ARE THERE REALLY ANY DIFFERENCES IN VITAMINS?

Today we’ll share more in depth information about what to look for when you select a multi-vitamin/multi-mineral product.

We assume that you are not looking for the synthetic or cheapies but that you want to be sure that when you put something in your body that is supposed to be healthy, you want to be sure that it actually is healthy and has nothing in it that can be harmful.

Obviously, you are not one who thinks that a vitamin is a vitamin so buy the cheapest one you can, or you wouldn’t be here.  I am writing this specifically with you in mind. What happens in your mind when you look at the amazing array of multi-vitamins/multi-minerals on the shelves, each promising that you will get the most out of them? It is very confusing. Many people just give up and get whatever the store owner or clerk assures them is the one for them.

As well meaning as they may be, they also may be terribly wrong!

Several years ago a scientific laboratory set out to determine how closely the ingredients listed on vitamin labels matched up with what actually showed up in their testing.

They bought lots of brands from many health food stores, just as if they were ordinary customers.  In one store, the owner was particularly helpful and he said to the man, “if you want the best supplements available, you need to buy Brand X.  Brand X is excellent and they never cut corners. You can trust them to always be the quality you want“.

The researcher bought a bottle of Brand X and thanked the owner.  Back in the lab, Brand X turned out to be one of the two worst ones they tested as far as having the quantities of nutrients in the bottle match up with the label.  The store owner was sincere and caring but he just didn’t know.  He simply believed what the manufacturer said without asking for any specifics.

Here are some specifics for you to check.

First…let’s look at the labels.

Count the number of percentages that you find in the last column on the bottle. Unless you are specifically eliminating Iron from your supplement, there should be twenty five because that is the number that we know are necessary for the body to have at this point in time. That number as grown and will continue to grow as new discoveries about nutrition are made but twenty five is the minimum for right now.

Now notice whether the vitamins, (not the minerals) are present in no less than 100% and no more than 200%. The only exception to this is sodium. Sodium should be less than 3% of the stated daily value (the percentage column.) This percent balance is important because if a multi is not balanced properly, long term use can actually cause deficiencies in some of them. For instance, the percentage of Vitamin B2 and Vitamin B6 need to be very close because an imbalance of either one over the other will ultimately cause a deficiency in the lower one.

I, (Sandy), find it interesting that when doctors tell someone they have overdosed on vitamin B6, and you look at the symptoms they exhibit, you find that those are the exact symptoms that are exhibited when there is a deficiency of Vitamin B2!

There are others both in the vitamins and minerals that also need to be balanced. Notice, I said the percentages, not the number amounts. If you have all ten of your fingers intact, that’s great and it means that you have 100% of each finger, however, if you measure the fingers, none of them are present in the same amount. That is how it is for nutrients as well.

Vitamin E should be the natural D Alpha form, not the Dl Alpha form. The natural form has been proven to be at least twice as well absorbed.

There are five trace minerals that are scheduled to be included the next time the Daily Values are updated. These are: Nickel 15 mcg, Tin, 10 mcg, Vanadium 20 mcg, Boron 1 mg, Silicon Dioxide 2 mg. As of this time the daily value is not applicable, but those amounts are the expected amounts to be shown the next time. You’ll want to be sure those are present.

Be sure that Echinacea is not there. Echinacea is a wonderful herb but it is not intended to be used every day and if you do use it every day, when you need it for your immune system, it will have been essentially deactivated in your body. You should only use Echinacea in very specific ways which we will go into at a different time.

Avoid artificial sweeteners and flavors. They have no place in a quality supplement.  That info will be in another issue. For now, I hope you’ll just trust that I have the information to back up what I say and if you want me to send something on it to you or to talk with me, I really do encourage you to respond.

The next issue will explain why using only a multi-vitamin/mineral product does not offer enough nourishment to protect your body, give you the long term dynamic energy that puts you on top of the world, and insure that your immune system is able to function at peak performance.  You’ll learn what to do about it.
That’s all for this time. Lots more on nutrition and supplementation to come!

Sandy