Life Extension Foundation products

1. Pricing structure. Membership of one year costs $75-$110. This will give you an "An incredible 25-50% discount" on their webstore among other benefits. But the price seems to be exactly the same for members who buy 1-3 units of a product on their webstore and for non-members who buy on Iherb. Only if you buy at least 4 units of a product from their webstore will members get a cheaper price on their webstore than non-members buying on Iherb. So you will only save on becoming a member if you buy a lot in bulk. Why? If they have already taken the trouble and fixed costs of opening a webstore, then why not have a cheaper price for everyone than at a middleman webstore? Even if they have a somewhat cheaper price for non-member than Iherb their profit should be greater since they must sell for a large discount to Iherb so the middleman can get a descent profit.

2. Price. Even if you are a member and buy in bulk the price looks expensive compared to the competitors. For example, if you are a memeber and buy 10 units of Ubiquinol the unit price is $39 while it is $31.5 if you buy one unit of Now Ubiquinol at Iherb as non-memeber.

3. Rare ingredients. It is often difficult to compare prices with competitors since often unusual components are added which may or may not justify the higher price. Since they are unusual you must probably often read the scientific literature to see if they looks safe, effective, and are available in effective amounts. An example. They do not sell a simple omega-3 oil but an omega-3 oil with added "Sesame Lignans & Olive Fruit Extract" for around double the price of a Now products without these extracts. At least the sesame lignans look to be a low dose compared to what has been used in human studies.

4. Quality. The only statement regardig quality, manufacturing, or testing I can find is this in their FAQ:
http://www.lef.org/c...y.htm#question6

Compare to the extensive material at Now:
http://www.nowfoods....ality/index.htm

Since they do not mention having a manufacturing facility (GMP or not), product test laboratory, or quality assurance procedures, I suspect that they outsource their production to other manufacturers who may or may not be in the US and likely may have varying quality procedures. They do mention having a Certificate of Analysis available for every product but it seems questionable that this can replace continuous quality checking and procedures as described at Now.

Edited by Blue, 06 September 2009 - 09:26 PM.

The pricing structure for LEF is sort of weird. I see no reason to become a member, unless a person really, really wants a printed copy of their magazine.

The only time it's worth ordering directly from LEF is if they have one of the products you want during one of their special sales. Which is also odd, as they seem to have like 4-5 month clearance sales every year too.

As for quality control, I'm not sure if they do any of their own testing or manufacturing. I assume they don't. Having COAs is important though, and if it's a brand-name material, it's probably fine from them.

I agree that Now may be a better company overall. Now's pricing is usually better, too. I consider LEF an 'acceptable' company as far as quality and prices, but nothing really special.

But I should also add, that LEF is one of the few companies that will actually provide the customer with a copy of their COA if you ask. I inquired several times with Now, and they wouldn't provide one (they claimed it was proprietary info). Not uncommon with many companies, but it's annoying.

Edited by nameless, 11 September 2009 - 05:07 PM.

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IMO membership is worth it, there is an automatic rebate upon renewal and the discounted price on products makes it worthwhile. Most members have products that they use on a regular basis that cant be found elsewhere, buying directly from them is hassle free and insures good dates. They did have problems years ago with customer service, but that has changed. My experiences with them have been good overall.

they are a high price solution for those individuals who don't do their own homework and just want a pretty catalogue w/ explanatory articles to help them guide their own supplement choices.

swanson vitamins is cheapest, cheaper than iherb.

If you buy a year's supply of their basic Life Extension Mix you will have regained the membership fee. Not that it is very basic or good despite being expensive since it lacks for example vitamin K. Many of the plant extracts seem to been in very low doses compared to those used in studies. The maybe most glaring problem for a product from a "Life Extension" company is a nicotinamide dose of 100 mg (400 mg in their "Extra Niacin" variant!). Nicotinamide is a strong SIRT inhibitor.

Which companies offer the highest quality regardless of price?

Which companies offer the highest quality regardless of price?

There should be a luxury market for a super-high quality products with like every batch tested by two independent laboratories for ten times the ordinary price. But I guess there is no demand for this. Likely the rich are too clueless and simply prefer to poison themselves by buying expensive products with the largest amounts on the labels.

Edited by Blue, 11 October 2009 - 03:03 AM.

Since they do not mention having a manufacturing facility (GMP or not), product test laboratory, or quality assurance procedures,

They do now
http://www.lef.org/V...ng-Practice.htm

Since they do not mention having a manufacturing facility (GMP or not), product test laboratory, or quality assurance procedures,

They do now
http://www.lef.org/V...ng-Practice.htm

Interesting. Much better than before. Looks good but where is the GMP cerficiation?

"Life Extension performs periodic audits of manufacturers to ensure adherence to all regulatory requirements." I take this as meaning that they do not operate facilities themselves but outsource the production.

"Each manufactured lot of finished product is tested using state-of-the-art testing equipment to ensure finished product quality, purity and potency. Testing includes, but is not limited to, chemical analysis by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), ultraviolet/visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis), gas chromatography (GC), and gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GCMS). Physical analysis is performed and active ingredients claimed on the product label are confirmed. Microbiological analysis and heavy metal testing (by ICP-MS) is also completed on every production batch to ensure that all specifications are met. Complete COAs that meet specifications are mandatory for every production lot of product that is shipped to our customers."

That looks impressive. As I understand the supplement GMP regulations you are only required to check yourself or have a producer COA(which may be dubious) for all lots of incoming materials. Not for all lots of finished product.

But they failed a consumerlab test of resveratrol products so this testing may not be that reliable. If it is their outsourced manufacturer who is doing the testing on their own products there may be conflicts of interest especially since they are not selling the supplement under their own name. Or this is something LEF have introduced after that failed test.

Edited by Blue, 12 October 2009 - 03:25 PM.

But they failed a consumerlab test of resveratrol products so this testing may not be that reliable. Or this is something they have introduced after that.

I did not read that consumerlab test of resveratrol but as far as I heard they tested LEF Resveratrol 20 mg capsules (of course, that is a small amount). Why not LEF 250 mg capsules?

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they are a high price solution for those individuals who don't do their own homework and just want a pretty catalogue w/ explanatory articles to help them guide their own supplement choices.

swanson vitamins is cheapest, cheaper than iherb.

hey prophets, are you happy with the swanson products? customer service etc?