Where can I buy supplements?
I recommend buying your supplements from iHerb, and there are several reasons for this.
The primary reason is of course that PlanYourVitamins.com is affiliated with iHerb, which means that whenever you use my site's links to buy your vitamins and supplements
online through iHerb, I receive a few cents from each sale, at no extra cost. This helps me to pay for the site's hosting and maintenance fees, stay online, and remain advert-free.
I am extremely appreciative of each and every contribution, no matter how small. Every little helps!
But aside from monetizing the website, I genuinely believe that iHerb is the best place to buy vitamins and supplements online.
They are a very reliable and diligent retailer, I've been using them since at least 2014 (which is the earliest iHerb invoice I still have in my e-mail account) and
I have never once had an issue with them.
They ship pretty much worldwide, they work with a variety of couriers and payment methods, their pricing is decent, their packaging is secure, and their range is quite unbeatable.
If you have a local supplement store, by all means support them first, but for anything you can't buy locally, I wholeheartedly encourage you to check out iHerb.
And of course, I must mention that the boxes iHerb uses to ship their supplements are great. They are really sturdy, much more so than your average Amazon package,
and are great for storing whatever it is you like to store in boxes (such as your supplements, for example).
Now, that doesn't mean to say that there isn't room for improvement. A long time ago, iHerb used to give out all sorts of freebies with their orders. Really useful stuff,
like measuring tapes, rulers, pens, and the like.
For some reason, they stopped doing that at some point, probably as part of some internal cost-cutting initiative,
as is usually the case, but I think they are shooting themselves in the foot by neglecting this easy branding and marketing opportunity. I still use my old iHerb ruler,
and I even used it a few times to design this very website, to make sure things are centered properly! If anyone from iHerb is reading this, take note: Bring back the freebies.
Also, depending on where you are located and which courier service you choose, you will find that there is quite a low limit to how much your order can weigh,
and there is also a limit to how much you can spend on an individual order, which can be slightly annoying if you are trying to buy things in bulk.
For example, in many European countries there is a limit of approximately €150 per order, which isn't all that much in today's economy.
I'm not sure if these restrictions are driven mainly by iHerb, or by the courier services themselves, but it would be amazing if these limits could be increased to allow for larger orders.
So, there you have it. Get your supplements from iHerb! Good stuff.
My personal supplement journey
While I'm here, I may as well talk a bit about my personal journey regarding supplements.
Over the last two decades or so, I've had the opportunity to try out quite a variety of them.
In the early years, it was mostly either out of curiosity, or because my Mom encouraged me to do so, but as I started getting older (and therefore began suffering from the occasional malady),
supplements gradually became less of a passing whim and more of a necessity.
I'm in relatively good health, and eternally grateful for being so, especially when
I read about the terrible diseases and conditions that some people in the world suffer and endure, but I've definitely had my fair share of illnesses, such as migraines,
never-ending gastritis, and recurring kidney stones, to name but a few.
Sadly, a lot of these ailments I had to meticulously research and resolve myself through trial and error, as my experience with medical professionals has left a lot to be
desired (and I know that I'm not alone in that regard).
So, while I am a firm believer in a healthy lifestyle being the best medicine, I genuinely believe that some supplements made
a big difference to my overall health and helped me overcome certain health conditions a lot more efficiently. If you're interested, I've put a list of them up on the top right-hand
column of this pagein a section further down.
At some point I began to realize that there was more to supplements than simply taking them, and I began to uncover the fascinating, often miraculous ways in which our body absorbs minerals
and nutrients, and how we distribute them throughout our body as required, a process that is sometimes heavily dependent on them being taken at the right time or in the right combination
in order for any significant benefits to occur.
Over the years, as my knowledge expanded, I started to get more and more frustrated with most manufacturer's vague and ambiguous guidelines for taking their products. "Preferably with a meal"
began to strike me as something that they might be saying out of habit rather than with any specific intent.
So, fast-forward several years later, and here I am, with a website that hopefully helps to shed some light on this topic.
Your personal supplement journey
Of course, everybody is made differently, and we each have our own conditions, requirements and tolerances. So, with emphasis on the "trial and error" part of what I said above,
everyone should take the time to thoroughly, patiently and painstakingly do the research and incorporate supplements individually into their lifestyle, one by one, to ensure that each one feels right, has its place, and works for them.
Don't go crazy (as I have sometimes done) and start taking a whole bunch of them at once, this will just inevitably lead to something not feeling right, and pushing you back to square one.
If you're feeling committed, I would even recommend keeping a daily journal so you can see if anything changed after you started (or stopped taking) a particular supplement.
Of course, not all supplements are made equal either, and some manufacturers will cut corners and use the cheapest (and invariably the least bioavailable) ingredients for their supplements.
Taking this into account, there are some brands that I've come to place a generous amount of trust in over the years:
Doctor's Best,
Now Foods,
Life Extension and
Solgar.
However, do not be fooled. The most important things for your health are not supplements, but a healthy diet, staying active and sleeping well. If you prioritize this
holy trinity, everything else in life becomes a whole lot easier.
Good luck!
