Vitamin Website Evaluations

Without some critical guidance, it is easy to be led astray by "rational sounding" believable websites. This article critiques some of these websites to give you an idea of the problem. Stop here and Read this website on how to choose a multiple vitamin and then check out the below detailed analysis that shows why it is seriously factually illiterate and will not make you "bullet-proof" against vitamin supplement hype.

"HOW DOES THE SUPPLEMENT DISSOLVE IN THE STOMACH?"     For the most part, this is factual about tablets, capsules and liquids. But, there are some tablets that say "quick release" or "rapid release" or "rapid dissolving" tablets that are just as good as capsules, sometimes better. Liquids suffer from a lack of tests to completely show absorption advantages over the other two for all nutrients. article  Ben-pan bullets should never be used, especially time-release tablets.

Now about the cement thing in tablets. Tablet manufacturers call this a binding agent. Binding agents also help the tablet to break apart when moisture hits it. Thus this is why most good companies put a anti-moisture pack in bottles. Certain natural and synthetic polymers and sugars are commonly used as binding agents. Since starches are a good binding agent and help tablets break apart faster, the Industry did a great disservice when starch got a bad rap and it was taken out of all supplements so they could mention "no starch" on labels as a positive health mantra. The substitutes was not as healthy or as good at breaking apart the tablets.

Read more: Different Granulating Binding Agents | eHow.com    There are better binding agents. this needs more research.

HOW WELL ARE THE VITAMINS AND MINERALS ABSORBED?

Fact is - studies have shown individual vitamin isolates in supplements are about 10% absorbed.  REAL FACT: At lower intake amounts, like 2.5mg of vitamin B1, the absorption is at 30%, at 5 mg it goes down to about 20%, and at 20 mg it goes down to less than 10%. Other nutrients like calcium range from 20-35% for both food and supplements, with variations adjusted by needs determined from body levels, plus vitamin D amounts. 

Compare this to what is said on this website copied below that vitamins directly from a fresh plant source are 77% to 93% absorbed.

Minerals in a supplement are even worse - 1% to 5%. But, from a plant source like raw broccoli, the minerals are 63% to 78% absorbable."  Well, certain foods and supplements can vary from 5-90%.

The reason for this difference is, in nature, each vitamin and mineral molecule is attached to a protein molecule.

Dr. Gunter Blobel, in 1999, received a Nobel Prize for proving this attached protein molecule acted as a "chaperone". It's the chaperone that tells the body that the vitamin or mineral is food, not just another chemical. He discovered this was the KEY to getting the vitamin or mineral into the blood-stream - and, most importantly, into the cells.

Vitamins in supplements are the very basic isolated form of each vitamin - completely stripped of any proteins. Like a Christmas tree with all the limbs cut off.

That's why vitamin supplements MUST be taken with meals - unless stated otherwise on the label.

In the digestion process, only about 10% of the vitamin and mineral molecules, with the aid of enzymes, will attach to protein molecules in your food. This allows them to be absorbed and used by the cells. Without these protein chaperones, the body sees the vitamin isolates as foreign chemicals. The body actually will absorb some of these too, but they're quickly filtered out through the kidneys. TRUE- But that ony 10% attach to a protein chaperone is probably only deducted from test tube research and not from in body studies. What is important to remember here first is that during digestion the vitamin is isolated and then it gets attached to a protein chaperone once it is absorbed into the body.

Have you noticed a bright yellow urine soon after taking a vitamin supplement? Excess riboflavin causes the yellow color and it shows the body is getting rid of what it feels are foreign chemicals. THE TRUTH - The body is only capable of handling a small dosage before it begins spilling the excess into the urine of either isolated or combined vitamins. With true naturally built vitamins, it is impossible under normal conditions to eat that much food to reach the spill over amount. But, since "whole food" combined vitamins will turn urine yellow at a certain dosage, they can correctly be viewed as not all natural.

HERE ARE 5 TIPS FOR CHOOSING A SUPPLEMENT THAT'S RIGHT FOR YOU!

• Does the supplement provide sufficient quantities of each vitamin? For example - 50mg. to 100mg. of the B vitamins, 500mg. of vitamin C, 1000mg. of calcium. Remember, 100mg. of a B vitamin is needed to provide your body with about 10mg. of actual, useable nutrition. This is usually plenty. Use the 10% rule to know exactly what you're getting. The one or two per day supplements only start with about 3mg. or less of the B vitamins. 10% of this amount is like taking nothing at all.
• Look for the USP (United States Pharmacopoeia) or BP (British Pharmacopoeia) designation on the label. This means that the vitamin isolates are the highest quality you can buy, and are the most easily dissolved in the digestion process. Each vitamin that is USP or BP will have those initials next to that vitamin. TRUTH - USP unfortunately does not necessarily always equate to highest quality. It does represent a certain high standard and a nutrient supplier than is registered with the USP. It is possible for non USP labelled nutrients to actually be higher quality, or exhibit greater purity than USP labels. As an example, to be USP, a certain nutrient might have to be 98% pure, but it is also possible to find nutirents 99 to 99.9% pure, just not from a registered supplier.
• Look for "chelate" or "chelated" in relation to the minerals. This means the minerals are attached to protein before they are added to the supplement. This increases absorption both in the bloodstream and cells by an amazing 400% to 800%. TRUTH - the term chelate simple means a mineral is combined with something, like a claw clamping on. Almost all minerals are found combined with an acid or a protein. So it must say "protein chelated" to refer to combined with a protein. While greater absorption percentages can be achieved, this process can overwhelm nature's plan to limit certain mineral absorption amounts, like toxic minerals. Nature wants a balance between minerals and looks to maintain certain ratios. A variety of foods usually aids this but you can see how quickly unwise supplemet amounts and chelating techniques could interfere.
• Look for enzymes in the formulation. These are, among other things, essential for attaching protein molecules to the vitamins in digestion. Cooking food destroys these enzymes. ENZYMES are complex structures of vitamins,  minerals, and proteins that usually are destroyed in the stomach during digestion and need to be built in the body. 
• Look for a supplement that has a "food base". A food base is concentrated plant material to which the vitamins and minerals are added. These will contain the enzymes and nutrients to greatly boost the absorption and utilization of the vitamins and minerals. This makes a GREAT supplement package. But it does make them more bulky. Expect larger tablets, and more quantity needed per day. TRUTH - the amount of food base is really small compared to a spoonful of regular food taken in during a meal. The food at meals supplies 100's of more nutrients that a food base in a supplement. And if some are raw, much greater quantities of live enzymes, but it is the other phyto nutrients that add the most value from foods.