Habit and addiction

If you’re unable to get certain nutrients as part of your regular diet, supplements are a must. Everyone’s on it; from yogis and meditators to ravers who want to take the edge off a heavy weekend.

Jump on to any wellbeing retail site and you’ll encounter a mountain of supplements, from a long list of different manufacturers - all with the promise that they’ll make you superhuman.

However, like naughty pills, vitamin and mineral supps can often contain nasties*. So here’s where to begin when trying to figure out if those healthy pills are the real deal.

QUALITY & QUANTITY
The actual quality of active ingredients should be your main concern here; some cost-cutting corporations go for cheap compounds, while others go down the more expensive route, with ingredients that are more easily absorbed.

You want something that has a good level of potency; cross-ref with the Nutrient Reference Value (the amount your body needs as a minimum to function) and the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (the maximum you can safely take each day).

WHAT’S IN YOUR SUPPLEMENTS
Most supplement suppliers list all the ingredients on their sites, so you can easily cut and paste them into your search engine. Taking a bit of time to look into what they contain is a crucial step to ensuring you avoid fillers, artificial colour agents, preservatives such as magnesium stearate - an industrial lubricant sourced from pigs, or magnesium silicate, AKA talcum powder (yes, really). There are lots more…

The bottom line here is research. There are a few companies who operate ethically and maintain a high standard, but you’ll have to pay for that level of care and attention. For peace of mind though, it’s worth the extra cost.

*Needless to say, Happy Tuesdays supplements don’t contain any fillers or nasties, and we’ve worked very hard to ensure that our ingredients are all in their most bioavailable forms.