Buying supplements online can be a great way to save money and get access to a wider selection of products. But it can also be difficult to know who you can trust. Virtually anyone can become an online supplement supplier these days. All you need is someone who’s willing to package your product and a website. Supplements don’t even have to be approved by the FDA to be sold to the public. This is why you need to do your due diligence before buying anything from anyone online. Let’s take a look at how you can tell that an online supplement supplier is legit.
The Reviews
If you come across multiple reviews that have great things to say about a product, it probably means that you can trust it. This is especially important for products like kratom that can vary greatly in quality. Looking at kratom product and company reviews will allow you to see if they can be trusted.
If you’re looking for a good brand, we suggest you read this detailed post about OPMS. They give some background information about the brand along with some pros and cons of their product line. Honest reviews like these are the only way to know what you can truly expect from a product.
Know How to Read Labels
You should be able to see the label information for any supplement you were thinking of buying online. If you can’t access that information, run. If you can, you will need to learn what excipients are and how they work.
Put simply, excipients are additives that can be added to supplements and medication but have no active properties. Note that these are not necessarily bad and can be used to give a product certain qualities. It can be used to improve its digestibility, color, or flavor. However, some companies will cut corners and put things that could be potentially dangerous in their products, so you have to know what to look for.
You should think twice about buying any product that contains things like polysorbate 80, saccharin sodium, benzoates, and propylene glycol. Polysorbate 80 is particularly dangerous and has been linked to issues like heart attacks and blood clots, so beware.
There is another very important thing that you can learn about a product by reading its label. You can see things like side effects, for instance, but also see if the product is certified. If you see certifications from organizations like United States Pharmacopeia (USP), ConsumerLab.com, or NSF International, this means that the product meets certain manufacturing standards and is more likely to be high quality.
Explore their Website
The website can also give you some information on whether you can trust a company. If the website looks bad and has typos, then it’s an automatic red flag. Beware of outlandish claims too. If they make claims, make sure that they are backed by science. The company should also be easily reachable through mail, email, phone, or live chat, if possible.
These are all things that should let you know if a brand or product is trustworthy. Before you go all in, however, try a few products from different companies and gauge your impressions of each.