Scary Supplements | The Neem Tree

THE SCARY TRUTH ABOUT THE SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY

Vitamins and minerals are required for almost every function of the body.

They are vital for energy and they protect you from premature ageing and degenerative diseases. They are essential for human health as the human body is unable to manufacture most of them. Each of these naturally occurring organic compounds performs a specific vital function and is required by the body for disease prevention and good health. Nutrient needs should be met primarily through consuming foods as supplements alone cannot replace a healthful diet.

Why do we need supplements?

In a perfect world, we would get all the nutrients we need from the foods we eat. Unfortunately, many of us don’t even come close. Most people do not meet their daily requirements for essential vitamins and minerals. That’s primarily because we eat a lot of processed foods instead of getting our full servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

While eating real foods more often will help, many of them can be less nutritious than they should be thanks to depleted soils, farming and fertilization practices, the extended time it takes for our food to make it from farm to plate, and if we cook them rather than eating them in their raw form.

Once upon a time, the soils that grew our food crops, naturally contained the nutrients needed by the human body. These nutrients were stripped from the soil by poor farming practices and extensive use of pesticides and synthetic chemicals. Consider what happens when food grown in these anaemic soils is then processed by the large food-processing corporations and larded with synthetic chemical preservatives, colourings, taste enhancers and other additives.

Most foods used to be eaten fresh soon after harvesting. A fruit or vegetable that is allowed to naturally ripen on the tree has all the vitamins and minerals, but that is not the case today. Fruit is plucked while it is still unripe and transported to various far off places, put in cold storage and ripened by artificial means. Storing also drastically reduces its nutritional value. These foods are refined and processed and then subjected to high heat during cooking, which reduces nutrient levels still further, leaving very little of any nutritional value for absorption by the human body.

Most of us today are suffering from certain dangerous diet deficiencies, which cannot be remedied, until the depleted soils are brought into proper mineral balance. With all this evidence that our diets alone are no longer sufficient to give us the vitamins and minerals our bodies need, how can we afford not to use supplementation to help make up the diet deficit? Your health and the well-being of those you love, may hinge on your answer to this question.

If you are one of those people who believes that since you eat a balanced diet, you will never really need to consume supplements to maintain your health, this article may compel you to think otherwise.

All Diseases Are A Result of Deficiencies

Almost each and every disease can be linked to a deficiency. Lack of vitamin C causes infections, cold and flu, Lack of B12 and magnesium results in nerve and muscle problems, lack of vitamin D and calcium leads to brittle bones, lack of vitamin E causes circulatory problems and heart ailments, lack of probiotics result in stomach issues, lack of vitamin A causes vision problems, lack of omega 3 and healthy fats cause memory loss.

The list is endless!

It is an established fact that B complex and C could alleviate stress, vitamin E increases endurance and stamina, B12 could eliminate fatigue, and magnesium relaxes you and calms you down. After embarking on the most elementary vitamin regimens and experimenting it on myself, I was not only convinced. I was converted. There's a big difference between the amount required to prevent deficiencies (RDA), and the amount of each vitamin and mineral required for optimal health. The amount should ideally be much more than the RDA.

There is no doubt in my mind that each and every individual including children need vitamins and minerals in the form of supplements along with a probiotic. This requirement is not to be confused with synthetic supplements that have flooded the market. We are talking about Naturally occurring vitamins that are derived either from food sources or that exist in nature.

Synthetic versus Naturally Occurring

Let’s be clear. While advocating consuming supplements we are talking exclusively about pure, naturally occurring vitamins and minerals, that are derived solely from food sources such as fruits, vegetables, or botanicals. Majority of brands use synthetic ingredients.

Be aware that more than 90% of the vitamins sold throughout the world are synthetics, created in laboratories, owned or controlled by pharmaceutical companies. Synthetic vitamins look similar at the molecular level to natural vitamins. A photo or a plastic model of a plant may look like a plant, but it is not. The difference between a real, living vitamin and a dead chemical compound is the difference between “life and death.” Synthetics are cheaper to produce, source their raw material from china and thus carry a much higher profit margin. It is that simple.

Natural nutrients are absorbed readily because we are biologically programmed to recognise the naturally occurring compounds as genuine nutrients. The correct category of vitamin supplements is derived from naturally occurring full-spectrum food and plant sources. No high-heat, freezing, artificial additives or chemical techniques are used in this natural process. By contrast, synthetics can start in a laboratory with corn sugar or coal tar as a base to create the synthetic nutrients. Under current law, a vitamin marketed as natural only has to contain 10 percent of genuinely natural, plant-derived ingredients-the other 90 percent of ingredients can be synthetic.

The differences between vitamins extracted from food and those manufactured by chemical processes is vast. Tests on natural versus synthetic vitamins have revealed that synthetic vitamins are less bioavailable than natural vitamins. If the body can easily digest and absorb nutrients from a food, they are said to be bioavailable.

Every aspect of the vitamin and food industry, from food fortification to vitamin manufacturing to sales and labelling, has been manipulated by a few dozen chemical and pharmaceutical corporations that control the synthetic side of this industry. The more someone consumes fortified foods, the more potential for toxicity exists.

Our grocery food industry items are full of "fortification" and "enrichment" with synthetic nutrients dominating our supermarket shelves. The U.S. government required that all milk sold commercially contain this fortification. This step was one of the first global governmental interventions injecting synthetics into a nation's food supply. Soon iodine was being added to salt, formalin to milk, synthetic vitamins A and D to margarine, and synthetic vitamins B1, B2, folic acid and niacin to flours, breads and cereals.

Originally, the term enrichment was used to refer to the replenishing of nutrients lost during food processing. Later the term fortification came about to include nutrients being added that are not even naturally present in the food. This is absurd.

During the making of refined flour breads and cereals, vitamins and minerals are stripped away during bleaching and processing. First the nutrient value is lost during extensive processing of food. Later it is enriched by adding and spraying synthetic vitamins. Puffed and flaked whole cereals are fortified at a later stage by a spray, dust, or infusion process. Heat-labile vitamins, such as thiamin, are usually sprayed onto toasted cereals as they leave the oven.

Breakfast cereal is one of the most egregious examples of this, because you're essentially eating a multivitamin. They have vitamins incorporated into the dough or some of them are actually sprayed on it. It really is just like dust on top of your otherwise nutritionally vapid corn flake, and they call it a healthy start to your day. Everyone who has in the past eaten sugar, white flour, refined products, or canned/packaged food, has some deficiency disease.

Vitamin makers do not want the public to know that they're spiking most of their supplements with synthetic vitamins and minerals by claiming that their supplements are natural. Products with the “natural” labelling are not required by law to contain only natural ingredients. In fact “natural” is the most deceptive, misunderstood and misused word in the food industry and its used to confuse and fool buyers. There is nothing natural about it.

Avoid mainstream supplement brands. They’re often owned by large pharmaceutical companies and you can bet that they don’t have your best interest in mind. You need to be vigilant and knowledgeable enough to sort out the good from the bad. Ironically, your health and your savings account is at stake.

A few examples of natural versus synthetic

There are 9 different types of Vitamin E, namely tocopherols and tocotrienols. Natural Vitamin E is derived from vegetable oils, Synthetic vitamin E is produced from petrochemicals. You can identify synthetic Vitamin E by looking on the product’s list of ingredients. When looking for a NATURAL form of Vitamin E, always select one that is “d” (not “dl”) and the word tocopherol ends with “ol ” (not “ yl ”). Natural will be listed as d alpha-tocopherol, while synthetic will be dl alpha-tocopherol or tocopheryl. You ideally need both tocopherols and tocotrienols.

Folic acid is the synthetic version of iron. The natural one is methyl folate. Cyanocobalamin is the synthetic B-12 whereas methyl cyanocobalamin is the natural form. Naturally occurring beta carotene, not retinol, is the real vitamin A. Synthetic vitamin A (synthetic beta-carotene) had no antioxidant effect whatsoever.

What do you get if you purchase a synthesised bottle of vitamin C? You are buying ascorbic acid, a small part of vitamin C, manufactured from refined corn sugar. Did you know that 90 percent of the vitamin C manufactured in the world today is synthetic, and nearly all of that comes from China?”

Numerous vitamin brands are processed at high temperatures and contain petroleum-derived chemical solvents such as ethyl cellulose, or have been coated with methylene chloride, a carcinogen. Synthetic vitamins mimic benefits in some instances, but have an overall negative net effect on your health.

Ingredients used during preparation

Binders are used to bind the components within the tablets together and increase the hardness of the tablet.

Disintegrants are added to many supplements to aid in the disintegration of the tablet within the gastrointestinal tract.

Lubricants aid in the release of tablets from molds and dyes, to make the manufacturing process smoother.

Flavoring agents: Sweeteners commonly found in supplements are sucrose, fructose, maltodextrin, sorbitol, and maltose.

Coloring agents are generally added for marketing purposes, specifically to improve the appearance of a supplement. Two artificial colourings to beware of are Red 40 and Yellow 5, but equal vigilance should be paid to the artificial sweeteners used in children's vitamins, such as aspartame and saccharin, along with preservatives like BHA, BHT, and TBHG.”

Coating materials are used to increase shelf life, protect from moisture, and mask unpleasant odours and flavors. Coating also aids in swallowing a tablet and helps to prevent tablets from breaking apart.

Preservatives. Some companies use natural preservatives such as natural vitamin C or E.

Others may use synthetic. Fillers are used to increase the volume of material in a tablet or capsule to create standard-size tablets.

Vitamins do not work in Isolation!

Vitamins and Minerals do not work in isolation. What this means is that for every nutrient to be absorbed, it requires other mineral to help and aid in absorption.

Isolated, manmade chemical supplements do not provide the nutrition the body requires. For example when you take a calcium or iron supplement you do not benefit at times as calcium requires vitamin D and magnesium for absorption and iron requires vitamin C. This flawed methodology and fixation on isolating nutrients and making synthetic versions of them is the main reason why supplements industry is seen with suspicion by some.

Meanwhile, the only way we can guarantee getting adequate nutrients is through food supplementation with naturally occurring, non-synthetic vitamins and nutrients, preferably from organic farms that focus on soil conservation.

Most of the direct marketing companies selling supplements get their raw ingredients from the same bulk wholesalers and merely repackage them into brand-name products. These synthetic products are portrayed as being from "whole foods" or "food source" or something similar. If you want truly natural vitamins, then find those vitamin products that state on their label that their vitamin or mineral or nutrient potencies come from "Naturally Occurring Food Sources" and mention on their label which exact foods those sources are. Products that carry the NOS (Naturally Occurring Standard) logo are safe and guaranteed to have vitamin potencies that only come from real, whole foods.

Mainstream supplement marketing companies continue to promote the myth among consumers that nutrients can be isolated individually from one another and synthesized in a laboratory to give us the same health benefits as nutrients found working together in organic fruits and vegetables. The market is flooded with stuff that is mostly synthetic. This is why I only trust a select few supplement and vitamin brands that have proven their purity, quality, safety, and bioavailability.

A word of caution about protein powders

In the recent years protein powders had a popularity boom. Choosing a whey protein powder now requires the skill of a wine connoisseur. A high number of new IBS, Ulcerative Colitis, leaky gut and crohns cases have come about with people who are health nuts and gym freaks. It’s pretty often that people have complained of upset stomach or having to go to the bathroom, having constipation or watery stools with these Creatine pre workout and commercial whey powders. Majority of these individuals eat healthy, no soda or junk still their intestines are inflamed. It’s weird how most people don’t see these associations either with bad ingredients in whey.

Acesulfame K (potassium), Corn syrup, Soy lecithin, Carrageenan, Crystalline fructose, Sucralose, Controversial artificial sweeteners including Aspartame, preservatives (Benzoic Acid), Artificial flavours and colours, (FD&C Yellow 5, FD&C Blue 1, and FD&C Red 40) are commonly found in tested protein supplements. These powders contains cheap forms of vitamins and minerals including magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, folic acid and cyanocobalamin and synthetic vitamin E (dl-alpha-tocopherol).

Over the past decade there has been an epidemic of lifestyle diseases. More and more people are suffering from illnesses for which regular medication is required. Excess of animal protein consumption, including milk and dairy has been linked to the lifestyle diseases.

All our protein requirements are easily met if we consume a whole food plant based diet. To understand this one has to read “ The China Study”, the longest research on nutrition ever conducted. This research was funded by the US and Chinese government.

Which Vitamins and Minerals Do I Need? Choosing the Best Supplements to Take

Deciding which vitamins and minerals you should take to supplement your diet, and how much of each you should take, depends on a lot of things. Your nutritional need depends on your age, lifestyle, stress levels, quality of your diet and the diseases you are suffering for. Almost all diseases are due to nutritional deficiency

The RDA limit is the minimum that is required by a healthy individual in order to avoid sickness. It is deliberately kept low. If you are unwell, you will definitely need many times the RDA limit. It has been observed that majority of people are severely deficient in Vitamin A , E , C, D, B Vitamins, Calcium, Magneisum, Folate, Zinc and selenium besides numerous micronutrients. Additionally a good probiotic supplement with minimum 50 billion CFUs and at least 10 to 15 strains is advised for proper digestion.

You hopefully now realize that the most important healing element in your body is energy. Therefore, the most important healing nutrients are those that promote optimal energy levels. Cells with abundant energy are free of disease. Make your cells energetic and you will increase your chances of living a long life.

A functional deficiency of a nutrient is an intake of a nutrient lower than the amount needed to promote optimal health. Functional deficiency is a much more advanced way of looking at nutrient needs. You may have enough vitamin C to avoid its deficiency disease scurvy, but if you do not have enough C to prevent colds, reduce risk of heart disease and neutralize carcinogens, you have a functional deficiency of vitamin C. When it comes to nutrients, merely avoiding deficiency diseases is passé, because the amount that prevents deficiency will not promote optimal health.

Let’s think of it in terms of money. You could survive on 10 lakh rupees a year, but you could live more fully and freely on 50 lakh rupees annually. You would have a functional deficiency of money at the lower level. Your essentials would be met, but optimal living—from an economic standpoint—would elude you. You would not have an outright deficiency of money, but you would be far from having enough to enjoy life to the fullest.

So it is with nutrients. People are marginal in their consumption of Iron, vitamin E, magnesium, zinc, chromium, and selenium, and for other nutrients. We barely consume enough to cover our basic needs. But even when we eat a very healthy diet, the amount of nutrients in food does not promote optimal health and longevity. The real benefits of nutrients come at the optimal level of intake. If we really want to thrive, stay slim, and be healthy, then we will have to look at more than what food supplies, and look beyond merely avoiding deficiency. So when it comes to promoting weight loss, we must make sure that we have optimal—not merely adequate—levels of carnitine.

B Complex

This family of vitamins is well known for its ability to help the body turn food into energy. Many people find that 100 to 150 mg of B complex helps maximize energy. I have seen clinically that it often takes at least 100 mg of B complex vitamins to have a noticeable effect on energy levels, particularly in people over forty. A vitamin B complex will typically have of B1, B2, niacinamide, pantothenic acid, and B6. B12 must also be additionally supplemented with a high dose.

The Cell-Energizing Superstars

Carnitine

Acetyl-L-Carnitine

CoQ10

The B complex vitamins

Magnesium

Lipoic acid

Flaxseed oil

Use These Tips to Choose Quality Supplements!

When choosing dietary supplements to take every day, you want to know that you’re getting exactly what you expect – nothing more and nothing less. The quality of ingredients in supplements matter, as does where they come from and how they are manufactured. Here are a few things you should check for.

What to Look for in a Supplement

Good Manufacturing Seals: Look for seals of approval from respected, third-party organizations, which indicate that the product has been tested for quality and purity by someone other than the manufacturer.
Transparency in Labeling: Supplement labels should list all ingredients, both active and inactive. Avoid products from manufacturers that hide the ingredients in their proprietary blends. Choose supplements which list the food source from which they are extracted.
Quality of Ingredients & Sourcing: Low-quality nutrients are poorly absorbed. Avoid Vitamins with Synthetic ingredients as mentioned above. They should be either extracted from food or must exist in nature. Do some research and look for sourcing information, high-quality ingredients that are minimally processed, and steer clear of artificial or unnecessary additives. Also, look for ingredients and products with bioavailability information. Bioavailability indicates that an ingredient or product is effectively absorbed and utilized by your body, and clinical studies and product tests help ensure that products and ingredients work with the body as they are intended to.
Reputation & Recommendations: Check customer reviews and do your research to determine a supplement’s uses and benefits before deciding if it’s right for you. It’s a good idea to have a health care practitioner and a nutrition expert review your dietary supplement.

Conclusion :

Ideally you must try to fulfil all your nutritional needs by consuming nutrient dense foods and take supplements only if required. Your first priority should be to get everything from food. Consume lots of fruits, salads, nuts and seeds in raw form. Variety and quantity is important. This will help tremendously. If inspite of this you feel tired, fatigued, there is lack of flexibility, have body aches and pains, poor stomach health or you are taking medication for any illness, it is possible that you may have a vitamin or mineral deficiency which requires correction.

I have been experimenting with supplements for the past 20 years, researching and studying their health impact. While some vitamin and mineral brands offer great benefit, majority of others are toxic as they adversely impact our health. I have yet to come across any good supplement brand in India ( making an entire range of supplements) that fulfils all the requirements as mentioned above.

The catch is to buy the right kind of supplement. There is lot of fraudulent stuff out there, so make sure you keep your sherlock Holmes hat on when shopping.