Synthetic vitamins are everywhere, but are they friend or foe? In your food, in your supplements, even in your cough drops. If you have never heard of synthetic vitamins before, that’s because they are disguised as real vitamins. They are what most everyone has been taking and everyone mistakes them for the real deal. For all people know, there is no difference because food labeling laws allow companies to list synthetic vitamins in a way that looks legit. You have to be in the know to tell they are fakes. Oranges packed with vitamin C are not the same as orange flavored drinks fortified with vitamin c. Both taste orangey, so what is the difference? Are they close enough to give about the same nutrition?
Nope. There are some benefits to synthetic vitamins, but they often don’t outway the downsides of taking them over time. Surely there could be no bad effects from vitamins, are there? Read on to find out.
Vitamins that occur in nature were discovered before most of us were born, but researchers were not content to stop with mere discovery. They went on to learn how to make synthetic (i.e. chemical) versions. Now they can be produced cheaply using industrial waste. This makes them plentiful and cost pennies. Is there anything made so cheaply you can’t afford to keep buying it? Synthetic vitamins would be it. For example, ascorbic acid is the synthetic look alike of vitamin C, but ascorbic acid adds to your stress load and real vitamin C increases your ability to handle stress.
Unlike synthetics, natural vitamins are big and complex structures with many parts and functions. They are like puzzle pieces that activate multiple pathways in our cells. A natural vitamin will interlock and activate different cells and different pathways with its various parts, making it more active and helpful to the body.
Synthetic vitamins lack the larger structure and therefore the greater ability of the natural vitamins they are meant to replace. It’s like trying to replace a multi tool with a single screw driver. A mechanic with a single screw driver is going to be less effective than one with a toolbox. Synthetic vitamins are less nourishing and useful than real vitamins. They affect the body more like drugs would, causing imbalances because they only activate certain pathways and leave others undone. You have to take larger doses to make a difference. This is one reason why they are hard on the body in the long run. They end up causing imbalances and overstimulation. And, while their effects are seen right away, damage is done over time.
Now what about natural sources of vitamins? The best source is in your food and in whole food supplements. Most people expect their food to have some kind of nutrition (vitamins/minerals) but the more we process and chemically preserve our food, the less it contains. Manufacturers say this can be overcome by “fortifying” the food (add synthetic vitamins) but, as we explained earlier, this is not the same as real nutrition. However, food companies are allowed to claim it is essentially the same. The fact is that processed foods are harder to digest and can even be seen by the body as waste to get rid of. Processing turns a portion of the food into something unusable by the body or outright harmful. At the same time, our bodies are becoming more susceptible to breaking down the more we starve ourselves of nutrition. This happens whether we like it, or know about it, or not. No amount of food “fortification” with synthetic vitamins can undo this problem. The only solution is to stop eating processed food so your body can get rid of the dead weight.
Another issue with processed food is bad gut bacteria and other unfriendlies that can eat this stuff and thrive. They gain strength and multiply till they crowd out good bacteria. This can become a net negative for our systems, like food poisoning in slow motion.
Are synthetic vitamins helpful or hurtful? The answer is beyond limited use, they are harmful. The more you use them, the more problems they cause. Most people are using them constantly because synthetics are everywhere and people don’t know how many foods and supplements they are in. The biggest source is processed foods people buy every week from the grocery store. Fortified foods are not the same as whole nutritious foods. Limit your exposure by eating fresh foods and taking whole food supplements.
Check out these articles on food sources of real vitamins concentrated natural vitamins.
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