Supplements Explained - Part 3
How to Read Labels
Supplement labels can be so hard to decipher! But, with a bit of supplement label reading know-how, you can find some treasures at the health food store.
Always look at dosage size when comparing labels –
Have you ever tried comparing the ingredients of two similar products? Do you find it as frustrating as I do?
I do this all the time in stores, especially when I’m helping a client find a bone-building supplement (for some reason, I always find myself there comparing labels).
The first thing to look at is how many capsules or tablets the label is referring to. It’ll say at the top “1 capsule contains” or “5 tablets contain”.
This is important - some labels will show the ingredients in 1 capsule, but a competitor might show the ingredients in a full serving (say 3 or 5 capsules). The latter looks better on the label, all of the amounts will be higher.
How many doses per bottle?
I’m pretty frugal so I’m always looking for a better bang for my buck…and there are many times when the cheapest product isn’t the most cost effective.
If you’re deciding between two different formulas, check out how long each bottle will last, not just how many capsules are in the bottle. A 90 cap bottle may only last two weeks, while a 60 cap bottle may last two months. It’s an important bit of math to do :)
Herbs – look for standardized extracts (usually) -
Anytime you’re looking at a herb or herbal blend in a capsule, ALWAYS look for a standardized extract.
This means the medicinal component of the herb has been concentrated. This is important because it’s hard to get enough of a dry herb into a capsule for it to be effective. Concentrating it is important.
You can see this on a label in two ways -
Like the example above - the medicinal component is concentrated and is listed as a % or milligram (mg) dose (above, curcuminoids are concentrated to 500mg)
Like the example below - the medicinal component is concentrated and listed as a XX:1 extract. You’ll usually find the “dry herb equivalent” listed as well (more on that below)
Some herbs are concentrated in a more traditional way, like in a tincture or liquid capsule. This involves concentrating the whole herb instead of just the medicinal component and will always list the “dry herb equivalent”.
A rule of thumb - if you only see the mg amount listed, then you’re just getting an unconcentrated dry herb.
Let’s look at a real-life example
Here are two examples of elderberry in a capsule. We need to take about 5000mg or 5g for a medicinal dose when sick. This is hard to do in a capsule (you’d be swallowing handfuls), so a concentrated form is handy…and sometimes cheaper per dose.
Here are two labels:
Nature’s Way Elderberry (approx. $11 for 100 caps)
MEDICINAL INGREDIENTS
European Elder Fruit (Sambucus nigra)……………460 mg
European Elder Flowers (Sambucus nigra)……….115 mg
VS.
New Chapter Elderberry Force (approx. $40 for 60 caps)
Supplement Facts, amount per 1 Capsule
Black Elder (Sambucus nigra subsp. nigra) fruit extract 64:1 QCE 21,440 mg………335mg
Black Currant (Ribes nigrum) fruit extract 75:1 QCE 3750 mg…………………………………50mg
At first glance, The New Chapter version is MUCH more expensive for what looks like a smaller dose of elderberry (335mg vs 460mg).
But, look at how concentrated the New Chapter version is. It’s a 64:1 extract – this means that it’s been concentrated to 64x the regular potency and that equals 21,440mg!
If we want to take at least 5000mg when we’re sick, we’d need to take 10 caps of the Nature’s Way option, or 1 cap of New Chapters product.
Cost per medicinal dose =
Nature’s Way = $1.10 per dose (10 doses per bottle)
New Chapter = $0.67 per dose (60 doses per bottle)
New Chapter wins hands down!
Tinctures and Liquid Extracts
If you’re getting a liquid extract or tincture, look at “dry herb equivalent” on the label to see how strong it is. It’ll say XX drops = XXXmg of dry herb. That will show you how concentrated it is.
Tinctures can vary widely in potency, and sometimes the cheapest option is so weak that it won’t give you a very good bang for your buck. Once I bought one that was ½ the price of my usual tincture…but I had to take 4x as much liquid to get the full dose. Not worth the savings at all.
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