Top 7 Trusted Supplement Brands to Consider in 2022
If you are embarking on a quest to better your health with the use of dietary supplements, choosing the right brand and products to trust might seem like an overwhelming task at first. There are so many brands on the market to choose from, but a lot of them may not be as useful and trustworthy as they are cracked up to be.
With an abundance of low-quality, bogus, adulterated and mislabeled supplements being freely sold online, many consumers may potentially expose their body to different dangerous chemicals, contaminants, and unexpected side effects that could land them in the hospital in extreme cases.
This post highlights some of the industry’s most trusted supplement brands sold on the market today. From outstanding manufacturing practices, to comprehensive lab testing, to positive consumer and professional feedback, these companies all have one thing in common: They manufacture legit quality products so you know for sure you’re getting the real deal just like stated on the label.
The Best Supplement Brands on The Market
Out of the thousands of companies in the industry, the following seven meet all the criteria of an authentic and reliable brand. These are certainly not the only ones, but some of the finest to check out.
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One of the largest and most reputable supplement manufacturers in the USA. Sustainably-sourced and quality-tested ingredients. Huge selection of vitamins, nutrients, and herbal supplements sold at affordable prices. -
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A premium professional brand with superb quality standards. Clean and thoroughly-tested ingredients. Vegetarian capsules are used in most of their products. -
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A budget-friendly brand with many decent natural formulas for various purposes. Their products are made in a GMP certified facility located in California. -
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A top-notch practitioner brand focused on hypoallergenic formulations. Their products are among the cleanest on the market without any unnecessary fillers or additives. -
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This company focuses on research-based dietary and herbal formulations. Excellent quality and very competitive prices for many of their products. -
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Offers a nice selection of multivitamins and nutritional formulas that are made in their NSF GMP certified facility in New York. Many of their supplements are certified vegan and retail at reasonable prices. -
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Another practitioner brand that is relatively cheaper than many competitors in this category. They use fine ingredients in their formulas including various branded compounds and herbal extracts with clinically proven potency.
Below we talk about each one of these brands in more detail.
1. NOW Foods
NOW creates quality dietary supplements and organic products at an affordable price. The available selection consists of various types of products, including general natural supplements, sports nutrition, pet health, natural foods, and essential oils.
NOW prioritizes quality over quantity, making sure every finished product is up to their high standards that are often praised by their loyal customers in the USA and other countries. They implement comprehensive testing to ensure the safety and potency of the ingredients that go into their formulas.
Another reason to choose this brand is their commendable commitment to sustainable sourcing and recyclable packaging. A lot of their products are available in different forms, including vegetarian capsules, tablets, softgels, and raw powder packaged into recyclable plastic bottles.
2. Thorne
Thorne is a community of experts with extensive experience in human health. This manufacturer sets remarkably high standards while working with some of the most reputable raw ingredient suppliers and medical research organizations, making Thorne one of the top recognized practitioner-focused brands in the USA.
Each product they make is thoroughly tested for identity, potency and safety. They avoid the use of unnecessary fillers and several potentially harmful chemicals that many other manufacturers use.
Thorne’s supplements come in neatly designed, white plastic bottles and most of them use vegetarian capsules (made from cellulose).
Considering the level of expertise, testing and quality that goes into the products, they do retail at a higher price point. If you are interested in trying a premium brand and don’t mind shelling out a few extra bucks, Thorne is one of the top options to consider.
3. Jarrow Formulas
Another consumer-favorite brand, Jarrow Formulas offers a diverse selection of supplements ranging from women’s and men’s health, children’s health, sports nutrition, to pet care. All of their products are manufactured in a GMP certified facility based in California.
Jarrow is respected as one of the industry’s leading probiotic makers offering a variety of specialized formulas. They produce quality supplements that are practical, effective and very affordable. They are one of the best budget-friendly brands to consider for your nutritional supplement needs.
4. Pure Encapsulations
Designed with maximum purity in mind, Pure Encapsulations makes well over 400 products catered to most people’s needs and lifestyles. This is one of the industry’s most sought-after brands and is currently the best-selling practitioner brand in the USA.
They ensure that every supplement produced in their certified facility is clean, allergen-free, and free from any unnecessary additives and harmful chemical ingredients. Their products are recognized for being certified gluten-free and GMO-free.
Almost all of Pure Encapsulations’ products come in vegetarian capsules that contain no fillers or binders. They also don’t use magnesium stearate in any of their formulations. Each product comes in a white plastic bottle with a professionally designed label that lists every ingredient inside.
Some people find this brand a little too pricey, but then if you are on a tight budget, you probably don’t want to pick one of the very tip-top professional brands available! We do discuss other affordable alternatives in this post.
5. Life Extension
Life Extension is one of the oldest makers of vitamins and many other types of nutritional formulas. They are very reputable among the online community of alternative health experts, proponents and regular users.
This company is highly invested in the production and promotion of research-based natural and herbal formulations. They regularly publish educational articles as well as a monthly magazine that features a lot of helpful information and tips.
Critics of this brand have pointed out that some of the health claims they make are largely promotional with little scientific backing. But keep in mind that the uses of dietary supplements are generally based on preliminary clinical findings and limited studies rather than solid clinical evidence.
All in all, the claims accompanying Life Extension’s products are fairly reasonable, as are their prices.
6. Country Life
This New York-based company offers a diverse selection of multivitamins, single vitamins and minerals, specialty formulas, and various other types of natural supplements. Country Life manufactures most of their products in their NSF-GMP certified facility.
They use clean and lab-tested ingredients that are certified gluten-free and non-GMO. Many of their products carry other certifications, such as vegan, USDA organic, kosher, etc. The supplements come in a dark glass bottle, which gives them sort of a “premium” look compared to cheap-looking plastic bottles.
The prices are very reasonable though, so you can easily get a handful of different vitamins while spending around $50 in total.
7. Integrative Therapeutics
Integrative Therapeutics is one more professional brand worth adding to this list. They make various specialized nutraceutical formulations in addition to single-ingredient products.
If you examine the labels carefully, you’ll notice that they commonly include patented/branded natural compounds and standardized herbal extracts that are proven to be authentic and potent.
Just to give you one quick example of these; the CurcuMax formula contains a patented curcumin extract called Meriva, which studies have shown to have better absorption and higher bioavailability than regular curcumin extracts.
Most of Integrative Therapeutics’ products are vegan and come in clean plant-derived capsules. The prices are fair relative to the quality of the ingredients used in each formula.
How to Find The Best Supplement Brand?
In case you’ve been reading user reviews of different supplement companies and products on Amazon and other websites, you probably noticed that personal reviews can be highly subjective and very often contradict one another.
Well, let’s put all personal opinions aside for a moment and look at some of the most important factors to consider when searching for the best supplement brand for you.
Ingredient quality: Obviously, a dietary supplement is as good as the ingredients it is made of. Cheap and low-quality ingredients may not deliver the results you expect. Reputable companies use high-quality ingredients with proven authenticity and potency.
Standardized extracts: When shopping for herbal supplements, try to look for products that use standardized herbal extracts. These are usually more effective than regular herbal powders and provide a guaranteed dosage of the main active compound(s). Branded standardized extracts may be more costly, but their higher purity and efficacy can justify the premium price.
GMP compliance: Make sure that the manufacturer’s facility is GMP certified. GMP stands for Good Manufacturing Practices, which entail various guidelines and conditions that must be followed to ensure that each batch of finished products is safe and effective.
Testing: All major supplement companies in the USA have their own in-house laboratories where different analytical tests are performed on the raw materials and finished products. Most of the raw materials and ingredients are often sourced from other countries, so you want to rest assured that the company you buy from does all the necessary lab work to verify that each ingredient is legit and safe.
Cleanliness: Certain additives may be necessary in certain products, but these should be kept to a minimum. Some manufacturers carelessly use loads of fillers and additives when they can do without them. Supplements that come in capsule form often contain less additives than those in tablet form, so opt for capsules whenever this option is available.
Dosage: Each individual may require a different dosage of one or more ingredients. What works well for others may be ineffective or possibly problematic for you. It is advised that you talk to your doctor about the right dosage for you and then purchase your supplements accordingly.
Are “Clinically Proven” Supplements Approved by The FDA?
No, they are not. The FDA does not approve the use of dietary supplements for any medical purposes because they treat them as food products rather than medicine. The marketing term “clinically proven” is usually used in a dishonest and misleading manner and should always be taken with a pinch of salt.
Be extra cautious with products that make a tall list of health claims without providing credible scientific evidence to support those claims. And if they supply a long list of supporting “studies” and “references” at the bottom of the page, take some time to read those studies to see if they actually justify the claims; most of the time they don’t!
Just to give you a perspective, caffeine has been clinically proven to promote weight loss, according to one, two, three, and other studies. Don’t expect any “clinically proven” weight loss supplement to be much more helpful than a cup of coffee or a caffeinated drink!
So, even if a few studies suggest a certain product or compound may be effective, the practical results are usually much more modest and less impressive than marketed.
