Are you currently taking supplements or looking into starting a supplement regimen?

Visit any aisle at your local drugstore, and you’ll see a variety of multivitamins, single nutrients, fiber, minerals, herbs, extracts, and fatty acids.

It’s overwhelming.

How do you know which to buy?

Also, given that the FDA doesn’t oversee product testing or ingredient accuracy, how would you know which are effective–and most importantly, safe?

The onus falls on you, the consumer, to do your due diligence.

Here are 5 tips to keep in mind when selecting dietary supplements.

1. Choose naturally-derived supplements (instead of artificially-made ones)

Despite the widely-held conception that synthetic nutrients are almost chemically identical to those found in natural sources (e.g. whole foods, herbs, and spices), the truth is that scientists are still unsure of how well the human body absorbs artificially-created nutrients.

Meaning?

If you supplement with synthetically-derived supplements, you may experience fewer health benefits–if at all!–than you would have had with natural options.

2. Make sure there’s scientific evidence to back up health claims

Does the supplement seem to have otherworldly claims? What about 'altering genetics'?

Stay away from supplements that make outrageous claims or promises you a miracle cure without any clinical studies backing up those statements.

Of course, this would require a little bit of digging into research on your part–but your health (and wallet) will thank you for it.

3. Take drug-nutrient interactions into account

Dietary supplements can affect medications by altering their absorption or metabolism; they can make the drugs you take work faster, slower, or worse still, prevent them from working at all.

This is a concept known as drug-nutrient interaction–and it's known to bring about several adverse health issues, including nutritional deficiency.

Thus, it might be in your best interest to consult your primary care physician before starting a new supplement.

4. Read the label and steer clear of unnecessary filler ingredients

Unfortunately, roughly 15% of nutritional supplements available today contain fillers–human-made chemicals added to products, typically serving the purpose of optimizing the manufacturing process or binding the supplement together.

However, the addition of these fillers is only beneficial to supplement companies.

In addition to containing absolutely zero nutritional value, these fillers (e.g. hydrogenated oil, lead, mercury, and titanium dioxide)  can also cause various medical and cognitive issues – you want to make sure to stay away from filler laden supplements!

5. Evaluate the site when buying online

Searching the web for supplements will turn up all kinds of websites–from trustworthy, official supplement brands to sketchy sites to fraudulent websites that sell products that are worthless or, worse, downright harmful to health.

Do your due diligence.

Ensure the site you're purchasing from offers current, sound information (with scientific references) and includes easy access to contact information.

To put it bluntly, even if you put up a magnifying glass to the product label of every supplement you come across, you're still never going to know what–exactly–is inside those pills.

Many companies choose to hide dodgy ingredients behind the term 'Other Ingredients,' anyway.

And so… The whole idea behind Herb Affair is that consumers shouldn't need to question if the supplement they've just bought is effective or safe.

You should be able to know precisely what you're putting inside your body.

That's why, at its core, Herb Affair is a DIY Supplement Company. While other companies are hiding their ingredient list to jack up profit margins, Herb Affair encourages consumers to pick raw herbs and whole foods–empowering individuals to take charge of their health journeys by making their own supplements.

Herb Affair gives you everything you need to take charge of your health – right now

With Herb Affair, making your own custom supplements is easy as can be. Find everything you need on a single site.

From capsule machines

Filling your own capsules can be a messy and frustrating task.

That's why, true to its name of being a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to fill their own pills, Herb Affair carries various easy-to-use capsule filling machines. For those looking for a lightning-quick filling process, the CAPSULE-IT Capsule Filler is a must-have.

Due to its ability to handle 100 capsules per session, the entire encapsulation process is said to take only 8 minutes to complete!

Don’t need quite so many pills? Don’t worry. There’s also the CAP-M-QUIK Capsule Filling Machine, which handles 50 capsules per session. Its' winning point? It’s available in nearly all capsules sizes: from 000 to 4.

To empty capsules…

Herb Affair takes great pride in offering only the highest quality empty capsules on the market. Our vegetarian capsules comprise two main ingredients: 100% plant-derived Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC) and water–perfect for anyone who wishes to stay away from meat.

However, for those who have no issue eating meat, we also offer gelatin capsules, which are made of 100% Pharmaceutical Hide Bovine gelatin and water.

Best of all? You can find all the capsule sizes you'd ever need (ranging from 000 all the way to 4), so you can get just the right amount of dosage you need!

To herbs and spices…

When it comes to the products we carry, purity and potency are our guiding principles.  That’s why, at Herb Affair, you’ll only find herbs and spices that have been scientifically proven to exert beneficial health effects.

For instance, turmeric, which helps support the immune system; ashwagandha, which promotes a healthy inflammatory response; ginseng, which improves the body's resilience to stress; and ginkgo biloba, which positively affects cognitive functions.

What people are saying about us...

“This is the best idea ever! If you are a self proclaimed bio hacker and love good coffee, but hate adding icky powders to warm drinks or your coffee. You need this in your life. I capsule up all the powders I hate taking. Then I take the. With a glass of water! No icky after taste or weird coffee additives No More 😁 I have several more powders I want to capsule. This thing has great easy to follow directions that my 3year old can master it! Love this! A must have!” — Elsa N.