The Endless Supply of Supplements

Have you ever browsed through the vitamins and supplements section at the store and felt overwhelmed? Because these are non-prescription items, easily acces­sible, and always advertising various health benefits, many people are drawn to them without physician oversight. When contemplating whether or not a supplement is right for you, it is vital to speak to your pharmacist or doctor first. Even though many of the ingredients are natural and extracted from natural sources, supplements have the potential to interact with current medications, disease states, or can put a patient at risk for an adverse event if used inappropriately. In addition, too much of any certain ingredient can be harmful, which is why it is important to consult a medical professional on appropriate dosing.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) actually has no authority to review dietary supplements for safety and effectiveness prior to hitting the market. Therefore, there is no regulatory agency overseeing that what is in the bottle actually matches the labeled ingredients. This is why choosing a supplement from a reputable company is important. Even though these types of supplements are more expensive, choosing a pharmaceutical grade (high quality) dietary supplement is always the best route to take because the company manufacturing the product is held to stringent standards and uses high quality, pure ingredients. Overall, there is a lot to consider before add­ing a supplement to your diet and purchasing it from a trusted health care professional is a good first step. RC Compounding will soon be offering high grade, pharmaceutical grade supplements for those patients that are in need, so stay tuned!

All Proviva products are of pharmaceutical grade quality. To be Pharmaceutical Grade versus “food grade” products must achieve 99% purity from natural sources. Less than 3% of supplements are pharmaceutical grade. 

Supplements are not currently regulated by the FDA. However, pharmaceutical grade manufacturers voluntarily submit their processes to the FDA for stringent review.  Ingredients and processes are sourced “from the ground” up to “ingestion”. Pharmaceutical grade supplements are only made in FDA registered facilities that follow Certified Good Manufacturing Practices.

In fact, new for 2021 the facility where we manufacture our products also manufactures generic prescription products under the same roof. Using the same manufacturing processes for the nutraceuticals as the pharmaceuticals. 

To see real therapeutic benefits, the bloodstream must absorb nutrients. Absorption is greatly be affected by the quality of supplements. Food grade supplements can contain questionable fillers and binders. Often food grade supplements found in drug and health food stores do not contain vitamins that are truly natural. Additionally the manufacturing processes cannot be verified to be of the highest quality. Many people can actually feel the difference between pharmaceutical grade supplements and those bought at chain stores. Bloodwork and biological marker testing tell the full story as well. Pharmaceutical grade products demonstrate the consistency and results that a physician looks for in patients.  

How can one know if their product is pharmaceutical grade versus good grade?  Discerning the difference can be difficult simply by looking at the bottle. One way to distinguish is by cost. Pharmaceutical grade supplements generally cost more due to the higher quality ingredients and more stringent manufacturing processes.  Additionally, consider the source from which you’re buying. A trusted medical professional is a good place to start.

Although pharmaceutical grade supplements may cost a little more, in the long run the difference may be minimal due to having to potentially having to take a lower “dosage” due to increased purity.  Bottom line, you may not need as many capsules of pharmaceutical grade supplements versus food grade to achieve the desired benefits.

That’s the Proviva difference!

BLUEPRINT FOR QUALITY PRODUCTS

♦◊ TRANSPARENCY ◊♦

A certificate of analysis (COA) documents our formulas’ quality. Every lot of every product will have a COA generated to document all of the testing performed on the product, the specifications each test is intended to comply with, and the actual results for each test.