Did you know that most vitamins on the market today are made from petroleum, coal tar, and genetically modified corn syrup? Yeah, I know, it’s scary, but it’s the truth. I’m going to explain to you the difference between synthetic vitamins and whole food concentrates.
Let’s start out by asking the question, “If I’m eating a really good diet, do I really need to supplement with vitamins and supplements?” Well, the answer is yes. Today’s food supply is not like it used to be. 100 years ago, we had much different soil, we had different farming methods, and the demands for everyday life were not quite the same as they are today. In today’s world, we have a lot of chemicals and toxins in our environment, we have genetically modified foods, and the soils are depleted, so it’s very difficult to get everything that you need directly from your food. It is essential that we supplement our diet with vitamins and supplements made from food rather than chemicals.
How do we do that? There are basically two different types of supplements on the market. There are more than that, but the two main ones are synthetic and whole food concentrates. Let’s start with synthetic because that’s the vast majority of all supplements that are out there today. About 95% of what you will find on the market today is made from synthetic ingredients, meaning these are isolated chemicals made from petroleum, coal tar, and genetically modified corn.
Now, why do companies make it from these compounds? I’m not exactly sure, but I suppose that it’s probably very inexpensive to do it this way because making it from food is a whole other undertaking. When you take things like this, it acts more like a drug in your body than like a nutrient because nutrients are basically from food, they’re not from chemicals. They might have an effect on your body and cause things to change and maybe even suppress your symptoms. However, they’re not actual nutrition, only food is nutrition. That brings us to the second type. That’s the whole food supplements or concentrates. These are actually made from food.
How do you know the difference between synthetic and whole food? The main thing is to look at the label, take a look and see what ingredients are listed. If you see these really long chemical compound names, then you know it’s most likely a synthetic vitamin. But if the label reads one food listed after the next, then you know that’s a whole food concentrate.
What do we use in our clinic? We use a company called Standard Process. This is the oldest and largest supplement company. It’s been around since 1929. They have an amazing track record, many practitioners have used them for years and still do. Standard Process in particular has an organic farm out in Wisconsin where they grow their own vegetables and other things for their supplements.
I have seen the difference between using synthetic and whole food concentrates in my clinic personally. I used to use synthetic before, I had no idea that there was a difference until a few years ago. I’m very glad that I made the switch because the results that I’ve seen in my patients and in my own life have been very dramatic.
What about the difference in the amount of synthetic vs. whole food concentrates that you need to take? People notice that in synthetic vitamins there are these large amounts listed of each vitamin, as opposed to the small amount of whole food concentrates. The reason is that when you are taking it as a synthetic compound, your body doesn’t necessarily know how to use it in the right way or in the same way as a whole food concentrate. You need a lot more of the amount for your body to utilize some of the synthetic vitamins and with the whole food concentrates, you need a smaller amount. It’s more bioavailable and it exists in a complex because in Mother Nature, the vitamins exist as a whole complex, not just one particular part. For example, when you get a bottle of vitamin C, you’re going to see on there it says ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid is only part of the vitamin C complex. The entire complex has other things in it besides just ascorbic acid. That’s one of the reasons why I say the complexes are superior to the chemical isolates. That’s a good example because a lot of people are taking vitamin C and they think that ascorbic acid is vitamin C, but it’s actually not.
If you would like to find out more about the difference between synthetic vitamins and whole food concentrates, or if you would like to feel the difference for yourself, please give us a call. We offer a free 15 minute consultation.