{"id":29594,"date":"2018-06-15T15:53:36","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T13:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.faithful-to-nature.co.za\/blog\/?p=29594"},"modified":"2018-06-15T16:01:15","modified_gmt":"2018-06-15T14:01:15","slug":"natural-vs-synthetic-vitamins-great-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.faithful-to-nature.co.za\/blog\/natural-vs-synthetic-vitamins-great-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural vs Synthetic Vitamins: The Great Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

We take an indepth look at what to consider before choosing your vitamin brand. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Always take your vitamins, say the grannies and doctors the world around. But questions begin to surface: \u201cWhich ones?\u201d \u201cAnd how many?\u201d and \u201cDon\u2019t I get enough of this from my food?\u201d<\/p>\n

In our race to become such a highly capable society and species, we\u2019ve also inadvertently over-complicated something that once was quite simple. Nature; food, water and sun, was once our only source of nutrients. But with the degradation of soil quality and increasingly demanding careers and lives, scientists and pharmaceutical companies have figured out how to offer us the nutrients we\u2019re missing in the form of a pill. \u00a0Now that we\u2019re returning to a period of seeking alignment with nature the inquiries into how our bodies absorb these vitamins, whether we even need them and whether it is all just good marketing are all valid concerns.<\/p>\n

But the landscape of unraveling some of the questions around whether man-made or nature-made vitamins are better can feel like quite a complex and contradictory road. Not every vitamin can be painted with the same parameters because they\u2019re not all created equal and our bodies respond differently to each one.<\/p>\n

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ARE VITAMINS AS SIMPLE AS A, B, C?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In their most basic form there are 13 vitamins which our bodies require for optimal health (A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folate, biotin, pantothenate, C, D, E and K). In their natural state, each vitamin is made up of a complex assimilation of compounds and enzymes, co-enzymes, co-factors and transporters. These work together with other compounds in your body in a synergistic manner, which is what strengthens a natural vitamins bioavailability<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When it comes to Vitamin C, scientists argue its primary compound can be extracted, yet many feel the extensive, although not currently agreed upon list of co-factors, are just as vital to the bioavailability. Dr. Ben Kim, a staunch advocate for natural vitamins only<\/a>, argues that if you only ever ingested ascorbic acid, as your primary source for vitamin C, it would be like eating only the skin of the orange instead of the entire fruit.<\/p>\n

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THE ORIGINS OF ISOLATING AND SYNTHASISING VITAMINS <\/strong><\/p>\n

The origins to the inquiry into vitamin C dates back to the early 1700’s when a Royal Navy surgeon, James Lind, found that citrus fruits were able to cure scurvy in individuals. But of course this couldn\u2019t be pinpointed on vitamin C alone. It was only in the early 1900’s when experimental animal studies with scurvy were conducted that results revealed that is was that fresh fruits and vegetables prevented scurvy.<\/p>\n

Vitamin C itself was only isolated from citrus fruits in the early 1930’s, this was named hexuronic acid. Giving a guinea pigs hexuronic acid further showed that this too could stave off the scurvy effectively. Shortly after, hexuronic acid was renamed to ascorbic acid in order to accurately reflect its anti-scorbutic properties.<\/p>\n

Once extracted and isolated, synthesising it was only a matter of years. While the chemical structure of isolated natural, food derived vitamin C vs its synthetic counterparts are identical, discussions around the comparative bioavailability are still hotly debated.<\/p>\n

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WHAT SYNTHETIC VS NATURAL VITAMINS MEAN FOR YOUR BODY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ingesting vitamin C, or any other vitamin for that matter, in its isolated form doesn\u2019t come without knock-on effects in the body.<\/p>\n

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HOW IT WORKS: <\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Your body requires the other co-factors to fully absorb the vitamin to its maximum benefit. If you\u2019re not ingesting them simultaneously the body will first try to assimilate the rest of the co-factors needed from other reserves in your tissue or from other foods you\u2019re eating.<\/li>\n
  2. If you don\u2019t have sufficient reserves, this intelligent need to absorb the component of the vitamin you are ingesting can result in depletions of other necessary compounds before the excess is excreted. Generally speaking, synthetic vitamins won\u2019t offer the entire spectrum, as the vitamin in its natural form would.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The above two points hold true for most vitamins and minerals.<\/p>\n

    According to this article, and the opinion of the president of a natural supplements company, Schiffer, modern pharmaceutical manufacture has successfully isolated the most useful and beneficial form of each vitamin, which can be processed by the body as effectively as the vitamers found in our food*<\/p>\n

    For a healthy individual getting in the basics quantities of each vitamin would seem sufficient. Yet, in individuals where specific conditions are prevalent due to sever vitamin deficiencies, taking the synthetic isolated form of this vitamin, can be highly effective, as seen with the scurvy guinea pigs of the 1930’s.<\/p>\n

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    BASIC DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NATURAL AND SYNTHETIC <\/strong><\/p>\n

    In looking at how natural and synthetic vitamins are different<\/em>, a caveat should be added that different refers to the origin of the vitamin, not necessarily the nutritional value or effectiveness of the end resulting vitamin. Dr. Thomas Levy<\/a> explains this concept very well in an analogy with sweeteners:<\/p>\n