Stay in Touch
Get sneak previews of special offers & upcoming events delivered to your inbox.
-
Blogs & Forums
-
Forums
-
Blogs
-
Turn on suggestions
Auto-suggest helps you quickly narrow down your search results by suggesting possible matches as you type.
Showing results for
@bebe777 wrote:
@VaBelle35 wrote:Yes I take the ECGC in various supplements of Andrews. I have the Ultimate Eye and I think there is some in some of the others I take, like the Women's Ultimate Complete Max 100 (or whatever the packet of daily vitamins in called).
I was not a gree tea fan, but I love Mighty Leaf Tea brand Organic Spring Jasmine Green Tea. It's very light and the jasmin kills the green tea. I imagine Andrew's Jamsin Green will be similar.
I also drink Ito En Jasmine Green iced tea. I order it by the case from Amazon, that's the cheapest anywhere.
VaBelle, thanks for sharing some of the green tea brands that you use. I'll have to see if I can get them at my grocery store. Unfortunately I don't like jasmine tea (thought I love jasmine soap... just not to drink *s*). I do want to check out the green mint tea because I might like that.
btw Where do you purchase the Woman's Ultimate Complete Max, from the H? If so you should check out the Procaps Labs site because they offer four (used to be five) different multi-vitamin levels which are all cheaper that the more or less equivalent formulas at the H.
-- bebe
Yes I get it from the H. I saw that he has different version out there when I was comparing them. That's how I settled on the one I take.
I will go and look at the pricing. Thanks for the tip.
@VaBelle35 wrote:I did the side-by-side thingy.
I can switch to the Women's Elite 200 and drop Ultimate Eye, CoQ10 and lower my D3 and add in whatever fish oil amount I want.
It will probably be a little cheaper that way, but I haven't done the math yet.
A side by side comparison is really the best way to go. Unfortuantely Andrew's staff have been tweaking and retweaking and detweaking the Elite over the past year and a half. I sometimes shake my head because I just dont understand some of their changes. So I finally just went with the Essential 1 w/ Vitamin D 3000 and built my super multi using the TSVs. -- A few things to note, if you decide to continue with the Elite:
* regarding the Ultimate Eye formula -- while the Elite does have the lutein and zeaxanthin for eye macula protection, it has never included the purple pigments which help for nighttime vision (bilberry & elderberry). Andrew's four most expensive ingredients are probably zeaxantion, lutein, astaxanthin and bilberry. He since bilberry and astaxanthin aren't quite as essential as the other two, astaxanthin got taken out of the Elite a few years back (bilberry never made it in). -- So if you need help with nighttime vision you may want to take at least one Ultimate Eye daily.
* Omega-3 -- If you do purchase the Elite, I'd suggest going with the version that has the Omega-3 capsules. It averages about $10 more per month. Basically you're getting the Omega-3 at a TSV cost which winds up being only a bit more expensive that the equivalent amount of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 in the 8oz bottle (aprox $22).
* COQ10 -- the Elite only gives you 100mg of COQ10 which is perhaps the single most important supplement. When I started purchasing the COQ10 TSV in 2007 I think 360 90mg caps were $199. Last year's COQ10 TSV was 600 200mg caps for $199. -- COQ10 used to be crazy expensive but the cost has gone down in the past few years. -- Your body needs 500mgs of COQ10 daily. It can "recycle" around 200mgs daily in the body, but it still needs at least 300mgs to function at it's best. -- Because the October COQ10 TSV has made it so affordable I take 2 or 3 caps of 200mg COQ10 daily. -- Each COQ10 supplement is includes a healthy dose of the B Vitamins. So even though the B Vitamin dose in the essential 1 is lower, the COQ10 caps I take boost those levels up to the level in the Elite.
* Based on what I remember, Andrew has added 100mg each of: resveratrol, ECGC, and pomegranate to the Elite in the past year. It sounds good, but over this past year several TSV bundles have included blends on resveratrol and ECGC (and one included POM) for a crazy low price. I don't know if he'll do the same thing this year but it wouldn't surprise me if he did.
* lycopene -- This is the main supplement I lose when I switched out the Elite for the Essential 1. Cooked tomato soup gives you an greater amount of lycopene. And since lycopene is fat soluable the body will store it longer than water soluable vitamins so you don't need to have tomato soup daily (though I frequently do).
* Vitamin D -- unless you live below Atlanta, I'd recommend a minimum 4,000 IU of Vitamin D and make sure to take it with a bit of fat (it's water soluble).
* Omega-3 -- I'd recommend a minimum of 1gm daily (I take 2-3gm daily).
-- bebe 
@bebe777 wrote:
@VaBelle35 wrote:I did the side-by-side thingy.
* regarding the Ultimate Eye formula -- while the Elite does have the lutein and zeaxanthin for eye macula protection, it has never included the purple pigments which help for nighttime vision (bilberry & elderberry). Andrew's four most expensive ingredients are probably zeaxantion, lutein, astaxanthin and bilberry. He since bilberry and astaxanthin aren't quite as essential as the other two, astaxanthin got taken out of the Elite a few years back (bilberry never made it in). -- So if you need help with nighttime vision you may want to take at least one Ultimate Eye daily.
@I don't know if I'm sold on this one yet. I haven't noticed any difference in the 4 months I've been on it. I have been on axastanthin for a year and haven't noticed any difference. I will re-evaluate when I go to the eye doctor next July to see what she says, if it's made any difference in anything on her end. I'm in for the 720 TS @ 2 per day, so I have the whole year to evaluate.
* Omega-3 -- If you do purchase the Elite, I'd suggest going with the version that has the Omega-3 capsules. It averages about $10 more per month. Basically you're getting the Omega-3 at a TSV cost which winds up being only a bit more expensive that the equivalent amount of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 in the 8oz bottle (aprox $22).
I have time today, so I will carve out some time to read up on how much I should use for my purposes (eye and cardiovascular health).
* COQ10 -- the Elite only gives you 100mg of COQ10 which is perhaps the single most important supplement. When I started purchasing the COQ10 TSV in 2007 I think 360 90mg caps were $199. Last year's COQ10 TSV was 600 200mg caps for $199. -- COQ10 used to be crazy expensive but the cost has gone down in the past few years. -- Your body needs 500mgs of COQ10 daily. It can "recycle" around 200mgs daily in the body, but it still needs at least 300mgs to function at it's best. -- Because the October COQ10 TSV has made it so affordable I take 2 or 3 caps of 200mg COQ10 daily. -- Each COQ10 supplement is includes a healthy dose of the B Vitamins. So even though the B Vitamin dose in the essential 1 is lower, the COQ10 caps I take boost those levels up to the level in the Elite.
* Based on what I remember, Andrew has added 100mg each of: resveratrol, ECGC, and pomegranate to the Elite in the past year. It sounds good, but over this past year several TSV bundles have included blends on resveratrol and ECGC (and one included POM) for a crazy low price. I don't know if he'll do the same thing this year but it wouldn't surprise me if he did.
I just got on board the CoQ10 about a year ago. I had it in my mind that that was for older people (I forget I am 51 sometimes when I'm looking at things in relation to age). I did the TruQ10 TS. I want to stay in the 200-300mg per day range. When researching this one, the recommended tested range, for longterm use was around 250.
* Vitamin D -- unless you live below Atlanta, I'd recommend a minimum 4,000 IU of Vitamin D and make sure to take it with a bit of fat (it's water soluble).
I was tested in November 2014 and am in the 40s, so I have been taking 4,000 a day (2,000 in the Women's Complete Max and 2,000 separately). I will see where I test again in September and adjust up if I need to.
I also read on Mark's Daily Apple to take it early in the morning because if you take it at night it might keep you awake. I haven't experimented with that but I was trying to re-arrange my pills so that I take some throughout the day vs all in the morning. So I made to sure take that one in the first packet of the day.
* Omega-3 -- I'd recommend a minimum of 1gm daily (I take 2-3gm daily).
I never read up on amounts, I just chose this multi because it had it in there.
I take the bulk of my supplements in the morning with coffee + full fat coconut milk and eggs that have fat cooked in them (coconut or olive oil depending on the day) and 8 oz of water.
This was a good discussion because I realize now that I have more research to do!
Thanks again.
-- bebe
@VaBelle35 wrote:
@bebe777 wrote:
@VaBelle35 wrote:I did the side-by-side thingy.
* regarding the Ultimate Eye formula -- while the Elite does have the lutein and zeaxanthin for eye macula protection, it has never included the purple pigments which help for nighttime vision (bilberry & elderberry). Andrew's four most expensive ingredients are probably zeaxantion, lutein, astaxanthin and bilberry. He since bilberry and astaxanthin aren't quite as essential as the other two, astaxanthin got taken out of the Elite a few years back (bilberry never made it in). -- So if you need help with nighttime vision you may want to take at least one Ultimate Eye daily.
@I don't know if I'm sold on this one yet. I haven't noticed any difference in the 4 months I've been on it. I have been on axastanthin for a year and haven't noticed any difference. I will re-evaluate when I go to the eye doctor next July to see what she says, if it's made any difference in anything on her end. I'm in for the 720 TS @ 2 per day, so I have the whole year to evaluate.
bebe -- I've never taken the astaxanthin. Dr. Oz seems to think it's ORAC (anti-oxidant capacity) is off the charts, but with ll the other antixoidants that I take that's not a big selling point. The primary visible help it seems to provide, no pun intended, is will a reduction of eye strain especially if you have a job in which you have to be on a laptop for hours. -- In contrast, Ultimate Eye is a product that I will never be without again. Several years ago (over a 2 1/2 year period) half of the apartments in my huge apartment building were updated. Micro soot in halls & apartments for that time. They ruined the drinking water. I got sick and developed an eye infection for three months. It looked like really bad, total red eyes, conjuntivitis but 5 doctors said it wasn't and were useless about treatment. One even had the nerve to say I'd just have to live with it forever. I had ordered Ultimate Eye for the spring/summer sun. -- Now this is where it gets a bit hard (but true) to believe. The day my package arrived in my apartment lobby I coudln't get my mind off of the package but I was very busy all day and night doing work in my apartment. At 3am I still wasn't asleep because all I could think of was the package. So I dragged myself out of bed, picked it up and took two capsules with Omega-3 (it's fat soluble). Within a minute, my body was demanding a second dose (very strange, but I've gotten used to this response... I I have a green, paleo, very clean diet). So I took another dose, asked my body if I could go back to bed (no response), so back to bed I went. At 8:30am that saturday morning I got up and went into the bathroom. I caught a glance of my eyes and the "whites" had gone from totally inflamed red to perfect white. -- Clearly the Ultimate Eyes had cleared the problem up. Since I took Elite periodically my body somehow knew that what I needed was a larger dose to clear my eyes up. So Ultimate Eyes (wchich includes the bilberry & other purple antioxidants) are here to stay. -- My body reactions happen occasionally and I've gotten used to going with them. And every time I can feel/notice a change.
I added this an hour later -- I just took a look at the latest Procaps Elite formulas. This is soooo confusing because now there are four different formulas. What is Andrew doing. Now the Elite 200 does have the 100mg of bilberry in it, but the other Elite formulas don't have the bilberry.
* Omega-3 -- If you do purchase the Elite, I'd suggest going with the version that has the Omega-3 capsules. It averages about $10 more per month. Basically you're getting the Omega-3 at a TSV cost which winds up being only a bit more expensive that the equivalent amount of Nordic Naturals Omega-3 in the 8oz bottle (aprox $22).
I have time today, so I will carve out some time to read up on how much I should use for my purposes (eye and cardiovascular health).
bebe -- at the very least groups will generally say that 500mg is the minimum threshhold. Most of the trusted groups (including Andrew) say to go with 1gm. -- I go with 2-3gms of Omega-3 daily because the Whold Health Organization goes with 3gms and a very well-known, estabilshed cardiologist (on the nutrition bandwagon from the early 1980s) goes with 2gms daily. -- Also, as Andrew says, you want the more expensive, trigliceride version (like Andrew's or Nordic Naturals) because they are 2-3 times more bioavailable than the alcohol ester version. And, as Andrew says, DHA is at the top of the nutrition food chain. EPA is important but DHA much more so. With regard to the plant source ALA, it has a very inefficient conversion to EPA or DHA, so I tend to give it a pass. Andrew has talked about this in past years but not so much now. -- The Nordic Naturals Omega-3 8oz size cost about $22 (or $23 with 1,000 IU Vitamin D). The bottle has 48 servings. Each serving has about 800mg EPA and 525mg of EPA which is why I generally use Nordic Naturals.
* COQ10 -- the Elite only gives you 100mg of COQ10 which is perhaps the single most important supplement. When I started purchasing the COQ10 TSV in 2007 I think 360 90mg caps were $199. Last year's COQ10 TSV was 600 200mg caps for $199. -- COQ10 used to be crazy expensive but the cost has gone down in the past few years. -- Your body needs 500mgs of COQ10 daily. It can "recycle" around 200mgs daily in the body, but it still needs at least 300mgs to function at it's best. -- Because the October COQ10 TSV has made it so affordable I take 2 or 3 caps of 200mg COQ10 daily. -- Each COQ10 supplement is includes a healthy dose of the B Vitamins. So even though the B Vitamin dose in the essential 1 is lower, the COQ10 caps I take boost those levels up to the level in the Elite.
* Based on what I remember, Andrew has added 100mg each of: resveratrol, ECGC, and pomegranate to the Elite in the past year. It sounds good, but over this past year several TSV bundles have included blends on resveratrol and ECGC (and one included POM) for a crazy low price. I don't know if he'll do the same thing this year but it wouldn't surprise me if he did.
I just got on board the CoQ10 about a year ago. I had it in my mind that that was for older people (I forget I am 51 sometimes when I'm looking at things in relation to age). I did the TruQ10 TS. I want to stay in the 200-300mg per day range. When researching this one, the recommended tested range, for longterm use was around 250.
* Vitamin D -- unless you live below Atlanta, I'd recommend a minimum 4,000 IU of Vitamin D and make sure to take it with a bit of fat (it's water soluble).
I was tested in November 2014 and am in the 40s, so I have been taking 4,000 a day (2,000 in the Women's Complete Max and 2,000 separately). I will see where I test again in September and adjust up if I need to.
bebe -- That is a good level to start with, just make sure to take a little bit of fat with it. In his WordsOnWellness blog, Andrew has a great entry on getting your Vitamin D levels tested and what to look for.
I also read on Mark's Daily Apple to take it early in the morning because if you take it at night it might keep you awake. I haven't experimented with that but I was trying to re-arrange my pills so that I take some throughout the day vs all in the morning. So I made to sure take that one in the first packet of the day.
bebe -- lol, did you know that Mark used to work for Andrew before starting his own company? Mark and Andrew are still good friends. Mark's multi-vitamin rings all the bells and whistles, but Mark contracts the production out so he doesn't have the same control over the ingredients that Andrew does. -- I like Mark, but he's a little slick for me. He's one of the sponsors for Doug Kaufmann's Know The Cause nutritional show (I'm a Doug convert!!). Doug knew Atkins in the 1960s and (like Atkins) had been preaching Paleo (before there was a Paleo diet) for decades. Mark has just recently hopped on the Paleo bandwagon and made it sound like it was all his idea. This rubs me the wrong way. I like Mark but he's a master promoter (unlike Doug and Andrew who are almost clueless about this). -- As recently as about five years ago, during Mark's segements on Doug's show... when Doug talked anti-fungal paleo, Mark would mention the starch bread and fungal wine/beer that he enjoyed. Clearly Mark has cleaned up his act, but he's just comandeered the bandwagon.
* Omega-3 -- I'd recommend a minimum of 1gm daily (I take 2-3gm daily).
I never read up on amounts, I just chose this multi because it had it in there.
I take the bulk of my supplements in the morning with coffee + full fat coconut milk and eggs that have fat cooked in them (coconut or olive oil depending on the day) and 8 oz of water.
bebe -- If you're staying with the Elite then, as I mentioned before, the 1mg of Omega-3 is a good starting place. But since only about 900mg of it is DHA/EPA you might want to supplement with a bottle of Nordic Naturals Omega-3. Maybe one-third of a teaspoon daily which would make the bottle last about 5 months (for $22).
Coconut milk, olive oil and phospholipid eggs are all great places to get those necessary fat sources!! -- I have eggs for breakfast daily (from organically fed chickens whoonly graze in the pasture and are not supplemented with grain products). I also drink a teaspoon of coconut oil (which has excellent nutirtional properties). And if I happen to be using the Omega-3 capsules, I break thm with my teeth. -- I'm somewhat obsessive but I want to make sure that there is available, free flowing oil in my stomach as soon as I take my expensive vitamins.
This was a good discussion because I realize now that I have more research to do!
bebe -- I'm really enjoying our discussion because as keen as I am about Wen hair products, for me, nothing beats a good nutrition/vitamin discussion... especially when Andrew's supplements are in the mix!!!
Thanks again.
bebe -- You're most welcome, and thank you too!!
-- bebe
@VaBelle35 wrote:Thanks for the further breakdown. That makes a lot of sense and gives me more to consider. I didn't realize they were tweaking the Elite. I know that when I was on Nature's Code (and I LOVED Nature's Code and felt the best on that formula), they tweaked it a lot, but I also wasn't taking anything other than that at the time.
bebe -- I was a staunch Rainbow user before I finally switched over to Andrew's multi. I had been taking some of his other supplements but it took me a few years to switch multis. Andrew talks ad infinitum about his finely powdered supplements, so one day I ground up a Rainbow tablet multi in my Krups coffee grinder. I was amazed to find that my body found it about 30% more bioavailable. lol, I used up the Rainbow multis (grinding each of them up) and made the switch over to Procaps multis... and never looked back because they were soooo much better.
For me, while cost is a factor, the number of pills is a driving force for me. I notice it more when I travel. I am going away on a business trip Sunday-Friday and when I make my daily baggies of pills for the week, it takes up a lot of room in the suitecase (and now that I'm bringing a small jar of Marine Collagen with me, it's putting me over the edge. LOL
bebe -- Andrew sells small vitamin boxes for 50 cents each. I have 30-40 of them. About once a month I just fill them all up and they're ready to go on a daily basis. Depending on how many supplements you use, you might be able to get two days worth in each box. ---- Also, do you take your Vitamins in divided doses? A number of my supplements (including the Elite) are 2 capsule daily doses. So I take one in the morning and one in the evening. This is important because most vitamins are water sobuble and their hailf-life is 9-12 hours. The half-life is the number of hours, at which point, only 50% of the active ingredients will be left available for absorbtion.
On the fish oil, they only give you 1,000 mg. I was in a discussion on another website and people seem to take a heck of a lot more than 1,000 mg for health and/or beauty benefits. I need to look into that further and see what I need for cardiovascular health (as that is what runs in my family). I am new to fish oil, about a year, because my eye doctor wanted me to add that in (along with ground flax, which I already use regularly but not the 2T a day she recommends) for dry eye syndrome.
bebe -- as I mentioned in a previous post 1,000mg is the minimum amount that reputable sources seem to agree on. -- By experimenting, I have found that 2-3 mgs daily is best for my body (top mental functioning and soft, shiny skin). -- lol, I know a well-established vitamin shop in NYC (city hall & midtown locations) where one of the pharmacist owners takes 6-7gms of Omega-3 daily without any ill effects. -- Omega-3 is perhaps the top anti-inflammatory around. -- btw, which site were you referring to (the longevity organization?) I used to read some of those boards but found that some people could get fussy.
-- bebe
VaBelle, I just had a quick look at the now four different Elite formulas at the Procaps site. I checked the elite formula components earlier this year and, once again, they've changed everything up... and I'm not sure I understand all the rational for the changes. -- I did a quick comparison to the H formulas and the Procaps versions seem much better. I didn't have time to do a price comparison but Procaps prices have always been better (on a per ingredient basis).
I haven't checked the H's version of the Procaps multis for quite a while, but it looks like they've changed the names of the formulas. It looks like they've the one-capsule Essential one, and then two basic types of higher end multi packets (Complete: $36-100, and Complete 100: $70-200). You can also choose to add the Omega-3 to each of those formulas ($30 for largest four month supply). Adding the Omega-3 to the most expensive Procaps Elite four month supply is $50, but I don't know if the Omega-3 level is higher with Procaps (probably it is).
Using the 4 month supply with Omega-3, from a very quick check of the H's Complete 100 ($230) to the Elite 100 ($260), the Elite seems to have a much better ingredient profile.
From my quick look, I still think that on a per ingredient basis that the Elite 200 formula may be priced a bit higher than the other Elite formulas... when you factor in the per added ingredients costs and compare those costs with the various TSV values. That said, I don't think it's that much of a price differential. Also starting out with the Elite 200 means that you dont have as many add ons to add to your luggage containers.
I do find it odd that Andrew's Elite 200 doesn not include Omega-3 capsules. -- If they don't include an Elite 200 w/ Omega-3 option then next April you may want to pick up the Omega-3 TSV which is a very good price. The TSV is just a little above the Nordic Naturals liquid Omega-3 bottle price, and much less expensive than the similar Nordic Naturals Omega-3 capsules.
-- bebe
Footer Navigation and Information
*You're signing up to receive QVC promotional email.
Manage Your Account
Find recent orders, do a return or exchange, create a Wish List & more.
Get More with QCard®
Enjoy 12+ VIP Savings Events a year (& more!).
Work with Us
Stay Connected
Download Our QVC Apps
This is Shopping Brought to Life.
Privacy StatementGeneral Terms of Use
QVC is not responsible for the availability, content, security, policies, or practices of the above referenced third-party linked sites nor liable for statements, claims, opinions, or representations contained therein. QVC's Privacy Statement does not apply to these third-party web sites.
© 1995-2026 QVC, Inc. All rights reserved. | QVC, Q and the Q logo are registered service marks of ER Marks, Inc. 888-345-5788