Where do you prefer buying vitamins and supplements? Do you like going to a specialized, health shop or regular market? I usually get half of them at Vitamin Shoppe and the other half at Meijer or Walgreens. I am curious, though, whether it makes much of a difference on where I get them. What are your thoughts?
I like to buy whatever I can at Walmart, because they have the lowest prices. But a lot of the more interesting or better name brand items are not available there, so I go to a local health food store. I'm so torn about whether vitamin supplements work or not. Sometimes I will hear that the more expensive ones are better absorbed, hence why they are more expensive. Then I wonder if that is just hype. However an OB would recommend that women take folic acid supplements, so I guess there must be something to it.
I think some of them work, but it varies from person to person. Like psychiatric medications, I think one supplement can effect someone more versus anyone else but to a lesser degree. No two brains are identical although they are similar. A doctor recommended Valerian to me for anxiety, however, I found it hardly beneficial. Then, I tried L-Theanine, and it was great. The same goes for how our bodies absorb things. One person's system may be able to process it better than another.
On occasion I will get them at special health stores, however I find a places like Trader Joe's and Whole foods are great for vitamins and supplements. You can also buy them online or even at CVS or Walgreens. Nowadays vitamins and supplements are widely available everywhere, so I don't go out of my way to go to a health store to buy it unless it's very convenient for me to go there.
I have found good prices on supplements at Vitacost.com. Shipping is free on orders of $49 and sometimes on orders of $25 if you buy the Vitacost brand. The Vitacost brand is good quality. Shipping is fast, and their customer service is excellent.
I usually don't buy anything online unless it's off Amazon or Groupon. I'll buy from Walgreens in store but occasionally; sometimes they have their brand name on sale for a bogo deal. However, I was curious whether one store offers higher quality than another. I think Consumer Reports did an article on it, but I don't have a subscription. I've heard that Swanson has the cheapest deals. I've done some browsing on their site but have never bought anything. I'm not sure how the quality is, though.
Years ago I used to go to GNC, but now I mostly get my vitamins from CVS or Walgreens. I kind of didn't think vitamins were all that different, mostly I buy the store brands. I noticed that certain store brand vitamins, take calcium supplements for example, can vary greatly from store to store. I bought some calcium from CVS, and I bought some from Safeway. The calcium I got from both stores was fine, pretty much melted in my mouth and were easy to take, even though they were not labeled as "chewables." But... then I went to another store (which will remain nameless here), bought their band of calcium, and was surprised to find out that those capsules were as hard as rocks. I could have easily broken or chipped a tooth on those supplements. Now if I run out of calcium pills, I try to make sure that I avoid buying them from a certain place. If I want a specific vitamin that I can't find in a "regular" store, I don't mind looking up places that specialize in supplements, and making the trip if they are not too far away.
I have used GNC only once in the past. They were having a $7 sale so I figured I should take advantage of it. I got a few decent items. However, I think GNC is usually overpriced. I can find many of their products on Amazon for over half the price. I bought Cellucor Super HD 120 capsules for less than $35. GNC sales it for $80.
I get my herbal supplements from Whole Foods. They have a great selection at very competitive prices. Costco is great place to buy brand name vitamins at a great discount. Target is a good place to buy vitamins too. Vitamin Shoppe is way to expensive for my blood. They sell my herbs at double the price that I can get at Whole Foods.
I've never shopped at Whole Foods. Maybe I should give it a try sometime. Vitamin Shoppe can be very pricey, but I usually wait for items to go on sale. Then, it's not too bad.
I get most of mine at Kroger's because they have awesome markdown sales. If there is something else that i want that they don't have; I usually order it from Amazon or Vitamin Shoppe. We actually have a Vitamin Shoppe store here; so if I am going that diirection, then I stop by and pick things up rather than ordering them.
There's a Vitamin Shoppe as well as a Vitamin World nearby where I live. The former is nice, the employees are welcoming and knowledgeable, and they have a wide variety. Vitamin World, on the other hand, is nothing impressive. I think they have less of a selection to choose from. Moreover, the store near my location is rather small. Although size does not necessarily determine the quality of a store, I still do not care for their layout. For some reason, too, I have this impression their products are not as good either.
I buy brands that you an generally get anywhere, so I just pick it up where ever I find it, like CVS or even at a grocery store like Albertson's. I don't purchase from exclusively vitamin stores like GNC because it is not convenient and they tend to be more expensive.
There are a lot of different shops that are good for vitamins. Personally I prefer to shop at GNC and Whole Foods for my vitamins. They have the largest selection and best prices. I also shop at Ingles, a local grocery store. They are pretty good as far as prices go as well.
I haven't had much luck with prices and GNC in the past. The only time I come across a good discount is with their sales online. However, their supply was limited. The only products I found worth buying I did not need.
We have a organic food chain called Feel Rite that sells just about an vitamin or herbal you could ever desire. I usually get what I want there. I have found though that Wegman's does carry some of the brand name organic holistic brands and they are a bit cheaper. I have not had a problem with quality or count although occasionally some things sell out when there is a flu or something in the area. Overall the prices are cheaper on average then prescription based medicine so I will always try holistic or herbals first. Knock on wood I have escaped the flu for years. I am seldom sick.
I've never heard of either of those stores. I'll check them out; thanks for the suggestions. I usually try supplements before prescription as well. This is how I came across L-Theanine for anxiety. It made a difference for me but not enough. If someone has a mild anxiety disorder or often experiences stress it'd probably work better.
I used to be big on taking vitamins and supplements, but I eventually stopped with both since I was blowing too much money each month and they didn't really feel like they were doing much for my health. I've also been seeing lots of reports on how many of these supplements are not regulated and in some cases don't even contain any of the key ingredients they are supposed to have. There were also reports which showed that you end up urinating out most of those multivitamins and they don't do anything beneficial. Back in the day I used to only get my supplements from GNC, however their prices are generally too high and in order to get any discounts you had to purchase an expensive membership to their store. I also really dislike how pushy the sales people are there. They would ask me all kinds of personal questions right in front of other customers, and embarrass me. I just noticed the other day though that apparently one of the big drug store chains, I think it was CVS or Rite Aid, is now carrying GNC brand supplements. There are also those small local health food stores too, but their prices are even more insane. My dad wanted to try oregano supplements to help out with a cold he had and I went to buy him some - I was shocked to see that they wanted anywhere from $50-$90 for a bottle of that stuff which was insane.
The answer would depend on how much you use the available rewards card at walgreens. For example, I get mine from CVS pharmacy, and I pay more than I would at Walmart, but I have a CVS rewards card that gets me a portion of that pay back in "CVS rewards." I can then use the rewards to purchase other items, kind of like cash back- it makes all the difference.
I like to buy mine from specialised health and nature stores, especially UK store Holland and Barrett. The staff there are always so knowledgeable and helpful. Sometimes I do buy them from supermarkets such as Morrisons, Asda and Sainsburys, although the selection is not as wide.
