3 Dietary Supplement Research Platforms I Trust
Carefully selected dietary supplements can supplement a good workout program and healthy diet for fit athletes and overweight people. Below are a few popular dietary supplement research platforms to help you choose supplements without fatal side-effects, false advertising, ridiculous prices.
United States Pharmacopeia (USP)
United State Pharmacopeia (USP) lists products they've tested and verified for quality at quality-supplements.org. USP focus mostly on vitamins, fish oil, and multivitamins, and most products they've verified seem to be from Nature Made and Kirkland Signature. When browsing in-store drug aisles or online stores, UPS verified supplements will have their logo on the packaging.
NSF International
NSF has a large database of NSF certified dietary supplements. Unlike USP, the NSF database does include Creatine, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), pre-workout formulas, Glucosamine, Chondroitin, etc. Supplements they've certified will show a "NSF Certified for Sport" label on packaging.
Amazon Reviews
Some gym rats I've talked to about supplements use stuff I'd never touch. Yes, many reviews are lies. No, there's no way to know when someone is lying. But that's part of research. Look for the quality, patterns, and probability of authenticity in a vast number of reviews.
For additional information, check out this listacle from Consumer Reports with lesser known resources such as UL. For the pro-Black and curious, I've covered a few Black-owned supplement businesses.
Stay safe.
