Truth about GMO

What are vitamin supplements?

Supplements are a way of giving the body what it needs - vitamins, minerals, or antioxidants to name a few - so that the body has what it needs to repair, regenerate, and build. Most of us realize we don't always eat as healthy as we should and the foods we do eat today do not have the nutrients they did in years past. Why is that?

- Nutrients in the soil are depleted because of today's farming practices

- Fruits and vegetables are picked green before essential nutrients have formed in the plant

- Genetically modified foods are deficient in nutrients

- Irradiation of foods causes a small loss in nutrients

- Processing of foods causes loss of nutrients

Supplementing with all natural vitamins/minerals that is standardized and absorbed by the body is a common sense approach to keeping our body's healthy. Vitamins and minerals give the body what it needs to repair and regenerate itself.

There are three options for buying a vitamin. They are:

1) Synthetic, man-made in the laboratory

2) Whole foods from fruit or vegetable extracts or single fruit product like Aloe Vera or Gogi

3) All natural vitamins that are plant-sourced vitamin/mineral

Let's talk about how these three are different.

Synthetic Vitamins

- Most vitamins sold today are synthetic

- They are the least expensive

- Are made in a laboratory through chemical processes

- No co-factors are present to aid in absorption

- They contain standardized and consistent amounts of vitamins and minerals with labeled sources

- The body requires a higher dose because they are not absorbed as well

However, providing a vitamin or mineral in isolation removes the co-factors that are often needed for the nutrient(s)to be absorbed and utilized by the body.

Whole Food Vitamins from Single Fruit or Plant

Getting your vitamins from a single fruit or plant, like the goji berry or aloe vera plant offer some benefits over a synthetic vitamin. They are:

1) Comes from a single plant or natural food source which offers better absorption and bio-availability over synthetic sources

2) Contains co-factors that are part of the plant and make the nutrients more bio-available - which means the body is able to absorb and use the nutrients

3) Should not contain any artificial colors, sweeteners, preservatives or chemicals

The disadvantages are:

1) They cannot contain all the vitamins and minerals that the body needs

2) Not standardized - each capsule or bottle of juice will have varying amounts of nutrients depending on the plant, the growing conditions, and the processing.

3) No single fruit/vegetable can meet all RDA requirements.

Plants can have substantial levels of vitamins, but are usually low in minerals. No one whole food contains all the vitamins and minerals that we need.

4) Are more costly

All Natural Vitamins

How it is possible to have a plant source vitamin/mineral with standardized components? Let me explain. The Indian mustard plant is grown hydroponically in a solution rich with minerals that are then absorbed by the plant. The plant, which is rich in minerals, is then made into a whole food supplement. The benefits are:

- Plant source vitamin is readily absorbed and utilized by the body

- Has standardized concentrations of minerals because of the hydroponic process

- Contains no synthetic compounds

- Contains no artificial colors, sweeteners or preservatives

If you are interested in am all natural food vitamin that is plant sourced with standardized minerals and meets Good Manufacturing Standards go to :

http://www.WebRN-MacularDegeneration.com/all-natural-vitamins.html

Leslie Degner, RN,BSN

Better Health For Better Vision

http://www.WebRN-MacularDegeneration.com