When it comes to choosing supplements, not all supplements are created equal. Vitamins are little organic molecules that we need and are in our natural food supply, but, with some exceptions, we can’t make them or at least we have a hard time making them ourselves. Instead, we must rely on our food to keep us stocked with these essential nutrients, but our food is getting less and less nutritious. Fields are now depleted by overuse and under fertilization. Pesticides limit the action of beneficial microbes in the soil that help plants draw in nutrients. Fertilizers focus on certain key chemicals and don’t take into account all the trace minerals, organic components, or beneficial microbes that go into good nutrition. And genetically modified foods have made their way into our food supply when we don’t really know how they may affect our health in the long term, preliminary studies are not good. On top of these problems, we refine and process our food so it lasts longer, is more convenient, tastes better, and is even made to be more addictive. But in doing so we strip out and destroy vital nutrients as we process them, leaving little left but chemicals. Much of the food we find in grocery stores outside the produce section barely resembles what humanity has been eating for thousands of years. There’s no wonder we have so many auto-immune disorders, food allergies, and growing epidemics of obesity. Our bodies don’t know what we’re ingesting, they arent finding the nutrients they need, and they’re begging for us to eat more and more so we might manage to give ourselves what we’re missing. We all know we need a steady supply of vitamins and minerals so our bodies can function properly. Scientists, doctors, and food companies agree too, so they create cheap vitamins in labs, fortify our foods and beverages with them, and dump them into multivitamins. The problem is these synthetic vitamins are not what our bodies are looking for either. The majority of cheap multivitamins are from synthetics. The same goes for fortified foods. There’s a good reason for this. Synthetic vitamins are cheaper to make and usually more stable. This means they can last on shelves for months or years, be added to foods in high doses, and create small dense tablets packed with insane amounts of every type of vitamin. These vitamins are allowed to call themselves “natural” even when they are actually synthetic because scientists say the synthetics are virtually identical to the ones found in food. They are not. The way these compounds are made is not remotely similar to the metabolic processes that plants and animals use to create them. The finished product is also usually a compound not exactly the same form as any found in nature. These synthetic vitamins, according to a multitude of studies, are not as bioavailable, absorbable, or usable. These “virtually identical” vitamins are not what we find in natural foods, not recognizable to the body, hard on the kidneys, and can often be treated as toxins. Its a little like the commercial that says your body doesnt know the difference between sugar thats natural and sugar thats not....Well, got news for ya, it does! Lets look at a few differences shall we? Natural Vitamin A – shows up in food as beta-carotene. The body must convert it into vitamin A to be useful. This sounds less effective, but vitamin A can be toxic in large doses so actually its better to do it this way. Beta-carotene allows the body to convert what it needs and discard what it does not as a natural safeguard against damage. Synthetic Vitamin A – is retinyl palmitate or retinyl acetate. This synthetic is made from combining fish or palm oil with beta-ionone. Beta-ionone is created using citrus, acetone, and calcium oxide. Natural Vitamin C – This vitamin is readily available in citrus, red bell peppers, berries, and many more fruits and vegetables. In nature it is combined with flavonoids and phytonutrients that help in its absorption and use. Synthetic Vitamin C – Ascorbic acid is an isolated vitamin from genetically modified corn sugar that is hydrogenated and processed with acetone. It does not include the flavonoids and phytonutrients that make it work. - Natural Vitamin D – Technically this one isn’t always thought of as a vitamin since we make it ourselves from sun exposure. Mushrooms, yeast, and lichen produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight too. A daily dose of about 20 minutes of sunlight provides all we need. Vitamin D3 is the most effective kind, the same that comes from our own skin and lichen. Mushrooms and yeast often yield D2. Synthetic Vitamin D – To mimic the natural production we find in our skin, scientists irradiate animal fat to stimulate vitamin D3 synthesis. They usually use lanolin, the waxy secretions from sheep skin that keeps wool dry. Cannot imagine it having the same effect on the body as naturally made D3. Natural Vitamin K – This vitamin is important to proper blood clotting and some metabolic pathways. It is found in dark leafy greens. Synthetic Vitamin K – Synthetic vitamin K, menadione, comes from coal tar derivatives and genetically modified and hydrogenated soybean oil, and uses hydrochloric acid and nickel. It is considered highly toxic and damages the immune system. So read your labels, it is important.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 14:11:42 +0000
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