Columnist Muriel Stevens: On the hunt for healthy supplements

In a perfect world, all of us would get our vitamins and minerals from the foods we eat, but it's been a long time since we ate fruits and vegetables that were still fresh from the garden.

In the "olden" days, most of our fresh produce came from areas close to where we lived.

Why am I telling you this? Because as with almost everyone I know, my daily routine includes ingesting various vitamins, none of which were prescribed by a doctor or a licensed nutritionist.

I just know I need supplements. How do I know? Because of my crazy lifestyle and eating habits.

I probably spend more on vitamins than I do for at-home food, but I don't mind because I'm certain it's the right thing to do. Not very scientific, but I've grown to trust my own instinct.

I know that buying the highest-priced product isn't any better than buying a less costly one. When it comes to vitamins, no matter what the salesperson tells you, price does not determine quality. That's the rub. You have to do a little research of your own. That does not include reading the company's pamphlets.

Unlike other over-the-counter drugs, dietary supplements are not regulated (that's another column).

Buy supplements at a reliable source and hope that what the label says it is, is actually what's inside.

We all want to believe that taking supplements can improve our lives. Some really do, and there's clinical research to prove it.

That's why the newest addition to my regimen is a concentrated soybean pill rich in soy isoflavones. It would take eating a heap of tofu to give the benefits of these soy supplements.

I was close to a Wal-Mart, so I stopped to see if they had the soy pills. Prices here are usually low.

The trouble is, you can't compare most vitamin prices, because each store has its own brands. Unlike health food stores, drug store personnel, to paraphrase the old song, "don't know much about vitamins."

The labeling on Wal-Mart's soy product gave little information. I was looking for a supplement rich in genestein and daidzein. No one, including one of the pharmacists, knew what I was talking about.

Before I shell out almost $20 for 60 soy pills, I want to know if it's the real thing.

So I went back to Wild Oats, where I had bought the first bottle. I like the service and the knowledge here. What's more, they carry competing brands of the same products, so you have a choice. I like that, too. The supplement section had just been enlarged. I found soy supplements, but not Soy Essentials, the brand I like. But the friendly salesperson knew just where it was stocked.

For well under $20 I got more than twice the amount of supplement and a product I trust. (By the way, I get my supplement information from a variety of reliable newsletters that aren't selling anything but information: University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter; Environmental Nutrition (food, nutrition & health); and Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter.)

You may have noticed that I haven't shared my regimen with you. Although I choose my own nostrums, taking supplements should not be a frivolous thing. So, always check with your doctor, not a vitamin salesperson ... or a columnist.

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