Why I Take Usana Vitamins and Why I Love Them

 

Other than an occasional Vitamin C powder drink, I didn’t used to think much of vitamins.  We aren’t taught about them in PT school and overall the medical community either shuns vitamins or just has no knowledge of them.  My patients would always ask me what they should take.  I’d say “ask your doctor”, who would in turn would say “go to Costco”.  It didn’t seem quite right that the best vitamins were in the biggest and cheapest bottles, but what did I know?

Then, in 2005, I was diagnosed with endometriosis.  I had surgery, but the problem with endometriosis is that it doesn’t just go away.  You have to find a way to live with it, and I was determined to feel my best despite my diagnosis.  I learned that one of the best ways to control endometriosis symptoms is through diet – which includes vitamins.  I also knew I would need a good prenatal vitamin when the time came for us to start growing our family.

What I didn’t know is that it actually matters what brand of vitamin you take.

 

I can thank my boyfriend at the time (now my husband) for the start of my love affair with Usana vitamins.  Soon after my endometriosis surgery,  he found one of the big, name-brand vitamin bottles in my cabinet. He immediately threw it out. He had recently discovered a company called Usana and informed me those were the vitamins I needed to take.

I generally am not good at doing something just because someone tells me to.  I want to know WHY.  Why should I take pills I have to have shipped to me instead of the one off the shelf?  Why should I take more than one a day?  Why is this supposedly BETTER when I’ve never heard of it?   Why would I never have been taught this at school if it’s so important?

I realized if I was going to put something in my body and pay for it, and if all my clients were asking what I was taking, I better have a darn good reason for it other than “my boyfriend told me so”.

I’ll spare you all the research I did over the next year, but basically I made a few surprising discoveries:

1. Vitamins and supplements in our country do NOT need to be registered with the FDA before being sold. They are held to much lower standards than even our conventional food (and we know how bad that can be!) That means you can’t trust that what is in the bottle is what the label says or that it’s what your body needs or even that it’s safe.

2. There is an amazing book called the Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements. Heard of it? Yeah, I hadn’t either. It studies over 500 supplements and vitamins and ranks them 0-5 on their effectiveness, safety and completeness. The one my hubby threw away and has the most commercials on tv? Yep, it was a big fat 0 in the guide.

3. No matter how wonderful and pure and colorful your diet is, you can’t get all the nutrients your cells need from your food. I truly wish we could, but we need to help ourselves out. You need both a good diet AND good vitamins and supplements.

 

I finally had my “why” and my solid belief in the company was formed.  Usana vitamins are manufactured to pharmaceutical guidelines – NOT food guidelines (these are much stricter rules!).  They are number one in the Comparative Guideline for their supplement quality.  They are found in the physician’s desk reference and they are science based.

While the science and facts are important, but the REAL reason I started taking Usana vitamins?  Because someone I loved said “This is important.  Please do this for me.” There were times he had to remind me over and over to take my vitamins, but I did and kept on doing it.  The reason I keep taking them?  I know they work. I feel better, I have more energy, I hardly get sick, and my endometriosis symptoms are manageable.

Are they the only reason I’m healthy?  Of course not.  I can’t eat fast food all day and then take my vitamins and think I’m all good.  Are they one of the reasons?  Without a doubt in my mind.

My mother-in-law was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It’s a devastating disease and we have been trying to navigate doctor appointments and new medications. One thing the doctor said  was that my mother-in-law should be taking daily Vitamin D and Vitamin B12 because it helps with brain health.

I immediately went home, found our Usana Vitamin D and put it front and center for my husband and I.

It can sometimes seem there are things that our out of our hands when it comes to our longterm health. This is one thing I can do that may help me feel my best in the coming years.

To find more information or to order Usana vitamins, visit www.vitaminpitstop.com.  This is my favorite place to order because there is no minimum purchase commitment and they are the lowest prices I’ve seen for the Usana products.  

Note: I am not a doctor, registered dietician or nutritionist. This article explains my personal experience with Usana vitamins. Please check with your doctor before changing your diet or adding vitamins. While I do have a relationship with Usana Health Sciences and Vitamin Pit Stop due to my belief in the products, all opinions expressed here are my own.  Thank you for your support.