How do I choose a supplement company?

Allow me to start by stating that I am a skeptic, and I apply that philosophy to virtually all of the information that is presented. Mark Twain is credited with the cliche: "Don't confuse me with facts - my mind is made up!" Although I'm skeptical, I can be swayed with solid scientfic evidence reinforced with a liberal dose of logic. My nature is to question everything but at the same time I believe that a mind is like a parachute - it only works when it's open!

"Anytime something new and good is introduced and accepted, unscrupulous promoters appear touting rediculous claims and selling questionable imitations of the real thing."

- Dr. Bruce Miller

Bruce once told me that one thing he noticed very early in his experience as a research assistant at the University of Texas was that the first batch of Guinea pigs usually died. Hmmm!

My regular patients know that I personally use Shaklee products. I also recommend them to my patients with full confidence that they will be getting the best products available on the market. There are many reasons for this and I will expand on some of them below but if I had to express my choice in one word; that word would be quality.

When a fellow health practitioner first introduced me to Shaklee I followed my skeptical approach and I tested the Vita Lea on the fig tree in my waiting room. It was replaceable - I am not. It thrived over the winter with northern light so I started taking the vitamins myself for six weeks and I felt great. During the same time period I researched everything that I could find on Shaklee. They passed my skeptical criteria with flying colors. Then, and only then did I start recommending Shaklee products to my patients.

One key factor to consider when selecting supplements is that the products must be in harmony with nature. The ingredients must be as natural as possible prepared in a manner that retains their natural potency in a formulation that replicates how they are found in nature. This latter aspect increases the bioavailability of the nutrients. If a nutrient is unable to reach the target cell you are wasting your time and money.

Absorption must be clinically proven by using blood serum testing in an independant laboratory. Of course if disintegration does not occur in time for absorption, the former is a mute point - it just won't happen. I kept a Super B Vitamin from one Vancouver, BC manufacturer in a water solution once for two weeks and all that happened was a slight discoloration of the water. Remember that the vitamin B family of nutrients are water soluble.

A similar home experiment with a child's vitamin shaped like a famous cartoon character did disolve - into a substance that resembled the interior of a sixties lava lamp. I wonder how many developing organs have been subjected to that abusive substance - whatever it was?

We need to ask:

1. What kind of information is available on ingredient specifications, safety and quality testing? As many as 63,000 laboratory tests for quality are performed on Shaklee Nutritional products and their ingredients in a single year, and as many a 176 separate tests for purity, freshness, potency, and safety are performed on the raw ingredients for a single product. Shaklee products also undergo as many as 262 separate quality assurance tests throughout the manufacturing process.
2. Are the health and nutrient claims, if any, based on anecdotal information or on scientific data? The success and superiority of Shaklee food and nutritional supplements lay in Shaklee's scientific approach. All product label claims are based on documented sustantiatiion, not heresy, testimony, or anecdotal evidence. This is an important test of product efficacy.
3. Are the products backed by published clinical research studies? Ask to see published research. How much is there? Is it peer reviewed as is Shaklee published research? Where has it been published? Over the years Shaklee has conducted numerous clinical studies whose results have undergone the difficult and rigorous process of peer-review. Nearly 90 clinical studies relating to Shaklee products have been published with many of them appearing in prestigious scientific journals such as the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, American Journal of Cardiology, Journal of Applied Physiology and Journal of the American College of Nutrition.
4. Does the company invest in and operate their own Research and Development Center; and Food and Nutritional manufacturing plant? The Forrest C. Shaklee Research Center in Hayward, California dedicates 52,000 square feet of space to research and development laboratories to bring scientifically based superior products to Shaklee customers. Shaklee's advanced-technology Food and Nutritional Supplement manufacturing facility in Norman, Oklahoma dedicates 312,000 square feet to the high quality production of Shaklee's superior food and nutritional supplements. Shaklee jointly operates a multi-million dollar research facility located in Palo Alto, California at the Stanford University Research Park. The year 2006 marks Shaklee's 50th anniversary of excellence in the United States and their 30th anniversary in Canada.

We are in the information age. Since the world wide web came on the scene, anyone with access to a computer can obtain a plethora of data. We can be informed, confused or overwhelmed with the opinions presented; and unfortuneatly in some cases we can be given absolute rubish wrapped up as the latest wisdom of the universe.

As a health professional it is my reponsability to ensure that information that I provide to my patients is valid and absolutely follows the Hippocratic principle of first of all, do no harm! My Creator provided me with a physical walking laboratory and the intelligence to use it in a discriminatory way. Expressed another way, I avoid recommending any supplement, herb or procedure to one of my patients that I have not tested on myself. Yes, we are all unique and it is virtually impossible to predict how another person will react to a given nutrient but due diligence will go a long ways toward reducing any risk.

You are unique and you deserve the best - you deserve Shaklee quality!

Good health,

Dr. Bill