With more than a thousand male supplements available in market today, choosing a perfect solution for your needs may prove a tedious task. There are growing concerns when it comes to the effectiveness of male supplements and their safety. Nowadays the market is flooded with a lot of rip-offs whether offline or online sources.
In order to avoid wasting your hard earned money on these unproven supplements that may end up even costing you your dear life, refer to the criteria below when shopping for the best male supplements.
1. Pay a Little More For Quality
Very often with male supplements, you get what you pay for. Most bargain-based male supplement manufactures purchase the cheapest ingredients in the market. Higher-tier brands on the other hand tend to source for more potent herbs and research-backed nutraceuticals. In addition, if you take a look at the actual amount of the ingredient you need – such as vitamin D or omega 3 – in a given pill from a brand that is cheaper and compare it to the amount in a given pill from a more expensive brand, you will more often realize that pricier supplements gives you a much better bung for your money.
However, this does not necessarily mean that the most expensive products on the shelf are always the best men supplements. There are factors such as manufacture’s small size that can make a brand to cost more money than another that is equally good. However, generally speaking, it is advisable to always bypass the cheapest brand you find – more so when shopping online – and be open to digging deeper into your pocket for the best male supplement.
2. Look For a Third-Party Seal
Third party seals do not prove a supplement’s efficacy, but they’re a good indicator that a product has been properly manufactured and contain what is written on the label. The consumerLab.com, NSF International and the US pharmacopeia are among the few independent certification organizations existing out there that can analyze supplement companies’ processes, test their finished results and give correct information about their products.
So, product with the USP, NSF or CL seal should give you the extra assurance that the supplement in question has passed the strict outside analyses. However, note that lack of these seals on a supplement does not necessarily mean that the product is of poor quality or a sham. Manufacturers do spend huge amounts of money on these programs, so some legitimate companies may choose not to pursue them.
3. Check The Label For Age And Gender
All supplements are not created equal. So make sure you only choose the Best supplements that are specifically formulated for males in your age bracket. Since your body requires nutritional needs change in the long run, age-specific supplements help to ensure that you get appropriate levels of the nutrients your body needs during each stage in life.
4. Pay Attention To Percentages
The label on the supplement will help you identify the nutrients included and amounts per serving. Generally, it is a good idea to choose supplements that offer 100 percent of the recommended daily value for majority of minerals and vitamins in the product. Have it mind that some nutrients such as magnesium and calcium are hardly ever offered at 100 percent. This is simply because the pill would be too big to be swallowed.
5. Shop At Your Local Health Food Store
These days supplements can be purchased almost anywhere. While you may get cheaper prices from big-box stores and other websites, your local health food store is still the best place to purchase your supplements. This is especially good if you are inexperienced buyer or you want to try something new but do not know exactly what brand, type or dosage to get. These stores are health-focused and tend to have a wider selection and also carry better quality brands than the other mainstream retailers including drugstores.
More importantly, they are normally properly staffed with workers with supper knowledge not only about supplements but also about general healthy living. And they hardly ever work on commission, so they are not pushy. Their only interest is spending their time helping you choose the best supplements so that you will keep coming back. Making quick sales is not part of their objective.
6. Don’t Go Overboard
I still want to reiterate that although it may sound like a genius idea to choose a product that offers more than 100 percent of the daily recommended value of certain nutrients, you might want to reconsider. More doesn’t automatically mean better as far as supplementation is concerned. You are supposed to be getting additional nutritional support via balanced diet and some nutrients can build your system up and pose potentially negative effects when taken in large doses.
Below are some of the major nutrients that your body needs most, and the best way to find them in supplements.
Magnesium
Magnesium is food for the brain. It can help in fighting muscle cramping and headache. It may also improve your mood. This is according to Dr. Emile Tarleton, RD, Vermont College University of Medicine. Your body needs about 400 to 420 mg per day.
About half of the American population falls short of the daily recommended 400 mg of magnesium. The institute of medicine recommends that you take at least 350 mg per day from a supplement. Magnesium citrate is absorbed well by the body.
Vitamin K
This nutrient is responsible for keeping your heart healthy. Individuals with deficiency in K vitamins are about 3 times as likely to suffer from heart conditions as people who get the most.
Adults require about 120mg per day, however the average adult male falls short with just about eighty five. So male supplements with 45 micrograms of K2, the type that is absorbed best by the body is required.
Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 keeps the brain’s spark plugs firing. This makes it easy for information to be relayed. Even a mild deficiency in vitamin B12 may accelerate cognitive decline. It is needed for proper formation of red blood cell.
If you eat a diet that is light on fish and meat, you should request to have your B12 levels checked whenever you have blood work done. A supplement may help protect your brain if you are found low.
Conclusion
With lots of different brands of supplement flooding the market every day, it may prove difficult to separate brain boosting, muscle building, highly beneficial supplements from the ineffective and harmful ones. However, with the above buying criteria, you will be able to easily separate chaff from grains.
