Natural Is Better

At NOW Sports Products, we take natural seriously. This is our life, our business and our area of expertise. We hope that after reading this you will have a better understanding of the great lengths we go to in ensuring that NOW products are the most natural and affordable on the market. As always, we welcome any input and suggestions from you that can help us improve our product line.

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Natural: What Does This Mean to Us?
by Michael Lelah, Ph.D. - NOW Foods Technical Director

At NOW Foods we believe that natural products are better than synthetics for supporting optimal health and wellness. We carry both natural and nature-identical products in many different categories, including supplements, foods, and personal care products. Our natural product selection helps to differentiate us from the mass market. We also differentiate ourselves from many companies in our own industry who claim to sell natural products. However, when you read their product labels, you find a host of synthetic ingredients and additives. Elwood Richard founded NOW Foods for the sole purpose of providing affordable natural products to everyone, and we still hold true to his vision today. As a chemist, Elwood understood the dangers posed by synthetic ingredients, and moreover that health and wellness begins with products that are As Natural as Possible (SM). Since 1968, we've been delivering such products to your doorstep, and will continue to do so. We can do this because we are a family-owned company and we are not beholden to investors or shareholders.

Let’s go over just a few of the natural ingredients that you will find in NOW products:

CoQ10: CoQ10 is a particularly important antioxidant. However, there are two forms: the naturally produced fermented trans-CoQ10 form and the synthetic, cheaper cis-form. The trans form is the form found in your body, while the cis-form is chemically different. NOW only sells the natural all-trans form of CoQ10.

L-Amino Acids: The natural form of most amino acids is the L-form, (Glycine and Taurine have only a single form with no "L" designation. Synthetic forms are the D-form or the DL-form. There is some evidence that the D and DL forms are toxic or less bioavailable. NOW Foods does not sell the mass produced synthetic forms; only natural L-Carnitine, L-Arginine, L-Lysine, etc.

Fish Oil Purification: Our fish oils are almost all molecularly distilled. This physical separation and purification process produces the best quality fish oil, free of harmful levels of heavy metal contaminants and pesticides. A common concern with fish oils is mercury content. NOW fish oil is mercury-free. Compare!

Natural Vitamin E: Synthetic vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol) is chemically and physiologically different from the natural family of Vitamin E isomers, which consists of 4 tocopherols (including d-alpha-tocopherol) and 4 tocotrienols. NOW only sells the natural “d” forms of Vitamin E.

Organic: Organic products are the most natural. No pesticides, herbicides or fungicides are used in cultivation. This is good for our environment, and NOW is taking measures to increase our selection of organic products.

Oxidation: Some natural products will oxidize when stored. To keep this from happening, we include silica-gel packs to remove moisture, and in some cases use Ageless® anti-oxygen packets, which reduce oxidation and keep the product in the bottle as fresh and natural as possible.