It’s a complete shock to many people to learn that most supplements and vitamins on the market today are synthetic, chemically produced, and artificial, made from petroleum or coal tar, which make them cheap and easy to make. They are isolated chemicals in that they lack the supporting transporters, minerals and vitamin co-factors. These vitamins, produced mostly by pharmaceutical companies, actually deplete the body of raw materials, and over time, they can do harm, even though people initially feel better.
In synthetic vitamins, carbon structures are altered from a natural to a synthetic state, and they do not react the same way in the body as natural plant based vitamins. In 2012, 95% of all the vitamins sold in the U.S. were synthetic vitamins. The synthetics exhibit much lower bioavailability, and lower absorption. They build up in tissues and become toxic. They look identical to natural vitamins, and the structure, that is the carbons, are in the same position, but do not work the same in the body as natural plant-based vitamins. The geometric structure of the vitamins is different in natural, vitamins and is very important, because the body recognizes the difference.
Synthetic vitamins cooked at 350 degrees will go back to the petroleum distillate state, and the black coal tar will start to ooze out of them. Natural vitamins on the other hand come in a food matrix, and they have with them other vitamins, minerals, enzymes and flavonoids, antioxidants, carotenoids and phytosterols that mediate good health. These cofactors support and potentiate one another in the natural matrix, from the hand of our Creator.
Synthetic vitamins only have to be 10% natural to make the marketing claim of “natural.” So how do you tell if the vitamin is natural or synthetic? READ THE LABEL! There is a parenthesis after each natural vitamin listed, that lets you know if it is plant-based. For example “Vitamin C (rose hips)” would be a plant-based vitamin. If there is no parenthesis, or if it says Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), it is synthetic.
Natural plant-based vitamins are much more bioavailable, meaning the body absorbs them much more readily, and they are not toxic at high levels. They are essential to catalyze the metabolic reactions of the body. Natural vitamins are more expensive to produce, and to standardize. Many companies claim to produce their vitamins from plant sources, but they do not have the evidence to back up their claims. The manufacturing process, which uses heat, actually depletes the bioavailability of the end product.
In the 1930’s, vitamins came from plant sources…vegetables and fruit concentrates. In the early 1940s, some companies began to produce the synthetic forms of vitamins. By 2o02, 95% of the vitamins sold in the US were synthetic and fractionated. Several studies done in the 1990s show that these vitamins end up doing more harm, rather than good. One study, funded by Big Pharma, and published in the NEJM in 1996, showed that of the 18000 smokers and asbestos worker that were given synthetic vitamin A and beta-carotene, there was a 46% increase in lung cancer mortality, and a 26% increase in CVD mortality. The study was shut down, because the group given the synthetic vitamins was faring much worse than the placebo group.
Another study that was published in the NEJM with 22,000 pregnant women in 1995 showed that those taking the synthetic vitamin A had a 400% increase in birth defects. A similar meta-analytic study of 47 clinical trials showed that in the administration of synthetic vitamins, mortality rates increased fairly dramatically. These findings do not apply to natural vitamins that are plant based. There is a consumer awareness guide to help consumers to make intelligent decisions about our choices of vitamins. For vitamin A, the natural sources are fish oils and vegetables. Synthetic vitamins have “ate” and other artificial designations on the end of the name, such as acetate, palmitate etc. For vitamin B, the natural source is nutritional yeast. Vitamin C is a complex, and ascorbic acid constitutes only 5% of the complex. The antioxidant “wrapper” in the vitamin C complex (C1, C2, C3) such as Rutin, the bioflavonoids, the K J and P factors, tyrosinase, ascorbinogen… all are missing from synthetic vitamins!
Over 90% of the synthetic vitamin C on the market is made by a drug company in New Jersey using corn starch and sulfuric acid! Scurvy is cured by the vitamin C complex, but is not cured by the synthetic form of vitamin C, which is ascorbic acid. Vitamin E in the natural form or d-alpha tocopherol (vs. the artificial dl-alphatocopherol) should be obtained naturally from vegetables and wheat germ oil. Vitamin A should come from alfalfa and spinach and Kale. Natural Beta carotene needs to be metabolized in our bodies from sweet potatoes, carrots, kale, and spinach. Artificial beta carotene comes from a chemical process that uses benzene, and actually does harm to the body! Currently in the US, 94% of soy and 88 % of corn is now GMO, and those are not natural sources. The bottom line: Know your vitamins, and make sure they are plant-based before your take them!
