Reputable Supplement Brands

April 15, 2024 6:22 AM

I would like to get a couple vitamin supplements, but I would like them to, you know, contain what the label says and not contain stuff they shouldn't. Does anyone have decent evidence-based recs for supplement companies that ship to the US?

I have one I know that I get some stuff from, but they don't carry methylfolate or CoQ10, which are what I'm looking for this round. So specific recs for those are particularly welcome.

posted by restless_nomad to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

Costco's Kirkland Signature supplements are generally unparalleled in terms of both cost and quality, meeting or exceeding USP standards. They do carry CoQ10, it appears they only have methylfolate by prescription.
posted by eschatfische at 6:52 AM on April 15, 2024 [3 favorites]

I work in medicines regulation. Supplements, by and large, are really hard to wrangle because legislation allows it. The best you can do is order from companies that clearly manufacture in the US or in the EU, both of which have high standards for pharmacopeial purity and identity. There is no single "great vendor" as many of these companies purchase private label stock from big (multinational/international) vendors, but that's generally a good thing" bigger manufacturers have a greater incentive to manage their own quality systems and auditing in order to attract clientele. You won't hear me recommending any company or product in this space, but you *can and should* check the quality systems and identity analysis information for each product you buy. If a manufacturer can't supply those things, don't buy from them.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 6:58 AM on April 15, 2024 [6 favorites]

Thorne
posted by bluefly at 7:09 AM on April 15, 2024 [2 favorites]

My doctor and my friend's doctor in another system have specifically suggested Theralogix for CoQ10.
posted by knile at 7:32 AM on April 15, 2024

Best answer: Consumerlab.com rates Doctor's Best Fully Active Folate (a Walgreens brand) well for methylfolate.

They also generally endorse the Kirkland brand for supplements, including for CoQ10, though they note that the Kirkland one is rather a high dose, and go on to say that Garden of Life gummies are a decent lower dose version. They also endorse Member's Mark CoQ10.
posted by gudrun at 7:38 AM on April 15, 2024 [1 favorite]

I've always heard good things about Solgar.
posted by Mournful Bagel Song at 7:54 AM on April 15, 2024

The whole unregulated supplement industry makes this very hard, but a biochemist I trust says Carlson has the best quality control and makes a real effort to make sure the supplements are formulated to be bio-available so that they will actually be taken up by your body and not just passed through.
posted by seasparrow at 12:00 PM on April 15, 2024

A close family friend works in OTC quality testing - the best US brands they've seen are Now Foods and Nature Made.
posted by estlin at 1:33 PM on April 15, 2024

Response by poster: Thanks, folks! Giving the consumerlab.com ones a shot but this is a useful resource in general.
posted by restless_nomad at 6:43 AM on April 16, 2024