Discount vitamin and mineral buying is easy. Just stop by any supermarket or drugstore and you'll find many possibilities likely claiming to be the cheapest, the best and so on. How do you really know which discount vitamin and mineral product is the right one to choose? It's a valid question and an important one, since vitamin manufacturers are not regulated.

And are vitamin and mineral supplements really needed? Numerous studies have concluded that because of soil depletion that has been ongoing for decades, overall nutrient value of foods continues to decline. Less than one out of ten people meet or exceed the USDA food pyramid's daily requirements for consumption of important vegetables and fruits. So taking a quality discount vitamin and mineral supplement daily to help fill in the 'nutrient gaps' that everyone has is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Again, the question is -- which one? Is the cheapest one the best way to go?

Here are questions you should ask for any discount vitamin and mineral product you're considering taking:

1. Is the price low because cheap, inferior ingredients are used? There can be huge differences in the quality and costs of individual ingredients. Since your health is the issue, priority should be given to quality since the final product is only as good as the raw ingredients used. For example, most beta carotene used in supplements is synthetic and contains only about 3% beta carotene that costs about $60 per kg. However, a much more effective higher potency natural 98% beta carotene costs about $2,800 per kg. The more effective natural form of Vitamin E d-alpha tocopheryl succinate costs more than the synthetic version called dl-alpha tocopheryl.

2. Are potencies listed actually contained in the product? How do you know that what you're paying for is actually included in the product? And does the manufacturer have a system in place to verify that the ingredients used are what their suppliers claim?

3. Are there impurities in the discount vitamin and mineral product? Cheaper raw ingredients may include other substances, some unwanted, that should not be in the product. Does the manufacturer do heavy metal testing to ensure that there is no contamination with mercury, lead, arsenic or cadmium.

4. Does the manufacturer conform to pharmaceutical standards in their manufacturing processes? High-volume discount manufacturers can cut costs by shortening the mixing time and by mixing at higher speeds. This can mean that the product must be tableted harder, which can result in a vitamin that will be more difficult to dissolve and may pass right through your system.

5. Does the product come with a money-back guarantee? You should be able to get your money back if you are not completely satisfied.

Buying a discount vitamin and mineral is not the same as buying a cheap pair of socks or a shirt. It is about the nutrients and their quality that'll be going into your body. You generally get what you pay for, and there are dozens of discount one-a-day vitamins. However, taking a one-a-day multivitamin is probably a waste of money. It's impossible to fit the necessary vitamins and minerals needed for a quality supplement in a single tablet or capsule -- it would be much too large to swallow.

Cheap supermarket supplements are a poor value for the money as they consist of cheaper, lower quality ingredients and will not include other beneficial nutrients that provide documented health benefits. These kinds of discount vitamin and mineral products tend to use high quantities of cheaper ingredients, which can lead to an unhealthy imbalance of nutrients. In the case of nutrients, more is not always better. And the cheapest part of nutritional supplements is the vitamin and mineral part.

There ARE manufacturers that design and make supplements that provide high quality at very reasonable prices. There is one in particular that uses pharmaceutical grade ingredients, many supported by clinical studies. Ingredients are linked to relevant clinical studies on their website.

Taking a quality discount vitamin and mineral supplement should be about better health and energy, freedom from illness, improved sexual vigor and slowing the aging process. Learn as much as you can about what finding the best discount vitamin and mineral supplement really means -- before spending your money, be informed about the nutrients and substances you'll be putting into your body every day.

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