Decide you want to take a vitamin supplement or two, and you face a barrage of choice — in price, formulations and health claims — and it can be impossible to know which are the best for you.
This confusion has led to a rise in the popularity of online companies that promise to provide a tailor-made supplement 'prescription' based on aspects of your health, such as your diet and any medical concerns.
Internet supplement sales are growing fast and personalised services are leading the charge. The UK supplements market is worth more than £442 million and in the U.S., where 'personalised nutrition' is more established, the sector is growing 7 per cent every year.
So how many of these personalised services prescribed the supplements I really needed? I took my prescriptions to Professor Rayman, who rated them.
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You’ll be pleased to know your choice of personalised nutrition provider has been endorsed by an industry leading panel of judges who awarded our company an internationally recognised award as the best initiative in this category.
That view has now been promoted by the Daily Mail, who scored www.vitmedics.com the highest rated personalised nutrition brand from all the UK companies they assessed!
We scored 9/10 on their assessment with only one other brand achieving a 6 and the other five companies graded at 5 or less, as well as one major well-known high street retailer’s offering rated 0.
Daily Mail Review of Vitmedics BELOW
VITMEDICS
£32 per month, vitmedics.com
CLAIM: The company was established by a pharmacist with a masters in nutritional medicine who is an expert in 'corrective personalised recommendations'. The online quiz includes questions about the medicines you take and picks up common drugs that affect nutrient absorption.
MY PRESCRIPTION: Seven daily pills — two multivitamin and mineral supplements, a combined selenium and zinc tablet, vegan omega-3 capsule and vitamin B12, C and D pills.
MY VERDICT: The website focuses more on information than hard selling (unlike others). My recommended 'prescription' is emailed over, with a list of foods that might correct any imbalances, and links to studies which back up the recommendations. I have the option of buying the pills elsewhere or clicking through to buy on the website. The science and the soft-sell approach give me confidence in the prescription.
EXPERT VERDICT: This is a sensible service which could be important for anyone on a range of medicines. It's good to have an appreciation of the adverse effect some drugs can have on nutrition — one example is metformin, prescribed for type 2 diabetes, which can reduce the absorption of vitamin B12 in the gut and lead to deficiency.
Fish oil would be a better option than vegan omega-3 capsules (for heart and brain health) as lots of people don't eat adequate amounts of oily fish to get enough of this nutrient. But as the doses in the multivitamin/mineral pills are low, the additional vitamin B12 and vitamin D pills are a good idea.
With vitamin C and selenium in the multivitamin, you don't really need the extra pill, but the antiviral effects of selenium might make the additional 100mcg useful with Covid-19 around. 9/10
Read More on the Daily Mail Article Here
