Shaklee vitamins- are they really better?

[greenishmama]

Are Shaklee vitamins really better than the health food store brands such as Rainbow Light, Nature's Way, Solgar, etc, etc?

[Six Little Feet]

No. Shaklee does not specialize in vitamins like other companies do. Plus you are paying not only for the product but also the MLM fees.

[Mama Calidad]

Aside from the MLM aspect, I haven't purchased anything from Shaklee since I realized that they won't tell you what ingredients many of their products contain.

I really like Rainbow Light and Nature's Plus.

[Proverbs31]

I don't think so. The ingredient nondisclosure is a big red flag to me, so I reject that on principle (that and I don't support MLM).

A friend who's a ND likes Thorne, and one other company which I can't remember. She said that their vitamins have been verified with independent lab testing; they learned about those test results during medical school.

One clue is to look on the labels to see the quality of the form they use. For example, calcium carbonate is cheap but not readily used by the body (and I've heard taking it can contribute to getting stones, though I don't know if that's true). If a company chooses to use a more bioavailable form, that's a good starting indication.

Of course, then you run into the problem of trying to keep straight lists of the most bioavailable forms of how many vitamins and minerals... :crazy

[cobluegirl]

I can't answer the vit part..but I love love love their dishwasher soap.

[righteous mama]

Um. Since when did they not give up ingredients? I have always been able to get what I need from them. They are proven (by third party study) to be a superior product. And Shaklee has specialized in vitamins from the beginning. Dr. Shaklee was a chiropractor who developed supplements.

If you have more questions I can send more info, etc. I've been using Shaklee since junior high and love their product and their company.

[Six Little Feet]

By a third party? Who paid for the study? Do you have the info on this study? That is interesting.

[righteous mama]

http://www.nutritionj.com/content/pdf/1475-2891-6-30.pdf

I can find more info. I'm actually running around right now, so if I sound short or rude it's just 'cause I'm trying to do too many things at once. I wanted to respond to this asap.

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http://www.landmarkstudy.com/

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www.ecofriendlyhome.net (http://www.ecofriendlyhome.net) for more info

[Mama Calidad]

Um. Since when did they not give up ingredients? I have always been able to get what I need from them.

Really? So what are the ingredients in the dish wash concentrate or Basic H? I've found a lot of stuff described as "proprietary".

[righteous mama]

I can email them. I think I have the ingredients for Basic H somewhere, but our hard drive crashed, so I can't get to it right now.

[righteous mama]

Really? So what are the ingredients in the dish wash concentrate or Basic H? I've found a lot of stuff described as "proprietary".

Basic H2 (http://ecofriendlyhome.myshaklee.com/us/en/products.php?sku=00015)
Basic H2 is 99.95% all natural and made from water, Alkyl Polyglucoside (from corn & coconut), Ethyoxylated Fatty Alcohol (from coconut), Xanthan Gum (from vegetables) and Methyl Chloro Isothiazolinone (biodegradable preservative).

OK. I did have to email them about the dish wash concentrate. My searching skills are coming up with nothing, but that doesn't mean anything. I've been under the influence of a high needs baby the past couple of days. I'll let you know what I hear from them.

btw, I have never read anything that says "Proprietary" unless maybe it's on the actual bottle. Can you let me know where you read that?

I just looked at all our products in the house...and there is a lot...and when ingredients are listed, they spell out exactly what is there. A few don't list ingredients, but I compared it to a small bottle of All Free and Clear (or whatever it's called) that I bought as a back-up when we run out and it doesn't list ingredients either. It's not really fair to insinuate that because ingredients aren't listed that there is a cover-up going on. Basic G has the ingredients listed right on the front of the bottle. The Dish Wash Automatic and the Nature Bright have on the label two ingredients that can be harmful if it gets into your eyes, etc. The same thing with other products that are not Shaklee.

Personally I have found Shaklee to be an upstanding company. If anything is brought to their attention as being potentially harmful, they will pull the product and redo it. They just pulled ALL of their Enfuselle products (skin care) and pulled out all of the parabens, etc. They are constantly striving to be the very best and I respect them for that.

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OK. I just found one product, the Herb Lax, that said proprietary on it...but then it went on to list what was in the proprietary blend of herbs they use. I spoke with my dad, who has been using Shaklee longer than I have, and he was :hunh . Please let me know what labels they were for so I can understand this statement better.