Vitamins are defined as “a group of organic substances essential in small quantities to normal metabolism, found in minute amounts in natural food stuffs or sometimes produced synthetically: deficiencies of vitamins produce specific disorders,” but how do you choose a good quality vitamin from the copious amount available, within a wide price range.
The first step is to research a company that interests you. It is a good idea to find out what company owns the brand name and is it a company you want to support. Some vitamin companies are owned by pharmaceutical corporations and therefor it is more likely that they will use synthetic isolates, which are isolated manmade chemicals rather than whole food sources to comprise their vitamin products. Naturally humans do not have a deficiency in isolated chemicals therefore choosing a synthetic product will not help to balance nutrient deficiency.
Another area of concern in price, vitamins come in a wide range of prices, and depending on how deep your pockets are some will be more affordable than others. Generally speaking when it comes to vitamins the more you spend the better the product. Many cheap vitamins are available at discount stores and grocery stores however they could do more harm than good if they are not manufactured ethically. Purchasing cheap synthetic vitamins most commonly include toxic byproducts and fillers such as lubricants, preservatives, colorings, coatings, suspending agents, compression aids, flavors, printing inks and glazes. Talc, for example is well-known filler that is included in the manufacturing process of many cheap synthetic vitamins to make the ingredients flow quickly into the encapsulating machine. It is the addition of fillers that allow a company to make a cheaper product to manufacture.
In the supplement industry fillers are known as excipients, according to the International Pharmaceutical Council of the America “Excipients are substances other than the pharmacologically active ingredients which are included in the manufacturing process or are contained in a finished product. In many products, excipients make up the bulk of the total dosage form.” Be sure to read the label and avoid ingredients such as magnesium stearate, stearic acid, natural flavors, sodium benzoate, silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide and potassium sorbate. Research has shown the over 90% of commercial vitamins contain magnesium stearates, or stearic acid. Stearates have been shown to suppress the immune system and natural flavors can indicate anything from MSG to dead bugs. Sodium benzoate is a common preservative that is used in liquid vitamins, it destroys the live enzymes in the product to produce a longer shelf live, therefore when you purchase a vitamin with sodium benzoate all you are receiving is sodium benzoate because all of the nutrients have been killed off. To avoid all excipients ask the manufacture for full label disclosure listing every compound used to produce each product, and eliminate those supplements that have potentially harmful additives.
Make sure to choose an organic product. Many vitamins have been irradiated, fumigated and contaminated with pesticide residues. Some sources indicate that up to 70% of raw materials that are imported to the US are irradiated. Irradiation is a process similar to microwaving, so if you would not use a microwave on your food, you probably would not want to choose a vitamin that has been irradiated because the toxic radiation produce byproducts that ruins in the supplement.
Choose a product that contains all food ingredients. Even if the label touts the product as “natural” it does not mean it is free of chemicals. Some companies will include food based on the label to mislead consumer but they are chemical isolates mixed with a small amount of foods.
References
Adkins, S. (n.d.). Toxic Ingredients in Nutritional Supplements? The Starfire Team. Retrieved July 17, 2012, from http://www.kisswebpage.com/preservatives/
Dictionary.com (n.d.). Vitamin. Dictionary.com. Retrieved July 17, 2012, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/vitamin?s=t
Healthy Vitamins Rx (n.d.). Toxic Ingredients Widespread in Your Vitamins & Supplements. Healthy Vitamins Rx. Retrieved July 13, 2012, from http://healthy-vitamins-rx.com/html/vitamins-toxic-ingredients.html
