Synthetic Vs. Wholesome Part 2

Q1: What is vitamin?
A1: Vitamin, is a class of substances that is crucial not only in maintain human life activities but also an important active substances that maintain human health. Although the amount of vitamin in our body is very very small, however, it plays an important role in human growth, metabolism, and also development process.

Q2: Can folic acid reduce cancer risk?
A2: Folic acid, closely related to folate, is a B vitamin. It may be found in many vegetables, soy, fruits, and whole grains. Lack of folic acid is said to increase the risk for colorectal and breast cancer. Scientists recommend taking folic acid from plant food sources to reduce cancer risk.

Q3: Can vitamin C reduce cancer risk?
A3: Vitamin C is found in many fruits and vegetables and many studies have linked such fruits and vegetables with cancer prevention. However, studies on Vitamin C pills could not be linked with reduced cancer risk.

Q4: What is the difference between a wholesome plant food and vitamin pills?
A4: Vitamin pills are nutrient which artificial extracted and are not diseases-preventable. They contain only part of the plant nutrients, and can not be compared with the wholesome nutrition, thus overdose will bring side effects. Wholesome plant food, however, will not have any side effects. Inside the wholesome plant food, there are rich in phytochemicals, antioxidants, polysaccharides and other nutrients, all these are important substances which can be used to enhance the body's immune function.

Q5: Can vitamin pills replace a well-balanced diet?
A5: No, the best sources of vitamin intake is through a wholesome plant based diet. Replacing a balanced diet with vitamin pills can lead to a body's dependence on vitamin pills, and overdose can also lead to poisoning.

Q6: Can vitamin pills reduce cancer risk?
A6: Thus far, no evidence shows that vitamin pills can reduce cancer risk. Results of clinical tests linking vitamin pills and cancer prevention have been disappointing. Some studies have shown that vitamin pills reduce stomach cancer risk for the severely malnourished people of China and South America. However, when high dose of some nutrients were administered, results showed no benefits and even harm in some cases. Many experts maintain that whole foods are the best source of nutrients. They say that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods may reduce the risk of cancer as these foods may reduce the risk of cancer as these foods contain many healthy compounds such as antioxidants, phytochemicals, and polysaccharides, which are not found in a vitamin bottle. In many cases, scientists have not been able to isolate the exact compounds that give this beneficial effect.

Q7: What are the possible side effects of taking too much vitamin pills?

A7: Excessive amounts of vitamin A may lead to osteoporosis, fatigue, liver damage; excessive vitamin B may cause paralysis, depression; excessive vitamin C may lead to heart and liver disease; excessive vitamin D may lead to kidney disease; excessive vitamin E may slow down Immune function, leading to fatigue and so on.

Q8: Why excessing of eating plant food does not cause side effects like vitamin pill?

A8: Vitamins found inside plant are exist in the form of natural molecular structure, it is easily digested and absorbed by the body, thus there is no side effects. Once the vitamin is separated from the plant and is process to the form of pills, it is no longer a complete food, because the original balance has been destroyed, which turns it into a chemical, and it is possible to cause side effects. When the vitamin is present in an orange, it is an antioxidant; and after separation, it is no longer an antioxidant, on the contrary, it will create hundreds of millions of free radicals, which is extremely harmful to the human body.

Synthetic Vs. Wholesome Part 1

Vitamins, vitamins, vitamins. Whether we get them from our daily diet, from sunshine, or from store bought capsules or liquids, vitamins are vital to our health and to the proper functioning of our bodies.

Vitamin deficiencies lead to a wide range of problems spanning from anorexia to obesity, organ malfunction, confusion, depression and fatigue.

However, whether or not our vitamins are hurting us is another story. What people are not aware of is all vitamins are not created equal, and most are actually synthetic.

What is a "Synthetic" Vitamin?

The type of vitamins that are the most beneficial is up for debate. A healthy, organic diet should provide a good amount of nutrients that the body needs, but supplements can help ensure that we are getting a healthy serving of specific vitamins.

The problem is that many vitamin and mineral supplements are manufactured synthetically with chemicals and do not come straight from their natural sources. They are made to mimic the way natural vitamins act in our bodies. Natural vitamins are derived directly from plant material containing the vitamin, not produced in a test tube.

Many synthetic vitamins lack the transporters and co-factors associated with naturally-occurring vitamins because they have been "isolated." The Organic Consumers Association emphasizes that isolated vitamins cannot be used or recognized by the body in the same way as the natural version.

The natural form come in packages with other vitamins, enzymes and minerals that control the way the body recognizes, metabolizes and uses them to make what it needs.

Isolated vitamins can’t always be used by the body, and are either stored until we obtain or create the nutrients required to use them effectively or are excreted. Synthetic vitamins are also devoid of necessary trace minerals and must use the body’s own mineral reserves which may lead to dangerous mineral deficiencies.

What’s the Big Deal About Synthetic Vitamins?

Synthetic versions of vitamins contain chemical compounds that were not meant for human consumption and do not occur in nature. Evolution has dictated that we eat the food we can gather from the earth, not the food we create in a lab.

Fat soluble vitamins in their synthetic form are especially dangerous because they can build up in our fatty tissues and cause toxicity. The reason that the synthetic form is more dangerous is because we get a high, concentrated serving of the vitamin rather than the amount that we would get from a food-based form.

Vitamins A, D, E and K are all fat soluble

Fat soluble vitamins are found naturally in butter, fish oils, nuts, and green leafy vegetables

Excesses of fat soluble vitamins are stored in the liver and fatty tissues

Most people do not get sufficient amounts of fat soluble vitamins from their diet

How do I know if the vitamins I’m buying are synthetic or natural?

The Organic Consumers Association has published an ingredient chart to help consumers identify natural vs. synthetic vitamins. Many vitamin producers want us to believe that we are getting a “natural product” because it seems more wholesome to take “natural” vitamins.

Unfortunately, vitamins can be labeled as natural if they contain as little as 10% of the natural form of the vitamin. This means that our “natural” vitamin could contain 90% of synthetically produced chemicals! B-Vitamins and Vitamin C are also usually synthetically produced.

Common Synthetic Vitamins to Avoid:

Look for clues on the vitamin’s label that offer insight into the origin of the vitamin.

Vitamin A: Acetate and Palmitate

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine): Thiamine Mononitrate, Thiamine Hydrochloride

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): Riboflavin

Pantothenic Acid: Calcium D-Pantothenate

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine): Pyridoxine Hydrochloride

Vitamin B12: Cobalamin

PABA (Para-aminobenzoic Acid): Aminobenzoic Acid

Folic Acid: Pteroylglutamic Acid

Choline: Choline Chloride, Choline Bitartrate

Biotin: d-Biotin

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid): Ascorbic Acid

Vitamin D: Irradiated Ergosteral, Calciferol

Vitamin E: dl-alpha tocopherol, dl-alpha tocopherol acetate or succinate

NOTE: The “dl” form of any vitamin is synthetic.

Other Toxic Ingredients to Avoid In Supplements

Magnesium stearate (or stearic acid)

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) disguised as “natural flavors”

Carnauba wax is used in car wax and shoe polish

Titanium dioxide is a carcinogen

–Atricle by Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, ND, DACBN, DCBCN, DABFM

Source: http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/synthetic-vs-natural-vitamins/

To read more: https://www.organicconsumers.org/news/nutri-con-truth-about-vitamins-supplements

People need to learn that their health is in their own hands. The fact is, they can be free of illness and brilliantly healthy if they choose a wholesome diet and lifestyle. On the other hand, an incorrect diet and poor lifestyle choices make people sick.

Mamiko MatsudaPhD

Source: http://nutritionstudies.org/true-health-care-proper-education/

Below is a short video about the important of Wholesome Plant Foods compared to Synthetic Pills:

<Truth About Vitamins & Minerals Supplements>

Below table has some of the example of the vitamin source:

Below is the picture taken from the book

<Enjoying Health and Longevity with Nutritional Immunology> by Dr. Jau Fei Chen 

Vitamin overdose could cause harm instead of benefits to our body.

Our diet should mainly focus on wholesome plant based foods, which provides us lots of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. These essential substances are crucial to our health.

Read more on the synthetic supplements here: If dietary supplements are able to help to cure diseases, why till today, mortality rate still climbing high?

Lastly, here are the links for the list of additives and their respective source and side effects:

List of food additives: http://cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm

List of vitamin supplements: http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/default.aspx