Not All Vitamins Are Created Equal

Why Some Doctors Tell You Not to Take Your Vitamins

Back in my not-so-healthy days, I remember pausing in the grocery store vitamin aisle to grab a bottle of Centrum multivitamins. My thought process at the time was, I’m not doing anything else good for myself, so I probably ought to be taking a multivitamin. Surely this is better than nothing. And I swallowed every one of those hard, Day-Glo orange pills.

Years later, I heard about doctors finding whole, entire vitamin pills that were months old inside of a person’s intestines during surgery. I don’t know if this is just urban legend (I wasn’t able to find corroborating evidence on the internet), but one thing is fact: most of the “synthetic isolates,” which are the common drug store variety of vitamin, are a waste of money.

I was put in mind of the vitamin issue today in an e-mail from Dr. Mercola. If you haven’t heard of him, he’s a licensed physician and surgeon I consider to be an authority on alternative health and medicine. While his blog titles often sound sensational, they are always backed up by hard facts and science. His is one of my favorite blogs.

I’d like to share a few of his reasons for shunning cheap isolates and instead making sure you’re getting an absorbable, whole food vitamin. Dr. Mercola defines isolated vitamins as “partial vitamins combined with other chemicals. They’re a low-end alternative to whole, real complete food.”

He says there are four problems with synthetic vitamins…

1. Nature intended for you to consume food in WHOLE form because all the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and enzymes are together in one package. They work synergistically to give your body the nutrition it requires for optimal health.
2. Your body only absorbs a small percentage of an isolate form of vitamins and minerals—and it utilizes even less. You get the best bioavailability in whole food form.
3. Synthetic vitamins often give you massive quantities of some nutrients (usually the most inexpensive ones) and insufficient quantities of others, not balance.
4. You can experience side effects of synthetic isolates from the additives and the unnatural state of the synthetic supplement.

But should we avoid all vitamins all the time? It’s difficult to get enough nutrients from the food we eat, mainly because we don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables and when we do they have often traveled long distances and lost a good portion of their nutrition—not to mention soil depletion of minerals from over farming and pesticide use. So here are some viable Day-Glo vitamin alternatives:

• Juice Plus. A 100% whole food vitamin made only from organic fruits and veggies and with all sugar and salt removed. I have tried this vitamin myself and love it! If you can afford the $40/month subscription, it is truly worth it.
• MegaFood One Daily. I currently take these vitamins, which I get at Whole Foods, and they are excellent. They have a multivitamin + probiotic that works well and cuts back on having to buy and take two pills.
• Natural News recommends Garden of Life multi. I haven’t tried these but I’ve heard about them and they seem to be high quality.
• Dr. Mercola also has his own Whole Food Multivitamin. Prices vary on his website.

Essentially, most “whole food” vitamins are your best bet for maximum nutrition. You don’t have to pay through the roof, but you also don’t want to get the bottom shelf brand; most of the time you are getting what you pay for.

And don’t forget to eat your dark leafy greens, which are the most nutrient-dense vegetable! Here’s another of my favorite greens recipes:

Multicolored Vegetable Saute

• 1 small shallot, diced
• 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup chicken broth (optional)
• 2-3 organic carrots, diced diagonally
• 1 cup summer squash, sliced
• 2 cups lacinto kale (approx half a bunch)
• 2 cups red kale (approx half a bunch)
• 1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence
• 2 tsp ground coriander seed
• 1 tsp salt

Saute shallot in olive oil on medium heat for two minutes. Add carrots and saute for three minutes, covered, then add summer squash and saute another three minutes. Add more olive oil, chicken broth, or water to help the veggies cook and keep them from sticking to the pan. Finally, add kale and stir frequently for another 2-3 minutes until lightly cooked. Sprinkle with Herbes de Provence, coriander, and salt. Serves 4.