Should You Pay for Name-Brand Vitamins?

Posted on December 8, 2009 in Consumer Goods, Health & Medicine

When it comes to taking a daily multi-vitamin, many Americans aren’t willing to compromise their health for a lower cost. As a result, name-brand vitamins fly off store shelves nationwide. But do you need to shell out more to receive the best vitamins?

The New York Times reports that the best vitamins don’t necessarily cost more. Instead, they recommend chatting with your doctor to determine what added vitamins might be beneficial, rather than grabbing the first gummy Flintstones vitamins you see. Name-brand doesn’t matter: researchers and scientists say that when levels of vitamins are measured in the blood, levels are the same with a generic vitamin brand.

If safety is your main concern, check to see if a product is certified by a nonprofit organization that checks supplements for purity and quality. The NY Times recommends the United States Pharmacopeia and NSF International. Manufacturers voluntarily submit a product for review, and if it passes, the product will bear an approval seal.