What's your view of vitamin supplements? When looking at the supplement aisle at Walmart, it's amazing how many supplements are on the market. It's obviously a huge industry. It seems a lot of the vitamins are overrated. Also, we need to remember that vitamins aren't evaluated by the FDA.

Most vitamins are junk. Mainly because all those cheap vitamins you see in stores are synthetic alternatives and not natural forms. Many are byproducts of petroleum production. It's hard for people to understand that you can consume a "vitamin" and get nothing from it. But it's 100% the truth. The best way I can explain it is this. We have evolved/were designed to eat and absorb a natural vitamin that looks like this (X). Scientist have come up with a way to create that vitamin in a synthetic way, but it's shaped like this (T). The receptors in our bodies can't absorb a T into a slot that's designed to only accept an X. It becomes the literal definition of piXXing your money away and trying to stick a square through a round hole.

For the most part, you are correct in saying that FDA does not regulate supplements. And most companies choose not to deal with the FDA at all in testing of the product or lab. However, there are some vitamin companies that do test with them. They do so, so they can receive certification and registration with the FDA for quality verification. Every batch is tested and the lab has to meet FDA regulations to receive those certifications. As you can imagine, the price goes up substantially when you get the government involved. But so does your results in using the products. Most of the time, these vitamins aren't sold in box stores, Because why would someone pay $150-$200/ month for a daily supplement, when you can buy something that's labeled to look like the exact same thing for $10 right next to it. And no store is going to hire someone to sit there and explain the difference. The vitamin companies know it and happily make billions on their junk.

There are 4 grades of vitamins sold and only 3 consumed by humans. 1. Animal and livestock - think mineral/vitamin block for horses or cows 2.Cosmetic 3. Medical 4. Pharmaceutical Grade. The vitamins you see on the shelves in stores, even GNC, are cosmetic grade. Usually synthetic when possible, the lowest/least expensive grade allowed by law to be consumed by humans, inconsistent in dosage and lowest purity of content. Medical grade is a step up from cosmetic. It uses a bit more natural components and a bit better overall grade and purity of it's contents. But it does not meet the guidelines for certification of the FDA. Pharmaceutical grade is tested as the purest, most consistent, top grade components and are tested to make sure those levels are maintained.

It's a personal decision on what's worth feeling better. $5-$6/day on supplements or $5-$6/day on coffee, soda, energy drinks, etc.

How do you know what grade any particular product is?

Wal-Mart must make a killing on supplements. It takes up an entire aisle.

Sorry for my slow response to your question. The vitamins that are low quality/cosmetic grade will NEVER say what grade they are in any promotional advertisement or labeling. The higher graded supplements are labeled and promoted as such, but you rarely if ever see them sold in stores. You have to be somewhat careful because many say they have "premium" ingredients. In cases it may be true, but in many cases it's just an advertising ploy. Ask what grade of supplement the products/ingredients are? If they say "premium" it's probably anything from cosmetic to medical with the vast majority being the former. If the person says pharmaceutical grade, they probably are because they can't say that if they aren't and haven't met the testing qualifications through the FDA.

Honestly, most of the pharmaceutical supplements are marketed and sold by mlm companies. It may not be there preferred way of doing business, but as stated earlier, they aren't going to sell their products next to $10 supplements in stores. Every MLM business has its scammers and its dirtbags, that give the whole industry a bad name. But honestly I've found the vast majority of people who work in the area are good honest people that TRULY believe in what they are promoting. Most have great personal stories and want to help people in one way or another. Very few are actually out there for the get rich quick fantasy that we usually think of. Some of the best products are made in those companies, whether we like it or not. It took me quite awhile to come to grips with that. But in the grand scheme of things, who cares where the product comes from, if it improves your life and you go in with open eyes. I've personally been using several products from an MLM company for coming up on 6 years and I wouldn't go a day without them. I tried and hated how I felt. In fact, I took it another step and started earning my product for free as a customer. Why not? It's better than paying $200/month for the products, regardless of how much I like them. My only bill every month is like $12-$15 for shipping and I get the products for free. All that said, I'm sure you can find the high end supplements in other locations somewhere if you're not willing to do as I did.

Too often those pyramid type sales arrangements seem to result in overpriced products.

Some are. There's no doubt about it. Yet some are fantastic and truly next level stuff. As always, do your research first. But keep an open mind. Tupperware and Avon are MLM companies, are fairly well respected and have some sought after products that have been around for decades. As much as we want to say it's MLM in general, it's really not. Pyramid "scheme" companies are 100% illegal and do not reflect what the vast majority of what MLM actually is. A pyramid scheme is the recruiting of people to invest money into the company, but no product exchanges hands during the process. That's what those bad companies were doing. The more you recruited and added "memberships" the more you were paid. Believe me, I had the same thoughts on MLM and avoided it all like the plague for years as well. But look at it objectively and you'll see that every company or organization is a pyramid in shape and in the "real job" world, the bottom rarely if ever makes more than the top. Owner, board of directors, managers, supervisors, staff employees. (Bill Gates) Pope, bishops, clergy, congregation. Head coach, assistant coaches, players (at least until the pros). Superintendent, Principles, teaching staff, students. In MLM, someone lower down the food chain can make more than someone else above them. It's all personal motivation, skill and ability. The bad rap on MLM's happened from a few horribly run true scam companies 30-40 years ago and the label stuck to the whole industry. I'm not defending all of todays companies as, IMO, some produce some bad, extremely overpriced junk products. But that can be said for stuff sold in stores as well. Like most things in life (trapping included), what does/doesn't work for me, may do small miracles for you or be totally ineffective. When it comes to supplementation this is especially so. We may be humans, but that's about where are similarities end. We are all vastly different in many areas of our lives and those all play a big part in our results. Genetics, metabolism, daily nutrition, age, work level, physical activity, climate, past medical history, gender, sleep quality, hormonal differences, etc. Your wife may have phenomenal results day 1, while you might not feel anything for 9 weeks. It's simply differences from one person to another. It's just like a coach in sports. Maybe the coach truly is awesome, innovative and has outstanding ideas and philosophies on how to get things done. But if not everyone buys in, the time isn't given for the system to work, time isn't given to recruit the players, injuries occur, the teams record might still suck. That coach may very well be out of a job and labeled a bad coach going forward. Is that label fair or unfair? I give you Bill Belichick of the Patriots, who the Brown's gave up on as head coach. We live in a world that demands immediate satisfaction and results. But honestly most of those immediate results are probably harmful to us in one form or another. Stimulants, cheating coaches, loss of something important in school to advance more into something else. Few things in this world are a one sized fits all system, method, belief or ideology, but that is how they are marketed. The supplements in Walmart, for example, don't come with personalized coaches, who want to help you have success and will coach you through tweaks in the system to help you succeed, nearly 24 hours a day. They don't care if it's doing anything for you or not. A person just has to decide for themselves what fits into their lives and what doesn't. Risk vs reward. Most people hate risk and change and refuse to act. Yet at the same time they desire something more. It could be health, weight loss, money, education, family life, etc. Unfortunately, it usually requires an emergency situation to get action started. As retired medical first responder and fireman, it's truly shocking to see how people truly CHOOSE to live their lives. Even after several calls to us, they refuse to make changes to their lives. It's not just the poor, it's also the wealthy. Their immediate gratification has caused me to have to pull their loved ones into another room to apologize that we couldn't save them FAR TOO MANY TIMES than I care to remember. It's sad and maddening that I have to apologize for our inability to save them, when they had all the time and ability to do it themselves over years and even decades. As a smoker, I have to own some of that same stupidity. But I'm trying to quit. Not just because of myself but because of my family and what my choices could mean to them down the road. I hope I succeed! As a last thought on "overpriced" argument I'll end on these thoughts. What's cheaper? Investing into your yourself for better health or a major medical bill down the road? The money and effort investing into yourself or possibly having less time with your family and friends? Stacking the deck in your favor as much as possible vs. rolling the dice and letting fate decide your future 100%. It's a personal choice. Action vs. inaction.

If possible, I prefer vitamins that are USP certified.

I eat a balanced diet. Blood work has never revealed a deficiency.