Spring Valley Vitamins: Quality & Effectiveness - A Consumer Question

Question
Hello,
I was wondering if you might know anything about spring valley vitamins and how effective they are?  I buy them at walmart, so I'm wondering about the quality of them.  I've been taking a vitamin B complex and seem to have much more energy, even with less sleep. but i still want to make sure I'm buying good vitamins that will really benefit my body.  
thank you

Answer
Hi Amanda,

I don't know the specifics of any one brand of vitamins. What I do know is that the FDA regulates supplements to be sure they contain what they say they do and that there are no false claims made about what they can do. So I would feel comfortable saying that vitamins sold at Walmart are as good as those sold in health food stores which may be more expensive.

What B vitamin pills do is supplement your diet. Few people have B vitamin deficiencies since they are found widely in foods, especially carbohydrates (breads, cereals, rice, etc) and many are fortified. Some reasons that a person may have a deficiency would be from excessive alcohol intake or eating mostly non-enriched sources of refined starches (for example, large amounts of sugary soft drinks and candy).

The feeling that you have more energy is most likely in your mind more than your body. While B vitamins help your body use the energy (calories) you get from eating carbohydrate foods, they don't actually give you the feeling of having more energy as in being energetic or more awake.

If you feel better, keep it up! But do be sure to keep getting enough sleep as well :)