As a practicing Naturopath, the most frequent complaint I come across is tiredness, fatigue, lack of energy and flat out exhaustion. Not too long after this usually follows the question; ‘What’s the best multi vitamin to take? Finding the words to answer this question without offending, disappointing or straight out confusing my clients was often difficult, because in my opinion, there really is no such thing as a ‘Good’ Multi-vitamin tablet. And this is why.
Synthetic Vs Natural
As a general rule, most people have an understanding that if its ‘Natural’ its good for us, the problem is when Vitamins are synthetically produced in a laboratory, they become the opposite, ‘un-natural’. Whole foods including juiced, powdered and gel forms are those which have a naturally occurring content of vitamins, mineral, antioxidants and phyto-chemicals (natural plant derived substances which have disease preventative and antioxidant qualities). Most supplements such a ‘Multi-vitamin’ tablet formula’s are made up of vitamins and minerals which have been synthetically produced then compounded into a tablet and then following all the processing, inclusion of additives, stabilizers, colours, fillers and binders, very rarely present with anything even close to the nutritional content of a whole food product. Sadly, mass production of these products which at once I’m sure were created to ‘assist those in maintaining a healthy lifestyle’ are now controlled largely by pharmaceutical companies who according to an Organization known as ‘Food Kills’ says the following; They are no longer the “nutritional supplements” they once were but are, more accurately, “nutraceuticals”. And once again the drug companies, who realized some years ago that the best way to handle the threat of people getting better through real nutrition was to quietly take over the nutrition business, are profiting from your deception. www.foodkills.org
In my opinion, this is one instance where out technological advances have over ridden the value of real, wholesome basic nutrition to the detriment of the health of the human race. It really is and should be a simple as……’keeping it simple’ just eat and drink real food products!
Vitamins, minerals and antioxidants can only be of a real benefit to us when they are consumed in their whole food state. In fact when any vitamin, mineral or antioxidant is consumed from a source other then its food/plant derivative the health claims are no longer supported and are potentially harmful when taken at large doses!
A real ‘natural’ antioxidant or vitamin, like those found in the fruits and berries of the MonaVie products have a far more profound, beneficial reaction within the body and are not required in the same large quantities often recommended on the back of the bottles of those ‘synthetically produced and oh so common Multi-vitamin supplements we see lining the stores of Supermarkets, Chemists and Health food stores.
The basic reason for this is that vitamins and antioxidants are not singular molecular compounds, they work synergistically with each of the hundreds of others, under specific biological conditions in order to exert their therapeutic health benefits. This includes the presence of co-factors, the right environment; pH levels, hydration and temperature that of which occur if consumed in its natural state i.e. an Acai berry.
Not quite making sense? Well let’s look at Vitamin C as an example. The most common available form in the retail industry comes in the form of Ascorbic acid, but in actual fact, ascorbic acid is just one component of natural vitamin C, which actually consists of a group of compounds, referred to as co-factors; rutin, bioflavonoid, Factor K, Factor J, Factor P, Tyrosinase, Ascorbinogen and other components.
When our body is treated with Vitamin C from the berries found in our morning MonaVie shot, we receive all the immune boosting, adrenal supporting, collagen strengthening, cancer protective and anti aging properties Vitamin C is responsible for. When we take a huge dose of Ascorbic acid in the form of a tablet, it simply can not carry out all the wonderful effects to the same extent, which natural Vitamin C does, as it is lacking those crucial co-factors. Not only this, due to the synthetic form of the ascorbic acid, our body is unable to easily recognize the compound and must undergo processing by the digestive tract and liver, generally resulting in about 1% overall absorption.
So by now I hope you’ve got a great big smile on your face, because you’ve realized that the only way to obtain antioxidants in your diet is by consuming them as real food products; fresh, juiced, dried or even powdered, as long as it’s the whole ‘super food,’ you are fueling your body towards its highest potential………MonaVie I can “hear” you thinking…….
But wait, there’s just one last thing. Unfortunately even the food industry have found a way to appear more attractive, by boasting the fortification of antioxidants in certain foods. You only need to wander through the supermarket isles for a minute or two to see it. Milk with added Calcium, bread fortified with omega 3 fatty acids and shamefully the worst offenders of them all are the cereal companies. That ‘crunchy chocolate milkshake’ with added B vitamins, zinc, folate and iron are really only adding more value to the packaging than benefiting your health. Like no different to our synthetically produced supplements, a food which has had ‘synthetic’ vitamins pumped into it, really doesn’t offer anymore nutritional value either.
So to all you ‘MonaVie’ junkies, a pat on the back, you really are protecting your health with the best fighter against free radicals and fueling your bodies with the right nutrients to keep you on top of your game each day. So Cheers to Super foods, and cheers to MonaVie, lets juice to that!
Stacey
Bhs. Nut. Med.
Adv. Dip of Nat
