Americans love supplements. The United States is the biggest consumer of supplements in the world, with over 77% of adult Americans reported taking dietary supplements daily. With this big of a market, there’s always lots of competition, and supplement companies would just do anything to win you over.
You see big-value deals from every major supplement player. You take the bait, and before you know it, you have bottles of supplements sitting in your cupboard for months. What the study doesn’t cover is the fact that many of those who buy supplements do not finish their supplement bottles.
It’s a huge waste of hard-earned money. In this article, we’ll talk about supplements, the expiry date, and why you shouldn’t store supplements for a long time.
Do supplements work?
Absolutely. Supplements have changed a lot over the past two decades. Supplement companies have invested heavily in research and development, and now we have supplements that are truly capable of improving your health and performance. Back then, we didn’t have premium supplements, and every other pill was filled with grass clippings. Now, we know what to look for. We know what we should expect.
Taking a supplement is like going on a diet. Supplements are packed with concentrated herbs and minerals, and your body would need time to adjust before you experience the results you’re looking for. Even the strictest of low-calorie, low-fat diets could not make you thin in one night, and the same goes for supplements. It takes a while for you to see the results, and once you see some changes, you would need to continue taking the supplements to maintain your progress.
These days, it’s becoming easier to spot supplements with better formulas. If you’re sticking to one supplement to get the results you want, you better get a supplement that works. You need a product that is backed by scientific studies, clinical trials, and actual customer reviews.
But not all supplements are equal. There will always be substandard supplements in the mix, trying to scam customers into buying their products. These are the kind of supplements that you thought were great but stopped using after a week.
Getting the right supplement can be tricky. You need to be familiar with the ingredients, what they do, and what dosages you should get, but not everyone has the time to do the research. Every now and then, you get duped into buying a product that you didn’t want, and that’s how you end up with a cupboard full of supplements that you’ll never take again.
What happens when you store supplements for a long time?
Storing supplements can be very dangerous and costly. Not all supplement companies take quality control seriously, and some supplement bottles are not properly sealed. Once moisture gets in, it’s over. The gelatin coating in most supplement capsules is designed to liquefy when it comes into contact with moisture. That’s why some stored supplements end up clumped and gooey.
Supplements are made from herbs and minerals. Assuming that no preservatives were used in manufacturing the supplement, the only thing that prevents your supplements from going bad is the airtight container. Once you break the seal, you need to consume your supplements within 100 days, or you risk spoiling your supplements.
The biggest problem here is that you shouldn’t be storing your supplements in the first place.
You can just purchase a new bottle and get fresh supplements every month. Just like how you wouldn’t buy doughnuts that have been on display for more than a day, you shouldn’t store supplements for more than three months after opening.
Supplements and bulk offers
One of the biggest problems in the supplement industry is companies that offer bulk discounts on supplements. Buying a 3-month supply is reasonable, but offering 6-month, or 12-month packages are just absurd, and here’s why:
You don’t know what you’re buying
Can you imagine paying 6 months’ worth of supplements without knowing if it really works? These supplement companies know that you won’t be back to make another purchase, so they give you more discounts if you purchase in bulk. Perhaps, that’s the most sinister way of tricking customers into buying products that don’t work.
Supplement storage is a problem
Supplements, just like medicine, are extremely sensitive to heat and moisture. You need a cool, dry place to store your supplements to keep them fresh – and keep in mind that these bottles take a lot of space. When you buy a 1 year supply of supplements, you’re taking 12 big bottles off their hands, and you’ll sit on these bottles for months before you use them – and that’s assuming that you would be taking these supplements daily!
Aftersales support is always a problem
What kind of support can you expect from a business that you already paid a year in advance? These companies know you wouldn’t buy from them again. You end up getting the worst customer service in the industry.
Compared to buying in bulk, you’d be better off with a reputable company that offers membership discounts. You won’t have to pay anything in advance, just the supplement that you would be getting for that month. Plus, the company has a vested interest in keeping you happy and satisfied, so you’ll always come back for more.
Based on my experience with supplement companies, it’s always the membership-based products that offer the best results. These are businesses that expect customers to stay on for a long time, and they make a conscious effort to improve their business and keep their customers.
It’s a highly-competitive industry, and these companies are expected to make offers that would make them stand out, but it doesn’t make any sense to charge customers in advance for a product that they haven’t tried yet. Supplement companies would be the first to know that storing supplements for a long time is a recipe for disaster.
How a company offers its products would tell you a lot about their business. Be smart, and choose brands that offer you better long-term value. It’s these brands that are likely to give you results that match your expectations.
