DaVinci Labs

[MiraD]

A friend of mine has recently decided to start taking supplements and her doctor has given her a catalog that has DaVinci supplements in it.  They seem pretty reasonable in that there are no ugly additives, fillers, preservatives, color, etc.  But how does one decide which ones are best?  Are these okay?  I'm a DL student just starting NE104 right now and do not feel qualified to answer her question about quality for this or any other product.

Thanks for any help.

[AbbyB]

Along similar lines:

Is there a lab out there that people trust to determine which supplements are best? I know there are a few that claim to do assays of supplements, but has anyone had experience with them?

Is there any way of REALLY knowing what's in our supplements (especially the herbal ones)?

A couple of recent supplement purchases have led me to believe that either the contents of the capsules were not the actual supplement OR they contained something harmful OR the concentration wasn't accurate. And I got them at very reliable retailers.

Has anyone else had these experiences?

Thanks!

[Sondra Barrett]

I always recommend to students and friend that they check out the company of consumerlab.com.  They are a non-profit company that examines all kinds of supplements and food products for their purity and whether what's on the label is what's in the bottle.  In other words, you want to buy co q 10 - are there contaminants in it (which consumerlab looked for) and is the amount represented to be present of the actual active ingredient in there.  They report companies that pass as well as fail.  You can check them out free and if you find it useful can take out a year's subscription  for about $20/yr which gives you access to all their reviews.  Also a good source for information.

Good luck.