Vitamins, Vitamins, Vitamins.
Everyone wants to take a healthy natural supplement for every ache, ailment, or deficiency they have. People are even substituting supplements for pharmaceuticals, using them for preventative health, anti-aging etc.
PERSONALLY I LOVE SUPPLEMENTS! (but I am biased).
Supplements, as I will call them (referring to vitamins, minerals, nutraceuticals, etc) are EXTREMELY understudied for the most part, and the general public has succumb to shear MARKETING.
However, for each of our clients we have a team of Pharmacists, MDs, Nutritionists etc that get involved in figuring out each clients specific needs.
WHY this is important, EVERY person has a different lifestyle, genetic makeup, allergies, medical history, etc, so taking a specific Vitamin that is OTC (Over The Counter) may not be right for YOU, regardless of the claims it makes.
In my 7 years of studying supplements, I’ve come to realize that most people DO NOT KNOW what they are consuming.
Most OTC supplements are 1. Full of fillers, additives, preservatives, 2. Contain an INACTIVE form of ingredients, 3. Have NO studies behind them.
Let's break it down....
I always use the simple example of Vitamin B12, because majority of people are familiar with B12 being associated with “energy.”
B12 is known as Cobalamin. Most MultiVitamins will contain some sort of Cobalamin. If you take a look at MAJORITY of MultiVitamins (and I challenge you to do this), the form of B12, if you look at the label, will be “CyanoCobalamin”
Why is this a bad thing?
Without getting too big on biochemistry, to methylate something is to activate it. Most people CAN NOT methylate (activate) CyanoCobalamin when INGESTED. Injectable is different. The form that we can absorb orally is MethylCobalamin (activated form), unfortunately, when you walk into the local drug store, there is not a specialist to inform you that most of what you are consuming will be excreted with no benefit, and some of which contain ingredients that may not agree with you specifically. Supplements you get OTC are trying to cash in on a booming industry which in not regulated as thoroughly as it should.
Supplements should not be taken without consultation of your health care provider. Also, the quality of what you are taking, and the needs you are trying to fulfill should be addressed by a professional. There are many NUTRACEUTICAL companies out there that have high quality, active ingredients, that have studies behind them, and are manufactured in facilities with VERY strict regulations. AND the prices are the SAME!!!!
I went onto Amazon and typed in”Multivitamin”. I took the top three, Centrum, Naturemade, and RainbowLight ranging from $11–14 for a months supply. Check out the nutrition facts and notice “Cyanocobalamin” on ALL of them.
I also included the nutrition fact of the Multivitamin that we use and our cost is $18. With Methylcobalamin.