What to look for when picking a supplement company. [My NOW experience.]
October 10, 2019 -
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As someone who has seen and been around supplements and protein powders for most of my life, thanks to my mama being a personal trainer and “ahead” of her times when it comes to sports nutrition, I always “assumed” I could trust anything I purchased off of the shelf.
This year I got to go to the NOW FOODS Immersion as a team member (similar to last year!) as I’ve been blessed to be a part of team NOW ever since my first Immersion when I basically fell in love with the people, the products, and the company.
Each year they host an Influencer Immersion to bring knowledge and experience to an awesome group of bloggers to learn about the company, use all of their products from food to beauty and supplements, and learn about the true quality and testing that goes into all of them.
When I met NOW foods a few years back at a Blogger Immersion, I didn’t realize how much information I didn’t know after taking a tour of their amazing headquarters.
I quickly learned that this company not only CARES that they supply quality products, but it’s a family company that refuses to “sell” even after getting 5+ phone calls a day trying to buy their company.
I didn’t realize that all companies do not follow the same in-house testing and certification processes when you see their products on the shelf.
Once I learned about NOW commitment to product testing and good manufacturing practices (GMP), it totally changed my outlook on supplements and things I’ve been taking over the years.
NOW always makes it fun but doing things like an Iron Chef Cook-off to kick off the immersion where teams compete against each other using only NOW foods ingredients.
My girl Chef Suzy is always a rockstar in leading this.
My team made an awesome rooted vegetable dish with a hot ginger+cinnamon apple drink.
The following morning I kicked off with a TABATA style workout where we got sweaty, laughed, & grew closer before heading off to a day of HQ tours, meeting the NOW employees (that are so happy to be there!), and learn about more products while actually using them.
Everyone crushed the workout & of course I always love jumping around with my girl Nicci!
We made this Pumpkin Sugar Scrub and I just wanted to dive right in. HOLY FALL!
All of the bloggers were a part of FitApproach so of course it was like a big love reunion which I am always down for.
This is now my 3rd year seeing the HQ tour and seeing my NOW foods fam and it just puts into perspective WHY I choose to trust and work with this company.
With clients or anyone online asking me different products they should be taking or trying, I feel good knowing that I’m referring them to a company that has such high values & quality products.
Here’s a little FAQ for you all when looking for products to try…something that I didn’t realize until I had my first hand experience with NOW.
1. Are you actually getting what’s on the label, in the bottle?
Sounds crazy but you’d be surprised that when you grab a vitamin or supplement off any shelf, you may not be getting 100% in the bottle, what’s written on the label.
2. Comprehensive Laboratory Testing
To ensure you’re getting what you’re looking for in a natural product, we use comprehensive laboratory testing.
At NOW® they’ve made a significant investment in in-house labs so they can test our products at multiple stages during production.
They are one of the few manufacturers that have this kind of in-house testing capability.
3. Are your supplements Certified GMP on the label?
GMP = Good Manufacturing Practices and something that I wasn’t aware of before learning through NOW what it actually meant.
4. Are your sports supplements safe?
I can’t tell you how many stories I’ve heard from athletes who trust certain brands and then go and get tested, and have something pop up in their blood test that they had no idea was in the product.
In addition to using the best quality ingredients, they test, test, and then test again to ensure the identity, purity, quality and safety of their products.
Very few companies have the facilities, instrumentation, and staff to test their products and ingredients in-house.
At NOW they perform approximately 16,000 tests on a monthly basis, all of them in their own facilities using their own instrumentation and performed by our their technicians.
In addition to their own in-house testing, they also submit their products for third-party testing to provide an extra level of assurance.
5. Is your product truly Certified organic?
In order for NOW Foods to label something as certified organic, the material they buy must also be certified organic. You can find their certification here.
The goal with this post is just to educate you on choosing products that you can trust. I hope this helps you! :] I’ve been a fan of NOW since I stepped foot into their facility and I only want to share things I believe in.
Be true to you,
xo Kasey