Is a synthetic vitamin any different than a whole food vitamin?
Yes!!! How your body processes a wholefood vitamin is much different than how it processes a synthetic vitamin.
I used to take Centrum (a synthetic vitamin), but my friend whose a nutritionist told me to only take a "wholefood" vitamin that was not sold in a pharmacy or grocery store. First of all, she said that grocery stores and pharmacies do not sell wholefood vitamins. But secondly, she said that you do not want to buy a vitamin from a company that spends more money on advertising and marketing than they do on research! So I found a wholefood vitamin and was surprised that I actually felt better! I wouldn't crash in the afternoon like I always did. From time to time I would stop taking the wholefood vitamin, and my energy levels would plummet. I've tried 2 different brands of "wholefood" vitamins, and both have helped my energy. And it only costs me 34 cents a day and 50 cents a day for my kids!
A whole food supplement is important because the human body does not utilize synthetic vitamins as efficiently as whole food supplements. For example, synthetic Vitamin E's bioavailability is reduced at least 50% compared to Vitamin E in a whole food supplement!!
Check out Steve Nash's article in Men's Journal about how much better he feels on whole food supplements.
How regulated is the industry?
I feel like most people have no idea about how unregulated the supplement industry is and how careful you must be about what products you buy. I really didn't know either.
Basically, supplement regulation falls under the FDA, and the FDA regards supplements as "food" and not as drugs. However, the FDA does not have much funding to regulate the supplement industry and instead leaves it to each company to regulate themselves. Too many examples of companies that disregard safety and ethics exist. A congressional hearing was held recently regarding Johnson and Johnson over children's Tylenol/Benadryl/Motrin/Zyrtec manufacturing problems. These medications are regulated, so imagine how many "Johnson & Johnson" type companies exist in the supplement industry!
Basically, supplement regulation falls under the FDA, and the FDA regards supplements as "food" and not as drugs. However, the FDA does not have much funding to regulate the supplement industry and instead leaves it to each company to regulate themselves. Too many examples of companies that disregard safety and ethics exist. A congressional hearing was held recently regarding Johnson and Johnson over children's Tylenol/Benadryl/Motrin/Zyrtec manufacturing problems. These medications are regulated, so imagine how many "Johnson & Johnson" type companies exist in the supplement industry!
And a recent congressional report showed levels of mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and pesticides in almost all of the vitamins tested. I certainly don't want to be giving products with those in it to my kids!
To be continued...
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