Whole-food supplement landscaping is changing
We are happy to hear that the retail landscape of dietary supplements is favoring whole-food vitamins. While the conventional vitamins sold are enjoying a 5.8 percent increase, the whole-food supplement growth rate is 15 percent over the past year, according to market researcher SPINS. As long term advocates of whole-food supplements, we are happy to hear people are waking up to the difference in vitamins.
Not all vitamins are the same. The term "whole-food vitamins" is awarded to supplements that are made from foods, not manufactured in a lab out of synthetic pieces of vitamin complexes. Real foods such as carrots, broccoli, kale, spinach, liver, beets, etc. are typically juiced, dehydrated and then tableted.
To get good concentrates while maintaining optimal nutrient potency and shelf stability is a challenging process - too much so for most vitamin manufacturers. To keep the physical properties intact that are so important is both a science and artistry. While most whole-food supplement manufacturers use drum-drying or air-spraying of the juices under high temperatures, companies that use low heat and vacuum extraction processes to remove the water is better. As with most everything, there is good, better and best.
Your cheap drug store/big box store vitamins are generally synthetic. They are fractionated or chemically produced faux vitamins that truly are not the healthiest. Health food store vitamins are generally better as far as additives and binders are concerned. Better is whole-food vitamins that have been "spiked" with synthetic vitamins so the nutrient content on the label looks more impressive. You can recognize those by seeing thousands of percent of the DV listed on the ingredient label, along with food ingredients. Best is the whole-food supplements without the big numbers and without the chemical-sounding names (like d-alpha-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, beta carotene). These are true whole-food vitamins designed to replace the nutrients missing in the body due to an inadequate diet.
Because more people are concerned about the chemicals in their food, the atmosphere, and their water, it is no wonder that they are now looking at their vitamins. Whole-food supplements are believed to be better absorbed by the body and, as importantly, they contain all of nature's co-factors that are inherent in the plant that make them work better. Other supplements can actually steal the missing co-factors from the body itself in order to have an effect. That kind of misses the point of taking vitamins in the first place!
Whole-food supplements are a complex matrix of nutrients that provide the full spectrum of phytonutrients such as polyphenols and flavonoids that are powerful antioxidants. They help to protect cellular health and to improve the body's response to inflammation. Because they have enhanced bioavailability of nutrients, they are also responsible for improving the general health of every organ to maintain function and help to heal.
While synthetic vitamins are still making a dent in the vast health food industry, we are happy that whole-food vitamins are gaining more acceptance and more people are benefiting from the increased health they provide.
Holly Carling is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Doctor of Naturopathy, Clinical Nutritionist and Master Herbologist with more than 32 years of experience. Carling is currently accepting new patients and offers natural health-care services and whole food nutritional supplements in her Coeur d'Alene clinic. Visit Carling's website at www.vitalhealthandfitness.com to learn more about Carling, view a list of upcoming health classes and read other informative articles. Carling can be reached at (208) 765-1994 and would be happy to answer any questions regarding this topic.