Vitamins at Costco????

[KatieJ]

DH and I take a variety of vitamins and supplements daily. It amounts to a pretty significant chunk of change when it comes time to replace them. I always shop at one of two local health food stores because I trust the stores, thereofre I don't have to decide between brand x and brand y. I simply pick what's onsale that week.

I am wondering if anyone out there has checked out Costco vitamins, specifically their store brands. DO you trust them? I know there are ingredients in vitamins we don't need or want in our vitamins, but truly I don't know what they are. Costco would be cheaper and easier, especially now when they have coupon for them.

Schiff is another brand they carry for some supplements ...is that a good brand?

 

Thanks!

Katie

[Jean in Newcastle]

I buy some vitamins at Costco. Most aren't Kirkland brand, though. I buy the kids Gummi Vites and Calci Bites there. I also buy Nature Made Iron. I used to buy the Kirkland brand calcium chews (like Viactiv) but I'm using another more powerful brand now based on the advice of my naturopath. There wasn't anything wrong with their calcium, I just need a different blend and dosage.

[plain jane]

DH and I take a variety of vitamins and supplements daily. It amounts to a pretty significant chunk of change when it comes time to replace them. I always shop at one of two local health food stores because I trust the stores, thereofre I don't have to decide between brand x and brand y. I simply pick what's onsale that week.

I am wondering if anyone out there has checked out Costco vitamins, specifically their store brands. DO you trust them? I know there are ingredients in vitamins we don't need or want in our vitamins, but truly I don't know what they are. Costco would be cheaper and easier, especially now when they have coupon for them.

Schiff is another brand they carry for some supplements ...is that a good brand?

 

Thanks!

Katie

 

I haven't heard great things about the Kirkland brand of vitamins. Usually it's been a passing comment from a naturapath I've seen or a knowledgeable person at a health food store. Nothing specific, just that their vitamins aren't superior quality. I *personally* do not buy the Kirkland vitamins because I buy mine at a discount from my naturapathic doctor. A wouldn't go so far as to say I don't trust them, just that I know there is better available to me.

[Alphabetika]

I buy fish oil capsules from Costco, but the few times I've tried their multi-vitamins or any "regular" pill (that is, the chalky kind if that makes any sense) they've given me stomach aches. I buy vitamins at Trader Joe's and I also love SuperMom and BeeStrong.

 

HTH!

[lighthouseacademy]

This is one of my soapboxes... so bear with me. Before I begin, I am a Master Herbalist. I teach how herbs and diet have been and can be used to heal the body. I am not a nutritionist, I am not a doctor, and I don't claim to be.

 

I wouldn't buy Costco vitamins for all the tea in China... Then again, I wouldn't buy even most health food store vitamins and here is why:

 

Most vitamins are made from synthesized industrial byproducts. This is not crazy hearsay although it is hard to track down the original documents. I have heard this in lecture from several very reputable health practitioners. Basically it boils down to if the molecules line up in a certain pattern that is the same as the pattern of a naturally occurring vitamin or mineral, then the FDA deems it the same. However, I am not sure that iron from a plant and iron from synthesized byproducts will work the same in the body- in fact I am sure they won't. Not only this, but those that are not synthesized, are crushed rock. When was the last time you went out and crunched up some rocks hoping to get some nutritional benefit? We can't assimilate these vitamins and minerals if they are in rock form- they must be chelated to a protein that we can digest and ideally a plant protein because vitamins and minerals chelated to a plant protein might have a smaller quantity but are more completely assimilated. So, I always look for whole food vitamins rather than extracts. Look at the ingredients. If it says: beets, carrots, wheat grass juice, etc then you are in good shape. There are few brands. My favorite is Vital Herbs from Dr. Christopher's. My favorite mineral supplement is Organa Minerals. That is the only mineral supplement that I know of that is not rock sourced.

[SapphireStitch]

I buy vitamins from Costco all the time. We particularly like their B-complex (Kirkland B-50). It's a balanced formula and has some extras like Vitamin C in with it. Very reasonable price and it doesn't contain yeast. I have bad stomach problems if I take a B complex based on yeast.

 

We also buy Vitamin D, B-6, and Calcium Citrate from Costco. The calcium is Kirkland brand but I think the other two are Nature Made. I don't get magnesium there because the brand they carry is Nature Made and it upsets my stomach.

 

Oh, the other thing we buy there is a Glucosamine/MSM supplement for one of our cats. She is geriatric and has arthritis in both legs. Our vet recommended she take Glucosamine/MSM for pain relief. She won't take the chewable kibble-flavored kind he sells, so we buy the human kind for her, break them into thirds, and pop 1/3 of a pill down her throat every morning. It really makes a difference...we thought we were going to have to put her down because she was in so much pain, but now she gets around pretty well and seems like a happy kitty again.

 

(Sorry for the big veterinary sidetrack there...:tongue_smilie:)

[susie in tx]

My nutritionist recommends the fish oil caps at Costco. She says that since the turnaround is so high, they will be very fresh. That said, we don't have a membership at Costco, so I don't buy our fo there.

[lighthouseacademy]

Forgot to type one more important part of my rant...

When we synthesize vitamins we put together our own combination of vitamins and minerals. We neglect nature's true balance (which if you study compositions of vitamins and minerals in foods you will notice there is a general trend of proportions) and even if we identify that Calcium needs Magnesium to absorb, we haven't identified all the trace minerals and vitamins that are present in whole foods- thus are we truly getting the balance of proportions we need?

[HiddenJewel]

My suggestion is find a brand of vitamin that makes a difference for you and then check out http://www.vitacost.com for that brand. They have excellent prices.

[jamnkats]

there was a study recently that showed brands listed by lead content. I"ll see if I can't come up with something there. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/pbvitami.html

 

But to the herbalist - I have been giving my kids (and myself) vitamins even though we eat whole foods (whole wheat, brown rice, etc.) and little processed food because I can't get or afford organic. It just isn't an industry outside the processed food realm here.

 

And I've read that most non-organic foods these days just don't contain the nutrient content that food should/did have. So I use supplements and even vitamins are hard to come by down here - so I use Costco. What do you think about the lack of nutrient vs. taking vitamins issue?

[susie in tx]

 

But to the herbalist - I have been giving my kids (and myself) vitamins even though we eat whole foods (whole wheat, brown rice, etc.) and little processed food because I can't get or afford organic. It just isn't an industry outside the processed food realm here.

 

 

I'm not an herbalist, but I do have a nutritionist. She used to work for the vitamin industry. When my girls were allergic to just about everything, we took a lot of vitamins. After we had some gut healing, I stopped being as vigilant about them taking as many vitamins.

 

Since then, I have the girls take a multi-vitamin, usually. However, I've recently found some liquid supplements that seem to be doing a very nice job of helping our immune systems. One has aloe vera and sea weed in it and another is full of antioxidants. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the girls getting enough calcium/magnesium/vitamin d and iron for their growing bodies if we are taking only these liquid supplements.

 

OTOH, I've seen through our own personal journey that the regular vitamins were not helping to build their immune systems this summer. Nothing working until I gave them the antioxidant drink. And I tried everything.

 

We will still take fish oil and probably a vitamin d supplement, regardless of what kind of decision I make about the liquid vitamins.

 

And I would never go on such a drastic elimination diet as we did without some sort of vitamin supplementation. While we ate well - whole foods, nothing processed, etc. there just wasn't enough variety.