Over the years, hundreds of thousands of people have found better health using NatureÕs Sunshine products. Now itÕs no secret that NSP products often cost a little more than similar products on the market. But because of our commitment to quality, every time you open a bottle of NSP product you know exactly what youÕre getting. With other products, it can be a guessing game.

At NatureÕs Sunshine, we formulate, manufacture and sell the highest-quality natural health products on earth because thatÕs what people want and expect from us. We develop superior product formulas, use only premium ingredients, rigorously test our products through the development stage, re-test final products and conduct stability testing on stored products... all to ensure that NatureÕs Sunshine will consistently offer you and your family the best money can buy. When you use premium-quality health suppleÐments, you reap superior benefits: higher-potency products that bring faster results, exceptional formuÐlas, guaranteed purity and a name you can trust.

To create premium products, we start with the finest ingredients. We work with vendors with reputations for quality, and we test all incoming materials beyond industry minimums to our own stringent standards. NSP typically rejects about 5 percent of all incoming raw materials for various reasons. Vendors tell us that material we reject is sometimes resold to other companies.

Our Quality Assurance department works tirelessly to ensure that 1) our ingredients are pure, 2) our products contain what the labels indicate and 3) our products perform to their fullest potential. ItÕs hard to put a price on quality, but over the years, NSP has literally spent many millions of dollars to offer you the finest natural health products available. When you desire the kind of quality that can change a life, nothing but the best will do. At NatureÕs Sunshine, thatÕs exactly what we give you-our best. The enclosed product comparisons are provided for your information. As you read through them, you will discover the quality that sets NatureÕs Sunshine apart from our competitors. Whether you examine levels of active ingredients, purity of raw materials, label claims or value for your dollar, NSP products continue to dominate the competition.

NSP supplements are the finest natural health products money can buy. Our Premium products offer you the benefits you want: higher amounts of active components, guaranteed purity, accurate label claims, better value and a name you can trust.

NATURE'S SUNSHINE VS. THE COMPETITION                                            

(A= Nature's Herbs, B=Nature's Way, C=Solaray)

We tested three randomly selected brands of Cascara Sagrada, measuring total hydroxyanthracene derivatives (THAD) and cascarosides (CAS), two active components in the plant. NSP Cascara Sagrada had the highest amount of both actives in the samples we tested.

NSP uses several methods to verify the quality of essential oil products. These include sensory evaluation, testing color and clarity, verification of plant species and country of origin, and laboratory analysis using both Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). The GC/MS are widely known as two of the most imÐportant tools for identifying and analyzing volatile oils.

We recently compared NSP lavender oil with a popular competitorÕs lavender oil using all of these methods. The NSP product outperformed the competitor in every test.

Using gc/ms, we found that NSP lavender oil contains greater amounts of many key constituents than the Young Living sample. Their sample indicated the use of two different species of lavender, something youÕll never find in NSPÕs pure lavender oil.

Higher peaks on the NSP graph show that our lavender oil is a much more powerful product.

The quality of essential oil products differs greatly. Count on NatureÕs Sunshine for the premium quality you expect and deserve.

We compared NSP Chinese Fen-Chi to Herbal Phen-Fen using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). This process separates a mixture into different components and measures the amount of each component present.

Our Chinese Fen-Chi has a much higher concentration of all of the compounds found in natural ephedra extract than the competitors product. The unbalanced presence of ephedrine suggests that their product may be merely spiked with ephedrine. According to Dr. Alvin Segelman, Vice President of NSP Health Sciences, using the whole, balanced extract from the ephedra plant helps provide a safer thermogenic product. 

Note: NSP cost represents the Direct Cost. (All Distributors and Members pay Direct Cost instead of retail.) Prices may vary by retailer and by geographical region

NSP recently conducted a small-scale, random cost analysis of several brands of Golden Seal root products. We compare the value of NSP Golden Seal Capsules with similar products found in natural food stores, discount stores and malls.

As you can see from the brands we examined, NSP Golden Seal provides the best value for your money. And regardless of pricing, you know you can rely on Nature's Sunshine Golden Seal for superior quality.

Nature's Sunshine recently compared it's Herbasaurs Multiple Vitamins with randomly selected brands of chewable children's vitamins and found that Herbasaurs provide more B vitamins than most other brands tested.

We also compared the additives used in each of the samples and found the following:

Don't settle for less than the best. NSP Herbasaurs Multiple Vitamins give you the quality you want without unwanted extras.

(A=PureGar, B=Garlicin, C=Kyolic, D=Kwai, E=Arizona Naturals)

Garlic is one of the top selling health supplements in the United States. Because of it's popularity, dozen of companies sell garlic and many of them make some pretty strong claims.

Well, we wanted to see who had the most potent garlic supplement on the market. To find out, we randomly tested five of the top selling garlic products against NSP High Potency Garlic using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC).

We found that NSP High Potency Garlic had the highest Total Allicin* Potential (TAP) of the products tested,  proving it to be a more potent product.

In fact one tablet of High Potency Garlic equals 1.2 cloves of fresh garlic. Most other garlic tablets are the equivalent of just one half of one clove. And because of it's unique chlorophyll coating, NSP High Potency Garlic has no garlic odor and no garlic taste.

*Allicin is a key active component of garlic.

(A=Nature's Plus, B=Solaray, C=Mega Health)

We tested NSP Kava Kava against three popular brands, measuring the amount of kavalactones (the key component) per capsule. Our test showed that NSP Kava Kava had the highest number of kavalactones per capsule.

More importantly, NSP Kava Kava was the only one of these products that actually contained the amount of kavalactones indicated on the label. Others fell short, as much as 48 percent! This is just one more reason to put your confidence in NSP products.

We used High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to measure the amount of melatonin in randomly selected samples of popular brands of melatonin products. We then compared the actual amount of melatonin found in each sample to the amount listed on the corresponding product labels.

As you can see, most of the products fell short of their label claims, some substantially.

One sample exceeded its label claim by 57 percent, which may provide more melatonin than some customers want. trust Nature's Sunshine to provide you with products that have exactly what the label indicates.

(A=Colon Cleanse, B=Colon Pure)

In a swell (absorption test ) , we placed equal amounts of NSP Psyllium Hulls and two other brands of psyllium products in 100 ml of water. We found that NSP Psyllium Hulls absorbed significantly more water than the other two products tested. In fact, you would need to take almost double the amount of the competitors' products to equal the absorbing, bulking action of NSP Psyllium Hulls. NSP Psyllium Hulls Combination also absorbed 48 percent more water than metamucile.

Note: NSP cost is direct cost. (All Distributors/Members pay direct cost instead of retail.) Other prices may vary by retailer and by geographical region. Some products did not provide information on hypericin content (indicated as N/A) Hypericin is the key active ingredient in St. John's Wort, and products that do not contain it are suspect.

This graph shows a comparison of two different lots of St. John's Wort material using thin layer Chromatography (TLC). TLC separates the different components of an herb extract and takes a "fingerprint" of it so we can compare it to a known standard. Each St. John's Wort lot we receive is also tested to ensure the hypericin level meets NSP's stringent quality standards.

As you can see, the herb material on the right is not authentic St. John's Wort because it is missing two essential components. this lot was returned to the vendor.

NSP recently conducted a small scale, random cost analysis of several brands of St. John's Wort found in a variety of stores.

Don't be fooled into thinking cheaper is better. Always look for the best overall value, and rely on Nature's Sunshine for superior quality.

(A=Rolaids, B=Tums, C=Gaviscon)

We tested NSP Stomach Comfort against three random samples of popular, over-the-counter antacid products to see how much acid each would neutralize. Since high levels of stomach acid can lead to many forms of discomfort (heartburn, indigestion, etc.), the product that neutralizes the most acid in a given time period should provide superior relief. Using pre-established scientific testing methods, we placed a sample equivalent to one tablet of each product into separate beakers containing 70 ml of water plus 30 ml of hydrochloric acid (the same acid found in the stomach) and stirred for 15 minutes. Then we measured the amount of acid remaining in each beaker.

Deducting this from the original 30 ml of acid, we calculated how much acid was neutralized in each beaker.

As you can see, NSP Stomach Comfort neutralized more acid than the three competitors, providing 12.5 to 50 percent more relief per tablet.

(A=Nature's Way Fast Active, B=Nature's Way Fast Actives with Golden Seal, C=Nature's Plus, D=Country Life)

We compared NSP Ultimate Echinacea with four popular echinacea extracts on the market using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

We measured the relative amounts of echinacosides in each product.

We found that NSP Ultimate Echinacea has several times more echinacosides (a key active component) than these four competitors. Knowing this, which liquid echinacea product would you choose?

(A=Sundown Herbal)

NSP tested a randomly selected discount store brand of valerian root capsules using Thin Layer Chromatography.

We found that the discount store sample was actually the wrong species of valerian.

Our experience shows that the adulteration of valerian root products is quite common. Often, it is the result of other Valeriana species being used.

Nature's Sunshine uses only Valeriana Officinalis. This species can cost up to four times as much as others, but it contains the active constituents that provide the benefits our customers desire.

NSP uses several methods to verify the quality of essential oil products. These include sensory evaluation, testing color and clarity, verification of plant species and country of origin, and laboratory analysis using both Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). The GC/MS are widely known as two of the most important tools for identifying and analyzing volatile oils.

We recently compared NSP lavender oil with a popular competitorÕs lavender oil using all of these methods. The NSP product outperformed the competitor in every test.

Using gc/ms, we found that NSP lavender oil contains greater amounts of many key constituents than the Young Living sample. Their sample indicated the use of two different species of lavender. something youÕll never find in NSPÕs pure lavender oil.

Higher peaks on the NSP graph show that our lavender oil is a much more powerful product.

The quality of essential oil products differs greatly. Count on NatureÕs Sunshine for the premium quality you expect and deserve.