Interesting article on supplements

I am not looking for an argument. This is what I have been thinking of a lot (esp after I started a free subscription of Life Extension magazine and noticed how they cherry pick scientific research to support their argument).

www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/07/vitamins-stop-taking-the-pills

The only problem is, the topic is super vast and it is very difficult to write a similar report for every supplement that we folks here take. I understand though, as a result of UC, we do not absorb many nutrients well.

Normally I would not put up such a long post but here is a extract from an article on natural vs synthetic supplements -

Natural v Synthetic - How are they Made?

Petroleum, coal tar derivatives and corn syrup. Refined oils, irradiated animal fats and chemically processed sugars. Thats how man made versions of vitamins and minerals begin. And intensive processing, bleaching and the introduction of additives and fillers is all in the mix when it comes to most supplements. Chemicals such as ammonia, acetone and formaldehyde are often used in the manufacturing process.

Synthetic vitamins contain chemical compounds, that whilst atom for atom look like the real thing, they in fact replicate just one portion of a complex substance. And whilst they might look like certain nutrients under a microscope, they definitely dont behave the same way in the body.

And that's why researchers find that some synthetic supplements can actually have antagonistic effects on the body, and create nutritional imbalance.

Vitamins and minerals occur only in foods and botanicals, they cannot be replicated by man or designed in a laboratory.

A truly natural product is in a perfectly balanced form with a huge array of co-factors. And crucially the minerals are naturally chelated (bonded to amino acids) meaning they are transported effectively through the body.

An excellent example is Vitamin C. This is typically made from extracts of corn syrup. The end result - Ascorbic Acid is just a fraction of naturally occurring vitamin C, and has been isolated from all of the essential co-factors including phytonutrients and bioflavonoids. In 1937, Nobel Prize laureate, Dr Albert Szent-Georgi discovered that Ascorbic Acid alone could not cure scurvy, yet natural Vitamin C could.

Acerola Cherries and Wild Rosehips are two of the richest sources of Vitamin C known to man (far greater than for example oranges). They provide you with exceptional, food state vitamin C, and not just Vitamin C, but all of the healthy nutrients that ensure maximum absorption and nutritional input. In supplement form, they are more effective than the synthetic alternatives.


Natural v Isolated Supplements

Nutrients never travel alone in nature. You never find a vegetable with vitamin C and nothing else for example. Each nutrient travels with other vitamins and minerals, bioflavonoids, trace elements and so much more. Everything is pefectly balanced, each has its own unique role to play but does so in a synergistic way. And taking too much of one nutrient without the correct amounts of another can create an imbalance. A good example being calcium, which should always be taken with the correct balance of magnesium.

I take royal jelly, which is essentially a natural multivitamin and I take fermented cold liver oil for high quality vitamin D.

The source is very important. There are studies done where Antioxidant vitamin E caused toxicity and cancer, then there are others where it prevented and even treated cancer. The source is very important.