Vitamins

Many of us chose to supplement our diets with vitamins.  But, can all vitamins be treated equally???

Common health improvements resulting from vitamins include increased energy, brain function improvements (concentration and memory), and less frequency of illness.  All of that plus guaranteeing the body is getting all of the required vitamins and minerals from a single pill… sounds like a miracle to me.  No wonder vitamin production has become a multi-billion dollar industry.  It all seems so logical, everyone knows how important vitamins are to human health.  So why wouldn’t we trust the legitimacy of these miracle pills???

The answer is simple– vitamins are created in two very different ways, either chemically synthesized in labs or derived from plant and sometimes animal sources.  This creates a huge difference in how the body reacts to the vitamin.  Since digestion is a major function of the body, food-based vitamins are easily recognized, digested and completely absorbed by the body.  On the other hand, synthetic vitamins may not be recognized by the body, so they are treated as waste and eliminated before they can be absorbed.

When choosing a product it is important to understand the company’s philosophy and the source of their ingredients.  Some companies are very open about their sources while others use crafty marketing strategies to gain the trust of the consumer to reduce product questioning.
Surprisingly it is actually quite difficult to find food-based vitamins.  Of the 17 brands researched, only 5 pass the test.

Garden of Life, a company based in Florida offers many nutritional supplements are made from organically grown (when available), nutrient dense whole foods from around the world to provide you with high quality formulations.  They also offer daily multivitamins with the different needs of women and men in mind.

Holista, a Canadian company not only provides men and women with targeted multivitamins, but they also organically grow a majority of the ingredients used in their products.

New Chapter, a company based out of Vermont organically grows their ingredients on their sustainable farm in Costa Rica.  Offering a wide array organic food-based products, a good place to start is with Every Woman’s One Daily and Every Man’s One Daily multis.

Rainbow Light, a California based company uses whole-foods, such as sea greens, in their products to provide customers with high quality products, such as their multivitamins for men and women.

Super Nutrition also offers easily digested multivitamin blends for both women and men.