Personally, I use below criteria to buy supplements online in Amazon, Flipkart or others.
• Reputation of the company – brand, how long it has been in market, do they have their own website, quality of info maintained in their website, do have an own store section in amazon, the supplement line they have.
• Check for certifications – FASSAI and GMP is a must. All other certificates and third-party testing are good to have.
• Quality of ingredients used in the product – are they using biologically available and active ingredients, are they including recommended quantity (mg) in each capsule, there must be least number of excipients (inactive substances used for long term stabilization).
• My first preference is Indian companies. I go for imported products as a secondary option after a lot of assessment on the Importer of the product. A good importer will give a scratch code to check authenticity of the product in importer’s website.
• Finally browse through the reviews. I rely more on my research. I read reviews only to get a rough idea. Reviews are bit tricky to assess which is genuine and manipulated. It is possible that a good product could have lower rating and a low-quality product could have great reviews. Reviews are contrived and it is a separate underground business who offer service of ‘reviews for money’.
• Supplements and vitamins by pharmaceutical companies do not need much of research because they are are well regulated and has good quality control.
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