Freedman Clinic of Chiorpractic

It could be argued that never in history has so much money been spent on the advertising and purchasing of any merchandise, with so little knowledge of the product itself, on the part of either the seller or the buyer, as has been spent on vitamin and mineral supplements.

Billions are being spent annually, and most of the purchasers, wholesalers and retailers do not know the difference between a synthetic vitamin vs. a truly natural vitamin.

What is the difference?

In short, it’s the difference between something that’s living and something that’s dead

That’s a big difference.

Natural Whole Food Vitamins:

On vitamin labels the word “natural” has no specific definition other than the substance exists somewhere on the planet or in outer space. Do not go by this word when choosing a supplement.

The key words to look for are “whole food vitamins”–this means vitamins as they are found in food, untampered with in any way that would change their molecular structure, their biological or biochemical combination, or their actions.

Vitamins in their natural state always exist as living complexes with specific synergistic co-factors, enzymes, phytonutrients and organic mineral-activators, and never as isolated single factors.

A vitamin needs all of its synergists to function.

Examples:

Vitamin C as found in food is a complex containing many different components including:  ascorbic acid, bioflavinoid complexes, organic copper, P factors, J factors, and vitamin K factors.

Most vitamin C sold in stores contains only ascorbic acid.  This portion of the “C” complex comprises only 5% of the entire complex and functions as a protective sheath around the complex much like a banana peel protects a banana.  Ascorbic acid has little to no nutritional value, but is cheap to synthetically produce.

Vitamin E also has many different components including: delta tocopherol, gamma tocopherol, beta tocopherol, alpha tocopherol, xanthine, and the mineral selenium.  Most vitamin E, however, is sold as ”alpha tocopherol.”  Again, merely one small component made in a lab by synthetic means.

Many conventional and non-conventional healthcare practitioners think that there is no difference between natural and synthetic vitamins.  This, of course, is incorrect, and has led to enormous confusion in the nutritional field.

The Fallacy of “High Dosage Equals High Potency”

We, as consumers, have been thoroughly misled about vitamins.  We have been fooled into believing that large quantities of dead chemicals are more nutritionally potent than smaller amounts of high-quality living compounds.

Relatively small amounts of whole-food natural vitamins, with all their naturally-occurring synergists, are far more potent than high doses of synthetic imitation “vitamins.”

The following examples are only a few of hundreds of studies demonstrating the detriments of taking synthetic vitamins:

• Reported on April 14, 1994 in The New England Journal of Medicine was a study in which 29,000 male smokers were given synthetic beta-carotene and synthetic Vitamin E to evaluate the cancer-protective effect of these “vitamins.”  After 10 years, the men taking the synthetic beta-carotene had an 18% higher rate of lung cancer, more heart attacks, and an 8% higher overall death rate.  Those taking synthetic Vitamin E had more strokes.

Food sources of these same nutrients, such as fruits and vegetables, consistently demonstrate protection against cancer, heart disease and stroke.

• On November 23, 1995, the following was reported in The New England Journal of Medicine:  22,748 pregnant women were given synthetic Vitamin A.  After four years the study was halted because of a 240% increase in birth defects in babies of women taking 10,000 IU daily, and a 400% increase in birth defects in babies of women taking 20,000 IU a day.

Women eating natural food sources of Vitamin A showed non increase in birth defects.

• Reported in Reuters health, March 3, 2000 was a study on men who took 500 mg of synthetic Vitamin C daily.  It was found that over an 18-month period, these men had a 250% increase in thickness of the inner lining of the carotid artery.  This thickening is an accurate measurement for the progression of atherosclerosis.  That is, Vitamin C induced atherosclerosis.

Whole-food Vitamin C protects and repairs the inner lining of blood vessels, and is preventative against atherosclerosis.

At Freedman Clinic of Chiropractic, we give our patients Standard Process, the highest quality whole-food supplement line on the market today.  It is only distributed by licensed healthcare practitioners and not sold in stores.  For 75 years Standard Process has been producing nutritional supplements by growing crops on certified organic farmland and using exemplary quality control standards.  These supplements get results. www.standardprocess.com