Differences in Vitamin Quality

Why buy more expensive vitamins?

What is the difference between “Vitamin”, ”Food Based”, and “Food State” vitamins?

I found myself about to write out the same information for a new client for the fifth time this month. Oh yeah! This is the part where I share what I know with everyone and have an easy reference for everyone to get ahold of.

What are Vitamins? What’s in these pills anyway?

For instance, vitamin c is white sugar processed down three more times into a “vitamin”. All other vitamins are the same. They are parts of a whole. They are not fully usable by the body until the body finds the other part to hook them up to. What are they in need of? Amino acids. When you take  typical vitamin, you are taking a bunch of puzzle pieces and asking your body to kindly go into overdrive to fit that giant puzzle together to be able to utilize it at all.

Ascorbic acid is *not* vitamin c! It is chemically changed sorbitol with stuff that you would never ever put in your body. I am not saying these chemicals (benzene and acetone) remain in the vitamin, but I certainly don’t go around cooking with benzene and acetone, but I don’t want it used on anything if at all possible because I would kind of like the earth to stay around for my kids. Aside from the extreme processing that these “vitamins” undergo, they are not usable. That is my main point. The body must further process them and put them back into a usable natural form.

This is why these vitamins say, “Eat with food.” This is why most people will get an upset stomach if they fail to eat with their vitamins. I don’t know about you, but I take vitamins because I want to give my body an easy way to get the nutrition I desire and that I know it needs.

Food Based Vitamins

Food Based Vitamins are from companies that have at least recognized that it’s pretty unlikely you will actually eat all the right foods with all the right amino acids to be able to use them. These supplements contain great things like spirulina and other super foods that are abundant in amino acids and other components that your synthetic vitamins need to be able to get into the bloodstream and get into the body as we need them. However, the vitamins themselves are just as processed as in the plain vitamins.

Food State Vitamins

What are food state vitamins? Food State Vitamins are taken from food and as whole a vitamin as you can get. No parts and pieces, but entire molecules that are readily available for the body to pick them right up and use them immediately without putting a whole jigsaw together.

I only know of two companies that make Food State vitamins right now. They are MegaFood and New Chapter. Both available at any health food store and online. I am telling you that you will feel different on these vitamins. Yes, the price is higher. It’s a lot cheaper to make vitamins cured with acetone and gasoline (unfortunately) than it is to cultivate and extract them from their natural state.

Recommendation

Over the two, I recommend MegaFood Vitamins.

MegaFood is still using the same trusted processes they came up with when they started, which is to actually get vitamins from food. New Chapter has gone over to obtaining vitamins grown in a soy media. You can see on MegaFood's videos on Youtube, creating vitamin A directly from carrots, etc.

One of my major reasons for promoting MegaFood over New Chapter at this point is that New Chapter was purchased by Proctor and Gamble and I refuse to buy from the same company that manufactures some of the most environmentally unfriendly things on the planet.

This is just my two cents, but you are free to decide what's best for you.

Written by Courtney Henslee of www.brazenbee.com
Southern practicality meets a passion for knowledge. Courtney takes natural living seriously and can read a scientific study like a child eats candy. Translating science-speak into our daily language is her forte.