. Low-price nutritional supplements can be a bargain but also can be lower quality. Higher-priced can mean products are of high quality or can be just a rip-off.

· Read the doses carefully. If you take herbal medicines more than you should, it can be as dangerous as overdose prescription drugs. Don’t expect the herbal medicines to work right away. It takes time. Increasing the dose may not speed up the treatment but may do more harm to your health.

Few words on responsible use of natural herbs

Herbal medicines are very beneficial if used the right way to treat the right condition.
Herbs can have side effects on pregnancy, people with alcohol or drug problems, or people with chronic diseases.

If you have some medical problems, talk to your doctor about your medical history before taking that first sip of herbal tea or nutritional supplements pill.
Take care of your health,