32 replies to this topic

[ironfistx]

Which do you like the best?

The reason I ask is because I'm trying to figure out if the quality of these 3 brands are the same.

I have been buying Glucosamine, Chondroitin, and MSM at Vitamin Shoppe. If you calculate the dose per pill/bottle and divide by the cost, you come to the following costs:

Glucosamine Sulfate

Puritan's Pride: approx 18g per dollar (including their BOGO sale; 9g per dollar otherwise)
Swanson Premium: approx 20g per dollar
Vitamin Shoppe: approx 6g per dollar

Chondroitin

Swanson Premium: approx 4.5g per dollar
Vitamin Shoppe: approx 2.8g per dollar

MSM:
Puritan's Pride: approx 24g per dollar (including thier BOGO sale; 12g per dollar otherwise)
Swanson Ultra: approx 60g per dollar (including their BOGO sale; 30g per dollar otherwise)
Vitamin Shoppe: approx 9.6g per dollar

So assuming these are all relatively the same quality, I don't think I will be buying these at Vitamin Shoppe anymore.

Vitamin Shoppe uses OptiMSM brand MSM, and Puritan's Pride uses TruFlex. Does anyone know if there is any difference?

Edited by ironfistx, 16 January 2013 - 02:39 AM.

[ironfistx]

Weird, I can't edit my post anymore.

I wanted to add this:

(note: the numbers above use each brand's most economical size as calculated by total mg of the supplement per bottle divided by price)

Edited by ironfistx, 16 January 2013 - 02:41 AM.

[niner]

There's a limited time window in which you can edit posts. It used to be two hours, but these days I think it's one hour.

My favorite retailer used to be iherb, until they jacked up their prices and cut back on their VIP discounts. Their rationale for this action was, translating from marketing-speak into English, "We want to enlarge our market by selling a lot of low-margin crap, but in order to keep making the profit margin we're used to, we'll soak the supplement buyers." I use Swanson now.

[zorba990]

iherb

[LORDDiESEL]

Been using these guys since 2003.

Top notch products. I love the fact you can buy in bulk powder form.

http://www.beyond-a-century.com/

[Deckah]

Vitamin Shoppe uses OptiMSM brand MSM, and Puritan's Pride uses TruFlex. Does anyone know if there is any difference?

Would like to know this as well. Can't even find any type of company/process regarding TruFlex. Almost seems like manufacturers just slapped a fancy name on this stuff to differentiate themselves from regular MSM for better marketing purposes.

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I normally use swansons/vitacost/pureformulas/purebulk/nuts/ebay (dfiferent sources for noots).
I usually wait till blackfriday or cybermonday and do my bulk purchases since there are usually 15-20% off coupons. Unless I need something quickly.

[ironfistx]

They are most likely the same, just with a different name.

However, until that is confirmed, I will keep using OptiMSM.

[Deckah]

I will keep using OptiMSM.

Yeah. Source Naturals(35oz) @ Vitacost is probably the best deal in terms of higher tiered MSM.

[Turnbuckle]

Iherb. I buy almost everything there.

[nupi]

iHerb as they are the only ones with reasonable shipping to Europe

[trance]

iHerb and Swanson.

Sometimes the same name-brand products at Swanson are far cheaper than iHerb these days.

Sometimes Swanson has products that aren't available elsewhere.

[Strelok]

I've mainly been using Vitacost for the past couple of years. Though I am open to switching to another. Swanson perhaps?

[ironfistx]

MSM is cheap in bulk, but I want 500mg capsules so I can take 500mg 3x a day. The most economical options are 1,500mg capsules, but that's too big of a dose for me right now. MSM's halflife is 12 hours so I'd rather take it 2 or 3 times a day rather than just once.

How does powdered MSM taste?

The 35oz Sources Naturals MSM is 37g per dollar which is the best deal next to Swanson Ultra MSM which is 60g per dollar including the buy one get one free sale. But those are 1,500mg capsules which are quite a large dose.

Question: It seems a few differen brands carry OptiMSM. Is it possible to buy it directly from the source instead? I assume these brands are just putting it in their own packaging.

Edited by ironfistx, 16 January 2013 - 04:26 PM.

[Deckah]

I'm still on regular MSM, so I can't tell you how OPTI tastes, but I'm upgrading to that once this batch is done.
It(regular MSM) tastes like a milder form of epsom salt when it's in straight water. Something you probably want to be mixed with (just depends on your tolerance).

The swanson TruFlex MSM is the best deal atm since it's buy 1 get 1 free(as stated by you). That's around 1440g versus 1kg for around the same price as source naturals.
Just depends on good TruFlex is compared to the OPTI type. Can try emailing swanson (which has a trademark for it) on the comparison to OPTI and view how good their marketing pitch is.

I never skipped the middle man on anything related to supplements, so I couldn't say on that. Probably have hefty ordering requirements.

Edited by Deckah, 16 January 2013 - 06:08 PM.

[Guardian4981]

Overall I think swanson has the best prices and specific compounds supplement wise. Issue I have with Swanson is I think they shy away from carrying better brands probably because they want to promote their own premium brands. So certain brands/products like Thorn Research I can't get from Swanson and have to go elsewhere.

Swanson is probably the best for single compounds like D3 or Stinging Nettle root.

[daouda]

iHerb as they are the only ones with reasonable shipping to Europe

+1

[PWAIN]

iherb - even without the vip discounts their shipping costs to Australia mean that in almost all cases the total cost is still cheapest. Also they have a good range and reliable service.

[Justchill]

iHerb as they are the only ones with reasonable shipping to Europe

+1

[Matt79]

iHerb or Amazon.

[madamshome]

iherb - even without the vip discounts their shipping costs to Australia mean that in almost all cases the total cost is still cheapest. Also they have a good range and reliable service.

+1

[Iporuru]

What do you think of the quality of Puritan's supplements themselves (apart from factors like customer service, shipment costs, etc.)? They are regularly evaluated by Consumer Lab and they're always up to scratch, but I get the impression that the Longecity community is not very keen on them? Is there a problem with the supplements I'm not aware of? Would be glad to hear some opinions.

[ironfistx]

I'm also curious about their quality.

I choose Swanson over Puritan because of numerous reports of bad customer service with Puritan, bottles being sent that a previous customer returned, etc.

[hamishm00]

Can't beat iherb for overseas countries (outside USA). So fast. Reliable. Decent value.

[malden]

smartpowders is the best for me, shipping to the Netherlands in one week. payment true paypal huge line of products

[hamishm00]

I order on iherb every Sunday, and the parcel is on my desk in the middle east on Wednesday, for under 20 dollars shipping. Impressive.

[shifter]

I use iherb mostly but there are products which they will no longer sell to Australia which I KNOW are fine (such as MSM). So if I need MSM or anything else they say are 'prohibited', I order from Vitacost as they allow shipping to Australia.

Also iherb no longer puts in the 'freebies' anymore for Australian customers :(

I wonder if iherb knows they are missing out on sales..... If they want to warn me that the MSM or Xylitol might be seized by customs, let me take the risk!!!

[madamshome]

I didn't know they wouldn't send MSM which isn't even on the restricted imports list. They seem to change up the policy a little, for a while they would not send any female hormone creams, (which aren't on the restricted list either), but the last couple of orders have been allowed.

Have tried to correspond with their customer service re substances that are not listed on the TGA schedule & pointed out how frustrating it is to have to go elsewhere for things iHerb won't send but they don't ever respond to these messages so I guess they don't need the business enough.

As for gifts, I am developing quite a collection of their plastic rulers so maybe a third world school can benefit if I receive enough of them.

[August59]

Amazon

[Clarity]

It used to be Vitacost, but they went up in price the past year. I use mostly Lucky Vitamin or Amazon. I find Lucky Vitamin is usually cheaper than most, they're just not good at filling backorders in a timely manner.

[nameless]

Like Niner, I used to be a big iHerb person, until they cut down VIP rates, and then they cut down on free samples... then raised shipping rates on small orders. I still sometimes use them, but not as often as before. Swanson's is good... I also have used Pure Formulas when I want something nobody else usually carries (like Thorne) as they offer free shipping, even on small orders. Amazon sometimes has real good deals, as does Costco.

But... regarding brands, I rarely if ever use house brands, unless they also state a brand name ingredient. Otherwise expect the company to rely on 3rd party testing on an ingredient most likely sourced from China.