Nutrients come in families

Taking a "vitamin supplement" is like scheduling a board meeting for just one member.  Or setting a fancy table for a party of twelve, but only one person comes to the party. The manufacturers of most vitamin and mineral supplements focus on a single element that is believed to be the most effective in the body.  They isolate this item and mass-produce it - usually synthetically in a laboratory.  But this practice of fractionating nutrients brings problems. Take "Vitamin A," for example.  Synonymous with beta-carotene, right?  Not quite.  Beta-carotene is one member of a FAMILY of carotenoids, and is NEVER found alone in nature. Its family includes alpha-carotene, cantozantheen, gamma-carotene, omega-carotene, and others. By isolating beta-carotene from its family of carotenoids,  the synergistic benefit of all the nutrients working together is lost. In addition, virtually all beta-carotene supplements on the market are not made from a food at all, but from acetylene gas.  Do you think your body can't tell the difference?  Another example is chromium, a necessary mineral containing the GTF ("glucose tolerance factor") which is a family of factors working together that help protect against diabetes.  But almost all chromium supplements on the market are from laboratory-made chromium picolinate - which does NOT contain the Glucose Tolerance Factor!  So the primary health benefit of chromium is not there.  Why spend the money? Just like Vitamin A and chromium, many natural nutrients are actually complexes that must be totally present in order for us to truly benefit.  These include amino acids, Vitamin B, trace minerals, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E.They are all found in certain whole foods and in concentrated whole food supplements, but not in commercial, laboratory concoctions. As a matter of fact, the B complex is a family of eleven - and counting!  Science is only able to discover what has been there all along.  Attempts to replicate or outdo nature fall miserably short. The LIFE factor is missing. The interesting thing about whole foods and whole food supplements is how much LESS is needed for MORE benefit.  The vitamin A content in A-F Betafood (made from beets and carrots at Standard Process) is 3000 I.U. for 2 tablets.  The label on a synthetic Vitamin A might say 6000 I.U. per serving.  But isolated beta-carotene, even in larger quantities, cannot come close to achieving the health benefit that comes from the whole carotenoid family, even though the amounts seem to be much smaller. A synthetic vitamin is like an image in a mirror.  It looks like the real thing, but doesn't deliver.  That's why in this office we use concentrated whole food supplements, where all the co-factors are present. And, as you know, we constantly recommend a diet of whole, natural, organic foods as the primary source of nutrition. Point to ponder: Good health doesn't just happen.  It has to be worked at! Write us with your feedback at this address, or call us at (562) 861-3896.