Recommended vitamin and supplement online dealers?

[Dennis Leahy]

Every time I shop for vitamins, minerals, supplements, I go through the same thing: searching all around the Intertubes for the best price (including shipping!) for the brand names I am currently using, and I always wonder if some other brand is "better", how much better, is brand B worth twice or three times as much...

Having learned the hard way, numerous times (some people need to be kicked in the head by a mule multiple times) that "you get what you pay for", I have still bought some cheap stuff from the cheapest companies. I actually had an amazing turnaround when getting a monster flu a few years ago, and took house-branded oil of oregano capsules from one of the cheapest companies out there in cyber land. So, it worked. It could have been tainted with GMOs, mercury, cooties, and monkey boogers, but it worked. I have also bought oil of oregano for about 3 or 4 times the price of the cheapo, and it wasn't nearly as effective against the next pass-around bug (but obviously, you can't really directly compare it, even though I had a higher confidence that there were no monkey boogers in it.) I also bought Walgreens store brand sublingual B-12 with 'you wouldn't believe me if I told you' life-changing, positive results, and the stuff is screaming red with Red #4, and sorbitol, and other nasty things no human should ingest (but I was chronically and critically deficient in B-12, so it was miraculous.)

As Mike mentioned recently about a supplement that he is taking, it would be very easy to spend the GDP of a small nation per month on supplements. (Before someone says, "but if you are healthy and eat healthy you don't need supplements", without going into my medical stuff, let's just assume that I actually do need some supplements.) I have to be budget conscious, which keeps me from even trying the top shelf stuff.

My (Lion's Mane) mushroom powder needs are met by MushroomHarvest.com, I have been lucky enough to pick chaga from the woods, but everything else is up for grabs. I have even bought brand name items that I know on Ebay. (I don't want to do business at Amazon.)

I'd really appreciate if some USA-based members can tell me where you shop for vitamins and supplements.

Thanks in advance for any help in this quest.

[onawah]

Anybody who would say "but if you are healthy and eat healthy you don't need supplements" doesn't know about how much "modern" commercial farming practices have stripped the soil of nutrients, so that foods grown now have a fraction of the nutritional value that they used to have, and organically grown foods are certainly better, but still not as healthy as they used to be (when all foods were grown organically).
I buy a lot of supplements from Vitacost, which has a huge array of brands and plenty of other stuff like food, soaps, cosmetics, etc.
I like Jarrow brand; I used to know someone who knew the owners and said they were good, ethical people, and their products were of good quality.
I also use other brands, though not the cheapest ones.
(The cheapest brand there is Vitacost's own, but the ones I've tried were inferior.)
I can get some of Dr. Mercola's supplements there,and Frontier Herbs products and I often do.
If I had more money, I would buy Jon Barron's supplements, but they are too pricey.
Vitacost has lots of sales, a great website, and I discovered that if you fill your shopping cart but don't actually make the purchase for a few days, they will email a 10% off code that you can use on most of your order.
And it's free shipping on $49 or more.





As Mike mentioned recently about a supplement that he is taking, it would be very easy to spend the GDP of a small nation per month on supplements. (Before someone says, "but if you are healthy and eat healthy you don't need supplements", without going into my medical stuff, let's just assume that I actually do need some supplements.) I have to be budget conscious, which keeps me from even trying the top shelf stuff.

My (Lion's Mane) mushroom powder needs are met by MushroomHarvest.com, I have been lucky enough to pick chaga from the woods, but everything else is up for grabs. I have even bought brand name items that I know on Ebay. (I don't want to do business at Amazon.)

I'd really appreciate if some USA-based members can tell me where you shop for vitamins and supplements.

Thanks in advance for any help in this quest.

[TomKat]

Best deal on 10:1 oregano oil is:

https://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-premium-oregano-oil-150-mg-120-sgels

works great

[TomKat]

For my multivitamins I buy Dr Vita 6-daily. I wait for a discount which they run from time to time and usually pay around $30/bottle if I buy, like 5 or so. Never pay $45/bottle. Get on their mailing list.

https://www.drvita.com/products/natures-lab-six-daily-advanced-multivitamin

[Ascension]

Doesn't make sense since monkey boogers are probably organic so therefore they should make the product cost more. Not sure about cooties. Probably not organic since they come from boys. <--belief system cultivated at an early age and never fully proven to be untrue.

Guess I'm not done purging. Sigh.

[DeDukshyn]

One of the best brands is Advanced Orthomolecular Research (https://aor.us/) (AOR) -- one of the most expensive though, unfortunately ...

[TrumanCash]

I have been taking supplements since the early 70's. The number one supplement that I would recommend for a complete vitamin and mineral supplement is "Beyond Tangy Tangerine". I get more results from this product than any other supplement I have ever taken. It is made from real plant-derived organic food and minerals. It contains 115 fruits and vegetables.

It curbs my appetite because it supplies so many nutrients that my body needs. So it helps in losing weight. Also, it gives you an energy boost that you can feel.

It comes in powder/crystalline form so you use a couple scoops in a glass of water or in smoothies. The remarkable thing is that it actually tastes good! Since it is not a pill and is in liquid form, it is easily and quickly assimilated.

It comes in two flavors and natural colors: orange colored Citrus Peach 2.0 and a red colored drink that tastes somewhat like Hawaiian Punch. The Citrus Peach 2.0 comes in an orange and white containers whereas the red Tangy Tangerine comes in a blue and white container. It makes a great summer drink using both flavors together with pomegranate juice. I made up this drink for a herb harvest crew that I hired and they all loved the taste and all noticed that it gave them more energy to work.

Unfortunately, it is sold by a multi-level company, "Youngevity", started by Joel Wallach. I personally don't like multi-levels but I make an exception in this case because I've never found anything like it anywhere else. This is the only supplement that I buy from Youngevity. You don't have to be a distributor to buy it online from Youngevity.

Wallach owns or has rights to a humic shale mine in southern Utah that provides over seventy colloidal trace minerals, many of which I had never even heard of before.

Humic shale is plant-based material that is loaded with naturally occurring minerals that has been preserved for millions of years; it has not been fossilized or petrified. It is organic material that is also good for garden soil and foliar feeding. I buy it from Youngevity in pelletized 40# bags as a soil amendment.

This is a link to the red Tangy Tangerine with ORAC rating of 5745: https://youngofficial.com/product/youngevity-beyond-tangy-tangerine/

This is a link to the citrus orange 2.0 Tangy Tangerine with ORAC rating of over 8000: https://youngofficial.com/product/youngevity-beyond-tangy-tangerine-2-0/

You can buy each in a 3-pack or 6-pack.

Also, can you tell me where I can get some of them there "monkey boogers", Dennis?

[ThePythonicCow]

I'd really appreciate if some USA-based members can tell me where you shop for vitamins and supplements.
I used to shop at Swanson's, but switched to Vitacost a few years back. The "list" prices at Swanson's may be slightly lower, but the Vitacost people, service, website and product packaging all seem friendlier, and better done. Swanson's is more likely to just throw stuff in a box, whereas Vitacost takes some pride in nicely packaging what they ship. Vitacost also has a variety of discounts for this or that other reason, so by watching the discount offers, I usually pay about 10%, give or take, below list. When I had a problem with their website, the Vitacost people on the phone were pleasant to deal with, and (eventually) the website problem got fixed.

[ThePythonicCow]

Vitacost has lots of sales, a great website, and I discovered that if you fill your shopping cart but don't actually make the purchase for a few days, they will email a 10% off code that you use on most of your order.
I just did that, too :).

[Mike]

hey Dennis, i know this isn't ground-breaking news or anything, but i started using amazon a couple years ago and ive never looked back. it does all the searching for you. makes things soooo much easier. the prime membership is a little pricey, but totally worth it if youre getting stuff frequently. click a couple buttons, and 2 days later it's on my doorstep. can't beat it.

[Dennis Leahy]

hey Dennis, i know this isn't ground-breaking news or anything, but i started using amazon a couple years ago and ive never looked back. it does all the searching for you. makes things soooo much easier. the prime membership is a little pricey, but totally worth it if youre getting stuff frequently. click a couple buttons, and 2 days later it's on my doorstep. can't beat it.
Everything purchased on Amazon has monkey boogers AND bezos cooties in it, I believe. ;)

[Justplain]

Iherb.com is ok. Quality and prices seem good.

[ErtheVessel]

Dennis, I've used vitacost, too. Their prices with whatever discount you manage to snag, are often better than amazon, plus no monkey boogers. yay! And Onawah is right, if you put stuff in your cart and don't press the order button, they always send you an email with a discount for 10 or 12% off and give you a day or two to use it.

The one thing I've found on vitacost, though, is their search function is a little iffy. Sometimes they have a product that I want, but it doesn't initially show up in the search. I have to search for it by exact name or try a few different wiggly things. And then sometimes, they really just don't have what I'm looking for.

[onawah]

I think Phoenix Rising Spirulina is the best on the market now.
The company was started by former Light Force folks (the company started by Dr. Christopher Hills back in the day, who first brought it to the US market), and following his guidelines.
It's multi-level marketing, but very low key, not a lot of hype.
I'm not selling it, and I get it for $50 per lb plus shipping.
It's a mainstay of my diet, and I really feel it when I run out!




The one thing I've found on vitacost, though, is their search function is a little iffy. Sometimes they have a product that I want, but it doesn't initially show up in the search. I have to search for it by exact name or try a few different wiggly things. And then sometimes, they really just don't have what I'm looking for.

I think Vitacost has the largest selection of any site that I've seen other than Amazon, though no site carries everything.

[toppy]

Dennis, I buy almost all my vitamins, minerals and other stuff from Bulk Powders (Europe). Here is the site for USA https://www.bulkpowders.com/

[greybeard]

Healthspan and indigo herbs and bodybuildingwarehouse
Mucuna, Maca- (Joyvit)and Cirtulline- Malate.
Helpful for older males.
Saying no more.
C

[yelik]

These supplements are high quality and purity but quite expensive

http://www.arltma.com/Supplements/Product_Catalog/index.html

[TomKat]

I agree that Tangy Tangerine POWDER gives noticeable results in smoothing out blood sugar and food cravings during the day. I don't get the same effect from the tablets, though. At any rate, it's too expensive and I don't like multi-level marketing.

[Lefty Dave]

Greetings Dennis, et al...
I have been using Puritans Pride products for a decade now... www.puritan.com
They say they are pure and tested...who really knows...but I've been happy with them and the pricing...they sell a lot of buy one get two free stuff;;;but I suppose that's just sales technique...you get what you pay for..blessings
end of line.

[Dennis Leahy]

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions! It's generic enough (other than being US-centric) to be helpful to others as well.

I have bought from Puritan, Swansons, and Vitacost, and I think once from iHerb. I'll check the others out.

I know that companies such as AOR are out there, that create truly advanced formulations and variants (for example, magnesium ascorbate as a vitamin C source compared to the ascorbic acid form), and some products that are made starting from organic whole foods rather than a chem lab beaker, and formulations with synergistic properties beyond the individual components. They may well be worth the money, but the initial cost to check it out is hard to fork out, and for many benefits, it could take years to consciously note a difference - even though they may be doing more good and less harm than the cheaper, less "designer" supplements.

I think I am deficient in the vitamin responsible for the prevention of run-on sentences. :bigsmile:

[Kryztian]

If I order vitamins online, I generally get them from Total Health Discount Vitamins (www.totaldiscountvitamins.com) and the brand name I usually go with is NOW Foods (nowfoods.com).

I find that NOW's products are generally about 50% to 100% more than the cheap generic stuff one finds at big supermarkets and discount stores, but they eliminate the unnecessary stabilizers, binders and fillers that are in the cheap stuff and sometimes go to remarkable lengths to get products that are bio-available (i.e. they will be accepted into your systems instead of pass through undigested) and also for their purity. They may not be in first place for quality, but they are not far from that position, and their prices are much lower that the highest of the high end vitamins.

[Strat]

(I'm going to butcher this but) there are websites out there that monitor supplement companies, tell you all bout their products, etc. Admittedly I'm only aware of one (was recommended in a book i have on brain health) and i didnt use it cause it was a payed site. Still, thought id mention it, maybe something you want to look into.

[ThePythonicCow]

I think I am deficient in the vitamin responsible for the prevention of run-on sentences. :bigsmile:
Why this would be so, I will decline from saying explicitly, so as to avoid overly blatant flattery, however you might find it amusing to know, Dennis, that I once read, and still fondly, albeit vaguely, remember, a study that found a correlation between the length and grammatical complexity of the sentences that one is inclined to write, and some measure or other of intelligence such as perhaps IQ, that I no longer recall exactly.

[Dennis Leahy]

I think I am deficient in the vitamin responsible for the prevention of run-on sentences. :bigsmile:
Why this would be so, I will decline from saying explicitly, so as to avoid overly blatant flattery, however you might find it amusing to know, Dennis, that I once read, and still fondly, albeit vaguely, remember, a study that found a correlation between the length and grammatical complexity of the sentences that one is inclined to write, and some measure or other of intelligence such as perhaps IQ, that I no longer recall exactly.
hahaha No, that ain't it. It sure doesn't help in songwriting, and you wouldn't want to hire me to write life-summing pithy sayings on gravestones. It did keep me off twitter however. :bigsmile:

[conk]

There are no better supplements than those produced and sold by Standard Process. They have their own remote farms (away from any GMO crops) growing organic plants. They use glands from various grass fed animals. These products are real, whole food based, unheated, and unprocessed. The body knows exactly how to use them and the bioavailability is high.

So many vitamins, even from seemingly trusted sources, are made and sold by companies owned by the pharmaceutical industry. Many of them are synthetic, therefore the body can't use them well. This is one reason we read stories in the media about the failure of vitamins to help or be effective. It's because they use these synthetic products in their trials! And often they have a predetermined outcome in mind and construct the study toward that end. "They" don't want us to know how critical vitamins and minerals are. Meanwhile, doctors pretend or believe we get sufficient nutrients from our food. Wrong!

Industrial farming practices simply cannot produce quality foods. By some estimates our food supply is up to 80% less nutritious than a few decades ago. One of the biggest problems is the soil. The ground must contain a thriving bio-diverse ecology, colonies of beneficial bacteria. These bacteria enable the uptake of minerals and other compounds from the ground. Modern farming falls very short in this regard. Their soil is dead and they only dump three nutrients on it and believe this is sufficient. Hardly. These three nutrients merely encourage the growth and aid in the appearance of the plants, with little or no regard for the nutrients.

There is a Standard Process product(s) for every ailment. They are supremely high quality, effective supplements. Go to their website and convince yourself.

[aKnightThatSaysNi]

Here is a site that ranks supplements. https://labdoor.com/

Might be a good place to check before you go buying a supplement.